A Unique Response to "Waters of Mars"

[seti_fan]

While playing around online, I stumbled across this gem. A vidder, having watched Doctor Who's "Waters of Mars", was inspired to do a video showing the Doctor's mindset in light of recent events via a reading of T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". The poem is a bizarrely striking fit for The Story So Far, and the video is one of the

Comments

[elder_goddess]

Um. Er. Not sure of how you define 'Whovian', but I've been enjoying the series since 1963 :D

However...I clicked. I lasted as long as I could bear. And rather than splatter a rude dis-fest over your post, I think I'll just stick with honestly and unmaliciously asking if you can somehow explain why this impressed you - and along the way, maybe explain to me what the whole fanvid meme is about...because I just...don't...get...it. Of course I understand (intellectually if not emotionally) the concept of people loving someone else's visual film/series creation so much that they want to express their love by piecing together scenes or stills that moved them and add a soundtrack - of someone else's music - that they feel goes along with their love. Except that...um...song x that means the world to fan y is likely to mean nothing at all to unknown observer z. And in the case of this 'unknown observer', the footage itself doesn't necessarily call up any emotions in response beyond 'er, sorry, I'd rather watch the whole episode

[seti_fan]

Goes to show I cannot predict what you will or won't have an interest in. :P

[elder_goddess]

Hmmm. Still processing, but I wanted you to know I've seen and appreciate your reply...

[seti_fan]

Thanks. I'm not altogether sure it makes sense. It was composed on one of those morning ponderings when I wasn't quite awake enough to get up but my mind was wandering. This is the best I could come up with to a deceptively easy-looking question. It has been a really interesting challenge, though, to have to sit down and go beyond just "because I like it" when I've never known a better reason why myself. You make my brain exercise. :)

[elder_goddess]

Right. I've finally come to some conclusions. Ish. Sort-of :-)

It would be too cut-and-dried, too dismissive of me to suggest that perhaps the reason I don't grok the fanvid thing is because I'm a creator first and an end user last. It doesn't quite hold water, because, f'rinstance, some creators whose work I lovelovelove started out - as I've recently discovered - as Sad Nerdy Fans who possibly love fanvids to bits and maybe even made some form of them - or at the least, used to write fanfic before they went pro. So I suspect that what it most likely comes down to, from my end, is applying the Blackthorne Defence.

A quick recap, in case that triggers no memories for you: early on in the novel Shogun, the captured English navigator Blackthorne (based on the real-history William Adams) is brought before the mediaeval warlord Toranaga and questioned, via a translator, about his presence in Japan and its political implications. As Blackthorne tries to explain about the English-Spanish rivalry and about the Protestant-Catholic struggle

[seti_fan]

That all makes sense to me. Shall we just stand on the ground that we have different tastes and backgrounds/perspectives and be content with that? Maybe I'm easy to please, maybe it's my not coming from a musician POV either, but there you go. (Nice reference of the Blackthorne Defense, BTW.)

[elder_goddess]

Agreed, with respectfulness on both sides :-)