Three fandom confessions (or: Ellie Throws Her Toys Out of the Pram, More Than Once)
Sherlock, the Hobbit and Hollyoaks. Some spoilers for the latter two.
Sherlock:
I know you have to move on with the series and perhaps it's childish and silly of me. But there are certain things about the characters that I want to remain unanswered. For example, I don't want to know too much about Sherlock and Mycroft's history because I like having different perceptions, different responses in fanfic. I know, that's me throwing my toys out of the pram and I'm not writing it. But I like an air of mystery, I like a little ambiguity. I don't like everything being filled in, with nothing left for the viewers to speculate on. For me, the speculation is one of the best parts of the series.
*
The Hobbit:
Honest opinion here? I don't care about the wider Tolkien universe. I don't care about the extra elf characters that are being brought in; I don't care about anyone who is not a dwarf, Bilbo, Gandalf, Radagast or Galadriel.
Why? Because I liked the simplicity, pathos and humour of the first Hobbit film. I liked the fact that it was based on the dwarves and Bilbo's growing relationship with them, his finding a place within them, with some of them trusting him more than others. More than that, though: these guys are groups of family and those relationships weren't explored brilliantly in the book; it was only mentioned at the very end that Kili and Fili were Thorin's nephews, as if it were something that Tolkien suddenly thought of out of thin air. It could be explored so well in the films and could be a continuing theme.
Really, I just want to see more of that family atmosphere, more of the dwarves, because I find them so funny and precious, so very real and down-to-earth - so dwarfish. They are the salt of the film and their story is the base. And I don't really want time taken up by Legolas when I could be watching the dwarves instead. Martin Freeman and Aiden Turner were the soul reasons I went to see the first film; this time I'm going for all the dwarves, as well as Bilbo.
*
Hollyoaks:
Oh, I can't. I just can't.
I can't take the homophobic bullying. I'm sorry, I know; the obvious answer is don't like, don't watch. But it's John-Paul, who I've watched since the start, who I knew was gay pretty much from the off and I owe a lot to him because his storylines led to me becoming a far less rigid person and silly as it sounds, I don't want to 'abandon' him. Plus, it's an important story and I feel I ought to see it through.
It's awful though, because last time John-Paul dealt with homophobic bullying, or when people went to physically hurt him or those he loved, he could smack his bullies one in retaliation because he was their equal, he was able to have a little wriggle room for standing his ground. If someone tried to start something with him, he finished it; he beat up Sonny and Justin in one go when they went after Craig, he stood up for Michaela, he even hit Craig back when Craig succumbed to peer pressure and beat him to impress Sonny. He was able to; he had the advantage.
(I’m not promoting violence here and not saying it's always the answer but I think it's just that unofficial rule in some quarters of 'if someone punches you, punch them back' that's simply a familiar part of John-Paul's character; it's a slippery slope and it’s hard for me to explain, but if someone is threatening you due to their own sense of bigotry or sexism and they throw the first punch, you should have the right to defend yourself. Just saying).
Now though, he can't do that, because Robbie and Finn are his students and to retaliate would endanger his career, even when Finn punched him in last night's episode. It's even more excruciating because yet again, he's being picked on for simply being gay and the other Sixth Formers are being encouraged to do the same, which is particularly disgusting, especially after what happened with Esther when the whole sixth form ganged up on her. To see John-Paul having the advantage taken away from him is just absolutely terrible, because he was always great at standing up for himself - and now he can't, even though Robbie and Finn are a pair of foul little twats who clearly suffer from Little Man Syndrome.
And it's only set to get worse...
Sherlock:
I know you have to move on with the series and perhaps it's childish and silly of me. But there are certain things about the characters that I want to remain unanswered. For example, I don't want to know too much about Sherlock and Mycroft's history because I like having different perceptions, different responses in fanfic. I know, that's me throwing my toys out of the pram and I'm not writing it. But I like an air of mystery, I like a little ambiguity. I don't like everything being filled in, with nothing left for the viewers to speculate on. For me, the speculation is one of the best parts of the series.
*
The Hobbit:
Honest opinion here? I don't care about the wider Tolkien universe. I don't care about the extra elf characters that are being brought in; I don't care about anyone who is not a dwarf, Bilbo, Gandalf, Radagast or Galadriel.
Why? Because I liked the simplicity, pathos and humour of the first Hobbit film. I liked the fact that it was based on the dwarves and Bilbo's growing relationship with them, his finding a place within them, with some of them trusting him more than others. More than that, though: these guys are groups of family and those relationships weren't explored brilliantly in the book; it was only mentioned at the very end that Kili and Fili were Thorin's nephews, as if it were something that Tolkien suddenly thought of out of thin air. It could be explored so well in the films and could be a continuing theme.
Really, I just want to see more of that family atmosphere, more of the dwarves, because I find them so funny and precious, so very real and down-to-earth - so dwarfish. They are the salt of the film and their story is the base. And I don't really want time taken up by Legolas when I could be watching the dwarves instead. Martin Freeman and Aiden Turner were the soul reasons I went to see the first film; this time I'm going for all the dwarves, as well as Bilbo.
*
Hollyoaks:
Oh, I can't. I just can't.
I can't take the homophobic bullying. I'm sorry, I know; the obvious answer is don't like, don't watch. But it's John-Paul, who I've watched since the start, who I knew was gay pretty much from the off and I owe a lot to him because his storylines led to me becoming a far less rigid person and silly as it sounds, I don't want to 'abandon' him. Plus, it's an important story and I feel I ought to see it through.
It's awful though, because last time John-Paul dealt with homophobic bullying, or when people went to physically hurt him or those he loved, he could smack his bullies one in retaliation because he was their equal, he was able to have a little wriggle room for standing his ground. If someone tried to start something with him, he finished it; he beat up Sonny and Justin in one go when they went after Craig, he stood up for Michaela, he even hit Craig back when Craig succumbed to peer pressure and beat him to impress Sonny. He was able to; he had the advantage.
(I’m not promoting violence here and not saying it's always the answer but I think it's just that unofficial rule in some quarters of 'if someone punches you, punch them back' that's simply a familiar part of John-Paul's character; it's a slippery slope and it’s hard for me to explain, but if someone is threatening you due to their own sense of bigotry or sexism and they throw the first punch, you should have the right to defend yourself. Just saying).
Now though, he can't do that, because Robbie and Finn are his students and to retaliate would endanger his career, even when Finn punched him in last night's episode. It's even more excruciating because yet again, he's being picked on for simply being gay and the other Sixth Formers are being encouraged to do the same, which is particularly disgusting, especially after what happened with Esther when the whole sixth form ganged up on her. To see John-Paul having the advantage taken away from him is just absolutely terrible, because he was always great at standing up for himself - and now he can't, even though Robbie and Finn are a pair of foul little twats who clearly suffer from Little Man Syndrome.
And it's only set to get worse...