Veronica Mars - A Retrospective
An actual fandom post for the first time in forever. Blame Rob Thomas. I can't remember how to do cuts - read at your peril there are some slight spoilers for the VM movie -
A long time age we used to be friends. Trite, I know, but true. I watched the Veronica Mars movie and remembered all of the friends I associated with the show. Because VM was more than just a show to me, it was always a social event. It was my first foray into online fandom and fanfic. I started with the LoVe board where I worked on recaps of the show and finally discovered a whole VM community on Live Journal. After I finished the movie I logged into LJ for the first time in years and realized it had been so long that didn’t even know who played there anymore, which made me sad. The movie brought back so many memories. Not just the time spent online (which used to be a significant portion of my life) but also all the social gatherings I associate with VM - Group dinners at Comic Con, Austin for the screening of Donut Run, the cast signing the soundtrack at the release party they had here in town, and the Season 2 premiere party held at one of the extra’s house.
Thinking about the show and remembering all the friends I used to know also brought back so many memories of a specific time in my life. I was married when the show aired and going through a nasty divorce by the time it was over and fandom filled in the spaces in my life and in many ways got me through a really rough time in my life. All these people who were so important in my life just drifted away as the show ended and the last few weeks have been really reflective for me as I realized how much my life has changed in the last 10 years.
When the first kickstarter video came out I had a sense of nostalgia seeing Veronica, Logan, Dick and Papa Mars together again and shelled out my money like so many other fans not sure anything would come out of it. Then they blew past their goal and kept promising a better and better movie, but it didn’t really seem real until I saw the first stills from the set of Logan and Veronica together. And by that time it was also known that Piz would be in the movie forming a triangle. It is funny, I never for a moment thought that Veronica and Piz would end up together so that part seemed ham-handed, but it was handled well. I totally forgot about the sex tape, but I remembered every nuance and emotional beat of Logan and Veronica’s first kiss. I guess that puts me firmly in the team Logan camp. I guess I have a thing for obligatory psychotic jackasses.
It wasn’t until I saw the first few minute recap intro to the movie that I realized how little of the end of the series I actually remembered. Season 1 was so awesome. I was totally obsessed and remember the hours I spent online guessing who killed Lily. But I found my interest slacking in middle of Season 2 when the quality just wasn’t as good and by season 3 the wheels just came off for me. I think the show would make a great case study in the perils of trying to do a 22 episode season and how tough it is to keep momentum and quality over that period.
A couple of months ago I wasn’t even sure I would see the movie right away. I was worried it would be more season 3 than season 1 and I realized how disappointing that would be. But then the reviews started to come out and they were good and I realized I couldn’t not watch. So opening day I plunked my money down and enjoyed my first VOD experience in the comfort of my own home and it was kind of wonderful. Even as I watched alone there were the ghosts of so many people watching with me. Alexis (a_h_c) was beside me eating popcorn agreeing that Logan should only wear dress whites. Lynn (random00b) was there too, enjoying Mac’s great haircut and cheering her victory lap. Rindee gave me a high five 30 minutes in, when Cliff showed up, because she remembered me plotting a few fanfics we wrote together just to make him a main character. Meg was there mourning Sherriff Lamb because she knew the actor back in the day and Grace (truemyth) and Erin (mutinousmuse) were there planning fan fic and videos they were going to work on as soon as we were done watching.
Was it a great movie? No, not really, but it was smart and proficient. The mystery was a little thin when you take a step back and I figured it out almost immediately. But as a fan I loved the whole thing. It had everything I wanted - LoVe angst, wisecracks, Mac being awesome, Cliff and of course Rico saying, ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ It was wonderful to see everyone together again and it made me very, very happy.
It seems unbearably sad that almost immediately on the heels of the movie coming out was the news that Television Without Pity is being shut down. I discovered the website through VM and read Couch Baron’s recaps religiously. But the true height for me were Jacob’s Battlestar Galactica recaps which were magnificent. I remember completely fangirling out when I met him in Austin, more so than when I met the cast. At a time when I am already nostalgic this news came as a blow even though I have not liked the direction the site had taken in the last 5 years or so as they went to weecaps and what they did write seemed to lose a lot of their charm and snark, but it was part of my life at the same time VM was and it going away feels like I am losing a piece of my history, especially since they are not going to keep an archive of the posts. That might be the most tragic thing, so many brilliant, insightful, and downright funny reviews are just going to be gone forever.
I read that Rob Thomas is allowing people to sell their fanfic on Amazon now. I wonder how many of the writers I used to read so avidly back in the day are going to upload their stories? Of course they won’t allow pornography so that rules out 80% of the writers I knew. I mean everyone had some sex in their stories! But maybe I will stumble across some familiar names, which would be nice. I was even a part of some group fics and I wonder if they will find their way into the light of day again.
I also read that Rob wants to do another movie if this one deemed successful by the studio. I am sure the cast would be all for it and as long as the quality is there the fans would be ecstatic. This one really brought back a lot of memories. I doubt that I will have the emotional response I had to this movie with another, but as a fan I do hope to see these characters again. After all, we used to be friends and it is nice to catch up with old friends.
So to all of the people I used to be friends with (and a few that are still in my life) thanks for the fun, the laughs, the support and most importantly making me feel like I belonged to a great group who all loved the same thing. It was great fun while it lasted and I wanted you to know that you have been on my mind. Take care.
A long time age we used to be friends. Trite, I know, but true. I watched the Veronica Mars movie and remembered all of the friends I associated with the show. Because VM was more than just a show to me, it was always a social event. It was my first foray into online fandom and fanfic. I started with the LoVe board where I worked on recaps of the show and finally discovered a whole VM community on Live Journal. After I finished the movie I logged into LJ for the first time in years and realized it had been so long that didn’t even know who played there anymore, which made me sad. The movie brought back so many memories. Not just the time spent online (which used to be a significant portion of my life) but also all the social gatherings I associate with VM - Group dinners at Comic Con, Austin for the screening of Donut Run, the cast signing the soundtrack at the release party they had here in town, and the Season 2 premiere party held at one of the extra’s house.
Thinking about the show and remembering all the friends I used to know also brought back so many memories of a specific time in my life. I was married when the show aired and going through a nasty divorce by the time it was over and fandom filled in the spaces in my life and in many ways got me through a really rough time in my life. All these people who were so important in my life just drifted away as the show ended and the last few weeks have been really reflective for me as I realized how much my life has changed in the last 10 years.
When the first kickstarter video came out I had a sense of nostalgia seeing Veronica, Logan, Dick and Papa Mars together again and shelled out my money like so many other fans not sure anything would come out of it. Then they blew past their goal and kept promising a better and better movie, but it didn’t really seem real until I saw the first stills from the set of Logan and Veronica together. And by that time it was also known that Piz would be in the movie forming a triangle. It is funny, I never for a moment thought that Veronica and Piz would end up together so that part seemed ham-handed, but it was handled well. I totally forgot about the sex tape, but I remembered every nuance and emotional beat of Logan and Veronica’s first kiss. I guess that puts me firmly in the team Logan camp. I guess I have a thing for obligatory psychotic jackasses.
It wasn’t until I saw the first few minute recap intro to the movie that I realized how little of the end of the series I actually remembered. Season 1 was so awesome. I was totally obsessed and remember the hours I spent online guessing who killed Lily. But I found my interest slacking in middle of Season 2 when the quality just wasn’t as good and by season 3 the wheels just came off for me. I think the show would make a great case study in the perils of trying to do a 22 episode season and how tough it is to keep momentum and quality over that period.
A couple of months ago I wasn’t even sure I would see the movie right away. I was worried it would be more season 3 than season 1 and I realized how disappointing that would be. But then the reviews started to come out and they were good and I realized I couldn’t not watch. So opening day I plunked my money down and enjoyed my first VOD experience in the comfort of my own home and it was kind of wonderful. Even as I watched alone there were the ghosts of so many people watching with me. Alexis (a_h_c) was beside me eating popcorn agreeing that Logan should only wear dress whites. Lynn (random00b) was there too, enjoying Mac’s great haircut and cheering her victory lap. Rindee gave me a high five 30 minutes in, when Cliff showed up, because she remembered me plotting a few fanfics we wrote together just to make him a main character. Meg was there mourning Sherriff Lamb because she knew the actor back in the day and Grace (truemyth) and Erin (mutinousmuse) were there planning fan fic and videos they were going to work on as soon as we were done watching.
Was it a great movie? No, not really, but it was smart and proficient. The mystery was a little thin when you take a step back and I figured it out almost immediately. But as a fan I loved the whole thing. It had everything I wanted - LoVe angst, wisecracks, Mac being awesome, Cliff and of course Rico saying, ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ It was wonderful to see everyone together again and it made me very, very happy.
It seems unbearably sad that almost immediately on the heels of the movie coming out was the news that Television Without Pity is being shut down. I discovered the website through VM and read Couch Baron’s recaps religiously. But the true height for me were Jacob’s Battlestar Galactica recaps which were magnificent. I remember completely fangirling out when I met him in Austin, more so than when I met the cast. At a time when I am already nostalgic this news came as a blow even though I have not liked the direction the site had taken in the last 5 years or so as they went to weecaps and what they did write seemed to lose a lot of their charm and snark, but it was part of my life at the same time VM was and it going away feels like I am losing a piece of my history, especially since they are not going to keep an archive of the posts. That might be the most tragic thing, so many brilliant, insightful, and downright funny reviews are just going to be gone forever.
I read that Rob Thomas is allowing people to sell their fanfic on Amazon now. I wonder how many of the writers I used to read so avidly back in the day are going to upload their stories? Of course they won’t allow pornography so that rules out 80% of the writers I knew. I mean everyone had some sex in their stories! But maybe I will stumble across some familiar names, which would be nice. I was even a part of some group fics and I wonder if they will find their way into the light of day again.
I also read that Rob wants to do another movie if this one deemed successful by the studio. I am sure the cast would be all for it and as long as the quality is there the fans would be ecstatic. This one really brought back a lot of memories. I doubt that I will have the emotional response I had to this movie with another, but as a fan I do hope to see these characters again. After all, we used to be friends and it is nice to catch up with old friends.
So to all of the people I used to be friends with (and a few that are still in my life) thanks for the fun, the laughs, the support and most importantly making me feel like I belonged to a great group who all loved the same thing. It was great fun while it lasted and I wanted you to know that you have been on my mind. Take care.