The season of TVD has ended...
... and I feel like it has changed a lot for me.
When the first season started roughly two years ago, I was in awe.
You can look back at the posts I made, I literally spent hours making icons, wallpapers and other art for it. Hell, I even helped moderate a forum for this show, that's how much I loved it.
I thought it was brilliant in its storytelling, and even if I was often annoyed with Elena, the plots always picked me up and dragged me with them, leaving me sad when an episode ended and absolutely mortified at the thought of a six week hiatus, let alone the ENTIRE SUMMER!
This time around last year, I was rewatching episodes, discussing the show with others, analysing the episodes down to a T.
This year, I couldn't care less.
I skipped a few episodes this season, even, I never watched Masquerade or Klaus or even the finale episode in full. I've become a selective viewer. Now, I am not impressed by the storylines anymore, I'm not dragged along by the plots. I feel like that show that used to be my favorite is gone now and it was replaced by some chauvinistic Twilight crap.
And don't get me wrong, there was a time when I enjoyed Twilight, too. I read the first three books in a matter of days and I never thought there was anything wrong with them until I had enough time to think about them. To analyze them. To dissect and fully understand the message that these books were sending to their readers. Quite naively I thought that there was nothing wrong with Edward and Bella's relationship when I read the first books, I just always liked Jacob better. I always thought that Jacob would have been the healthier choice, he would be the one that I'd pick. And then, it seems, I rethought all that happened and realized just how utterly unhealthy EB's relationship is, how pitiful of a character Bella really was (does she have hobbies, friends, talents? Anything, really, that makes her a "person"?) and what kind of a warped message that was sending out to girls. I saw and heard what happened among the fandom, witnessed some of the most ridiculous battles myself and it became clear, just how much of an impact these books had on the minds of their readership. Mostly the younger ones.
Something very similar has happened to TVD now.
At first, I didn't see much wrong with Damon either. Sure, I hated him, but I loved to hate him (he WAS the villain, after all!). To me, it was always clear that Damon and Elena would not get together in that universe without something happening like in the books (where Elena becomes some kind of different entity and cleanses Damon from his sins and all that jazz that didn't make any sense to me, really), or at least either one of them losing their entire memories and them practically meeting "anew". I would have hated it had they done it that way (because what a cliche would that have been!), but it definitely would not have turned me off the show and question the sanity of the writers (as well as Nina and Ian, but after seeing them in Paris together, their thoughts on the DE relationship makes sense to me) and fear for the mindset of the audience.
Twilight teaches young girls that it is completely okay to never make any effort for your friends, so just kind of "be" there, but not really. It's okay to find a guy who climbs into your window at night to watch you sleep, it's romantic that he wants to keep you safe so he de-installs the engine of your car to prevent you from visiting your best friend or to even organize a babysitter for you who has no qualms of physically restraining you from doing that. It's fine, yes even admirable, to receive that kind of possessive, manhandling love (admittedly, Jacob forcing a kiss on Bella in book 2 or so wasn't much better...). Because he loves you and that is all that matters, it is all that will make you happy and his love for you is what excuses those actions.
TVD seems to go even a step further: it's okay if the guy has abused, threatened, killed, raped, mindwiped, manhandled not only hundreds of people you never met, but also your friends/family and even you YOURSELF. Because he loves you and that makes it all okay. And he got bitten by a werewolf and was about to die, and he apologizes and that's all that it takes. He doesn't have to make amends with the people he actually hurt, he doesn't even have to actually change, he just has to sweat a bit, and say that he "needs" forgiveness, so it is handed to him. He doesn't need to work for it at all.
Neither Damon nor Edward are mentally deficient. I'm not cracking a joke or taking a jab at them here, they do not have some kind of psychological inability. They understand what death means, they understand what hurting someone means, they understand the meaning of yes and no. They simply choose to ignore it to further their own agenda. Things like Edward almost taking too much blood from Bella at the end of the first book or Damon attacking Elena in the season two finale are forgivable, because neither one was in their right mind at the moment. Edward was in a blood rush and Damon was literally going crazy, so I wouldn't think it to be fair to hold a grudge. But the rest of the time, they are both completely fine (mentally speaking).
Loving someone does not give you the right to stalk them, to force them to do something they don't want, to make decisions for them that they are very much able to make themselves, to disrespect them and their opinion or to go and kill someone when they reject you. In fact, loving someone does not give you any rights to anything, quite the opposite. And neither story seems to be able to pronounce that. Worse even, they have in fact created relationships where both partners are somewhat equal and respect each other and each other's friends/family (remember why Elena put up with Damon in the first place?), but they choose to go with the more "romantic" bad boy / good girl relationship, completely missing the point that even the bad boy has to redeem himself at some point and actually change. Not just cry beautifully into a camera.
To say I am disappointed in the show is probably saying either too little or too much.
I am disappointed because there are so many great potential storylines they could emphasize but they choose to shove a few tortured-Damon shots into every episode. I am sad that they have such a great ensemble cast and they don't use it. I am extremely disappointed by the lack of consequences for Damon and his actions. And while I applaud Nina Dobrev for her performance, I am simply fed up with seeing her face for 30 minutes per episode. I am angry with Elena because of how spotty her moral coat is, how she chooses to ignore or forget certain things. I am furious with the lack of background information on Bonnie (even Matt got more: his mom, sister, house, living situation, problems, goals in life, feelings...) and character development for not only her but Alaric, Jeremy, Matt and Jenna as well. I am excited by the new characters they bring in and at the same time I am bummed because I know it will take away even more screentime from them and usually those new characters die serving some greater purpose. And by greater purpose, I mean either saving Elena, pushing Elena into Damon's direction or showing the audience just how "tortured" Damon is. And while I don't want to suggest that they are doing it on purpose: do the writers realize how most of the witches have been black and all except Bonnie have died horrible deaths to save the Salvatores? Did the writers/directors realize how rape-like the sacrifice looked on screen and do they understand that they have Damon basically going around roofie-raping women since season one?
So I guess, I am drawing the line. I am drawing the line for myself and my sanity. I cannot watch a scene like the one with Damon forcing his blood into Elena's mouth knowing that he will be forgiven in no time and stay calm. I cannot sit through 42 minutes of violence-glorifying chauvinism waiting for scenes of Caroline or Bonnie only to catch a 2-minute-glimpse of either. And I most certainly cannot deal with this fandom and its excuses for Damon anymore without having to take some time away.
I will continue to watch for scenes. I will continue to watch for Jeremy's new plot, for Bonnie and for Caroline, maybe even for Tyler. But I will fast forward through all scenes Damon/Elena/Stefan or any combination thereof. Maybe Stefan by himself, with Klaus, will be interesting, because at least with his violence I know there will be consequences for him. But you can never really know with this show.
When the first season started roughly two years ago, I was in awe.
You can look back at the posts I made, I literally spent hours making icons, wallpapers and other art for it. Hell, I even helped moderate a forum for this show, that's how much I loved it.
I thought it was brilliant in its storytelling, and even if I was often annoyed with Elena, the plots always picked me up and dragged me with them, leaving me sad when an episode ended and absolutely mortified at the thought of a six week hiatus, let alone the ENTIRE SUMMER!
This time around last year, I was rewatching episodes, discussing the show with others, analysing the episodes down to a T.
This year, I couldn't care less.
I skipped a few episodes this season, even, I never watched Masquerade or Klaus or even the finale episode in full. I've become a selective viewer. Now, I am not impressed by the storylines anymore, I'm not dragged along by the plots. I feel like that show that used to be my favorite is gone now and it was replaced by some chauvinistic Twilight crap.
And don't get me wrong, there was a time when I enjoyed Twilight, too. I read the first three books in a matter of days and I never thought there was anything wrong with them until I had enough time to think about them. To analyze them. To dissect and fully understand the message that these books were sending to their readers. Quite naively I thought that there was nothing wrong with Edward and Bella's relationship when I read the first books, I just always liked Jacob better. I always thought that Jacob would have been the healthier choice, he would be the one that I'd pick. And then, it seems, I rethought all that happened and realized just how utterly unhealthy EB's relationship is, how pitiful of a character Bella really was (does she have hobbies, friends, talents? Anything, really, that makes her a "person"?) and what kind of a warped message that was sending out to girls. I saw and heard what happened among the fandom, witnessed some of the most ridiculous battles myself and it became clear, just how much of an impact these books had on the minds of their readership. Mostly the younger ones.
Something very similar has happened to TVD now.
At first, I didn't see much wrong with Damon either. Sure, I hated him, but I loved to hate him (he WAS the villain, after all!). To me, it was always clear that Damon and Elena would not get together in that universe without something happening like in the books (where Elena becomes some kind of different entity and cleanses Damon from his sins and all that jazz that didn't make any sense to me, really), or at least either one of them losing their entire memories and them practically meeting "anew". I would have hated it had they done it that way (because what a cliche would that have been!), but it definitely would not have turned me off the show and question the sanity of the writers (as well as Nina and Ian, but after seeing them in Paris together, their thoughts on the DE relationship makes sense to me) and fear for the mindset of the audience.
Twilight teaches young girls that it is completely okay to never make any effort for your friends, so just kind of "be" there, but not really. It's okay to find a guy who climbs into your window at night to watch you sleep, it's romantic that he wants to keep you safe so he de-installs the engine of your car to prevent you from visiting your best friend or to even organize a babysitter for you who has no qualms of physically restraining you from doing that. It's fine, yes even admirable, to receive that kind of possessive, manhandling love (admittedly, Jacob forcing a kiss on Bella in book 2 or so wasn't much better...). Because he loves you and that is all that matters, it is all that will make you happy and his love for you is what excuses those actions.
TVD seems to go even a step further: it's okay if the guy has abused, threatened, killed, raped, mindwiped, manhandled not only hundreds of people you never met, but also your friends/family and even you YOURSELF. Because he loves you and that makes it all okay. And he got bitten by a werewolf and was about to die, and he apologizes and that's all that it takes. He doesn't have to make amends with the people he actually hurt, he doesn't even have to actually change, he just has to sweat a bit, and say that he "needs" forgiveness, so it is handed to him. He doesn't need to work for it at all.
Neither Damon nor Edward are mentally deficient. I'm not cracking a joke or taking a jab at them here, they do not have some kind of psychological inability. They understand what death means, they understand what hurting someone means, they understand the meaning of yes and no. They simply choose to ignore it to further their own agenda. Things like Edward almost taking too much blood from Bella at the end of the first book or Damon attacking Elena in the season two finale are forgivable, because neither one was in their right mind at the moment. Edward was in a blood rush and Damon was literally going crazy, so I wouldn't think it to be fair to hold a grudge. But the rest of the time, they are both completely fine (mentally speaking).
Loving someone does not give you the right to stalk them, to force them to do something they don't want, to make decisions for them that they are very much able to make themselves, to disrespect them and their opinion or to go and kill someone when they reject you. In fact, loving someone does not give you any rights to anything, quite the opposite. And neither story seems to be able to pronounce that. Worse even, they have in fact created relationships where both partners are somewhat equal and respect each other and each other's friends/family (remember why Elena put up with Damon in the first place?), but they choose to go with the more "romantic" bad boy / good girl relationship, completely missing the point that even the bad boy has to redeem himself at some point and actually change. Not just cry beautifully into a camera.
To say I am disappointed in the show is probably saying either too little or too much.
I am disappointed because there are so many great potential storylines they could emphasize but they choose to shove a few tortured-Damon shots into every episode. I am sad that they have such a great ensemble cast and they don't use it. I am extremely disappointed by the lack of consequences for Damon and his actions. And while I applaud Nina Dobrev for her performance, I am simply fed up with seeing her face for 30 minutes per episode. I am angry with Elena because of how spotty her moral coat is, how she chooses to ignore or forget certain things. I am furious with the lack of background information on Bonnie (even Matt got more: his mom, sister, house, living situation, problems, goals in life, feelings...) and character development for not only her but Alaric, Jeremy, Matt and Jenna as well. I am excited by the new characters they bring in and at the same time I am bummed because I know it will take away even more screentime from them and usually those new characters die serving some greater purpose. And by greater purpose, I mean either saving Elena, pushing Elena into Damon's direction or showing the audience just how "tortured" Damon is. And while I don't want to suggest that they are doing it on purpose: do the writers realize how most of the witches have been black and all except Bonnie have died horrible deaths to save the Salvatores? Did the writers/directors realize how rape-like the sacrifice looked on screen and do they understand that they have Damon basically going around roofie-raping women since season one?
So I guess, I am drawing the line. I am drawing the line for myself and my sanity. I cannot watch a scene like the one with Damon forcing his blood into Elena's mouth knowing that he will be forgiven in no time and stay calm. I cannot sit through 42 minutes of violence-glorifying chauvinism waiting for scenes of Caroline or Bonnie only to catch a 2-minute-glimpse of either. And I most certainly cannot deal with this fandom and its excuses for Damon anymore without having to take some time away.
I will continue to watch for scenes. I will continue to watch for Jeremy's new plot, for Bonnie and for Caroline, maybe even for Tyler. But I will fast forward through all scenes Damon/Elena/Stefan or any combination thereof. Maybe Stefan by himself, with Klaus, will be interesting, because at least with his violence I know there will be consequences for him. But you can never really know with this show.