Fandoms I Have Loved 8: Oz
I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to Oz, I know nothing. But when has that ever stopped me before? Roll on with the FIHL, and if I get it wrong, hey, just tell me so.
Oz is a TV show. About a maximum-security prison. That did its damnedest to show prison life the way it really is. And it was written by Tom Fontana. This is all ( Read more... )
Oz is a TV show. About a maximum-security prison. That did its damnedest to show prison life the way it really is. And it was written by Tom Fontana. This is all ( Read more... )
Hey, I wrote a Fandoms I Have Loved about it, and I've only ever watched that vid. (And, thank you, that's quite enough; I don't need to, you know, see the rape scene and the branding scene and the myriad death scenes and whatever scene explains that godawful thing - that roadkill fungus creature, or whatever it is - that Beecher has on his face sometimes.) So, hell yeah - weigh in with the commentary. This is fandom. It's not like you need to pass comps to have an opinion here.
Am I allowed to blame you for this?
No. I am a fellow-sufferer, and it is wrong to blame the victim.
All right, as soon as I return from darkest Africa after consulting many venerable witch doctors I shall announce the cure for the Oz curse publically.
Good. Just don't try the thing with the pentagram and the iron filings and the giant cauldron of stinking muck, because I did that last week and I don't feel my addiction decreasing at all. Oh, and the overexposure, read-everything-and-then-I'm-over-it cure? Doesn't work. Has never worked. Just so you know.
Also, Ethan Frome was the bane of my existence last summer, thanks to that freaking English AP reading list. It looked so innocent! DAMN YOU EDITH WHARTON.
Ethan Frome (and I need to say here that I do know how to spell it, even if I don't, apparently, know how to remember to proofread) is likely responsible for our nation's skyrocketing increase in antidepressant prescriptions. And illegal drug use. And gnawing existential despair. And making high school students read it? Hey, yeah, that's a great idea; they aren't miserable enough, so let's expose them to Edith "Wretchedness" Wharton's apparent conviction that, really, death is the best you can hope for, and it's all downhill from there. Literally. (Although, best town name ever: Starkfield. Because, yes, it so is.)
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Rape I cannot handle. At all, ever. American History X proved that very nicely, and at least the protagonists in that one had some semblance of redemption or morals. Things were bad, but they weren't Fontana bad. From what I've heard of Oz, rape seems to be an almost weekly occurence, which is the main reason why I will likely never watch it or, if I do watch, will cause my eventual mental breakdown.
I don't think anything, really, can explain Beecher's beard. Or so I'm told that's what it is. Personally I think that's taking a lot on faith. Keller has almost a beard thing going on in parts of that video, and it is PROPER AND SOMEWHAT SEXY [and then really, that's the beginning of the reasons why i shouldn't watch Oz. Serial killing sociopaths should not be that attractive.]
Um, so, the very pale guy that Keller has his arm around...while Beecher's in the headlock? Who is he? He looks like some freakish combination of every nightmare I've ever had, and the albino from The Princess Bride. "Tough luck, Beecher. TAKE HIM TO THE PIT OF DESPAIR!"
As for myriad death count...doesn't pretty much every character die? I mean, anyone who sleeps with Beecher, as I understand it, because Keller is protective like that. "You! Off my man! Only I may break his arms and legs in that special way!" And then gruesome killage and/or sex occurs. Sometimes both? I really hate this fandom.
And yet it has its sweaty manhands all over me -- and that analogy stops right there.
No. I am a fellow-sufferer, and it is wrong to blame the victim.
Well, you do have a tendency to make things sound really fascinating when I would otherwise have no interest in them. As long as you're suffering too. Hee. I just noticed that. "OZ: The Fandom I Don't Want To Love (That Is Apparently Going to Make Me Its Bitch Anyway.)" I love you. That is exactly how I feel about it.
Oh, and the overexposure, read-everything-and-then-I'm-over-it cure? Doesn't work. Has never worked. Just so you know.
As evidenced by the seven or so times I've watched that vid, and yet every time I pause in what I'm doing the song is in my head? I mean, I usually try to not overdo it with fic I really love and so on, so it still has that 'new and exciting' feel. DOES. NOT. WORK. With Oz, anyway. *weeps* I'm all for dysfunction, but, okay this is just ridiculously beyond what I'm all for.
And you may have already answered this once, thanks to the last shot of the vid but...Keller dies? Excuse me? Porquoi?
so let's expose them to Edith "Wretchedness" Wharton's apparent conviction that, really, death is the best you can hope for, and it's all downhill from there. Literally.
Oh my god, it's so horribly true. I'm willing to blame Ethan Frome [I wasn't sure about spelling either] for the majority of suicides among honours students. Love! Oh, wait...no...death. Marriage! Nope...wait, she's dying too. Young hot cousin! Well..you get the picture.
*mopes* This is a ridiculously long comment and yet I still have things to say. Bugger.
[I've heard that skinning a rabbit and walking twelve times around a pear tree counterclockwise is supposed to work, but I have to wait until the next full moon. Life is hard.]
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This is sort of the blind leading the blind, but, yup. Most characters die. I mean, OK, nearly everyone. And definitely anyone who has sex with Beecher (who goes through a whole "I'll fuck anyone who's interested and everyone I can, just to fuck with your head" thing that really increases the body count) bites it, 'cause Keller is, as you said, protective like that. I read a fic once where O'Reily tries to warn off a new guy who is flirting with Keller (who is, of course, on the outs with Beecher) by saying, "Those two aren't known for playing well with others. I wouldn't get between 'em if I was you." Aaaaaand the Understatement of the Year Award goes to - Ryan O'Reily!
Um, so, the very pale guy that Keller has his arm around...while Beecher's in the headlock? Who is he? He looks like some freakish combination of every nightmare I've ever had, and the albino from The Princess Bride. "Tough luck, Beecher. TAKE HIM TO THE PIT OF DESPAIR!"
Pretty sure that's Vern Schillinger, though I'd appreciate some confirmation from someone who a) has watched at least one episode of the series and b) can recognize faces. But if I'm right, excellent call on that nightmare-albino-Pit of Despair thing.
And you may have already answered this once, thanks to the last shot of the vid but...Keller dies? Excuse me? Porquoi?
'Fraid so, but it happens in the last season, also known as "the season I refuse to acknowledge as canon because it has all the hallmarks of really bad fic, and I've already got plenty of that in my life, thanks." So you can decide for yourself whether or not to buy this chain of events (and, again, I don't know this for sure, and in fact the last time I tried to explain this, rowanfairchild had to set me straight 'cause I had it wrong).
Beecher gets paroled. Keller deliberately fucks it up, and Beecher comes back to Oz to serve out the rest of his sentence (nine years). Then, in the words of Rowan:
"Keller commits suicide when he realizes he's never going to get Beecher back. The thing that has most OZ fans in permanant denial, is that he tries, at the last second, to pin it on Beecher, by yelling "Beecher, no!" as he falls -- which in Fontana's world, is Keller's one last attempt to be in control of the relationship, even at the bitter end."
I call that violently out of character, even for Keller, and I think Fontana deserves to be whacked with the Bad Writer Stick. Many, many times.
*mopes* This is a ridiculously long comment and yet I still have things to say. Bugger.
Well, I'm all for long comments, but if you'd rather take this whole blame-commiseration-exorcism-Wharton thing to email, I can be found at deepbluesea at postmark dot net.
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Is it wrong that I giggled here? It's definitely wrong that I giggled here.
You'd think though, that after awhile a pattern would start to emerge and either Beecher would realize it ["Is it me?"] , or the prisoners he's having sex with would ["Fuck Beecher, end up dead in a supply closet."]
Aaaaaand the Understatement of the Year Award goes to - Ryan O'Reily!
No kidding. Aha! Through google image search [for Schillinger, but we'll get to that later] I've discovered that the one eppy of Oz I inadvertedly watched part of, contained Cyril O'Reily, previously known only as "Someone with long blond hair to whom unspeakable things happened in the space of fifteen minutes. Let us never speak of this again." Ha! You have no idea how satisfying that is. For years my only knowledge of Oz was a vague impression of someone with long, stringy blond hair who gets totally brutalized in ways I no longer remember. But then I was reading crack_van's summary, and of course there aren't any pictures of Cyril and I just decided that I must have made up that memory, or that it was a different show or something. Okay, I'm good.
Pretty sure that's Vern Schillinger, though I'd appreciate some confirmation from someone who a) has watched at least one episode of the series and b) can recognize faces. But if I'm right, excellent call on that nightmare-albino-Pit of Despair thing.
Okay, so I came up with this for Vern Schillinger:
After watching that video again, in the name of research, I still can't tell if they're the same person. My initial reaction is no, but then after pausing and going frame-by-frame [thereby revealing myself as an anal-retentative cow] I'm not sure. Schillinger would make the most sense, though.
Glad to know someone else sees the PB-Albino thing. Cheers!
Beecher gets paroled. Keller deliberately fucks it up, and Beecher comes back to Oz to serve out the rest of his sentence (nine years). Then, in the words of Rowan:
"Keller commits suicide when he realizes he's never going to get Beecher back. The thing that has most OZ fans in permanant denial, is that he tries, at the last second, to pin it on Beecher, by yelling "Beecher, no!" as he falls -- which in Fontana's world, is Keller's one last attempt to be in control of the relationship, even at the bitter end."
... UM. Ouch. So I'm assuming that Beecher found out and Was Not Pleased, and that's why Keller knew he was never going to get him back? So he commits suicide, but pins it on Beecher, thereby making sure his Beloved will never ever be paroled? And also, hello, alone in Oz. Which has to be sort of a bitch. As witnessed in Season One.
I think I see what you mean about it being OOC, though. That seems a little too vindictive, for someone who wanted to be with Beecher so much he actually got him thrown back in jail. But then maybe I'm wrong, and the Oz-fangirls are laughing at me from afar. "Too vindictive? Keller? Go back to Hogwarts, little girl." It seems like the more I find out about Oz, the less I want to know. And yet I keep asking.
I can't imagine watching this show if I didn't know what was going to happen beforehand.
Well, I'm all for long comments, but if you'd rather take this whole blame-commiseration-exorcism-Wharton thing to email, I can be found at deepbluesea at postmark dot net.
I don't mind the long comments either, but it's your journal, and I thought you might. I'm lessien[at]gmail dot com. I leave it up to you, as I'm generally up for talking about things long after people are ready to beat me to death out of boredom. I definitely appreciate your answering my questions, even if it is 'blind leading the blind'. I can't even tell.
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Hey, just to poke my head into your convo here for a sec (I'm a buttinski that way *g*) -- actually, no, there really weren't that many rapes *shown* on the show. More like one a season. (Not that that isn't plenty, but...)
Deaths? Heh. Now that's another story...
Yes, the guy Keller has his arm around is Schillinger. The actor JK Simmons lost a quite a bit of weight after the first two seasons, which might account for some of the confusion.
And you know, one thing I haven't seen mentioned here at all in this discussion is that the show isn't *all* violence and despair. It's really really funny sometimes. And human, and sometimes downright touching. I hope I don't sound prickly for saying this, but some of this discussion is making it sound like anyone who actually watches this show must be some sort of depraved ghoul. It's really not like that. This show was, for the most part wonderfully written, had one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled, and wasn't afraid to tackle real issues about race and social justice in America.
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Well, that's not so bad I guess (and how wrong do I feel for saying that?) I think that just by reading episode guides, maybe it seemed like there were a lot more rapes than actually existed per square inch. Condensing the plot makes it sound a lot more batshit than it actually is, I'm guessing.
Deaths? Heh. Now that's another story...
See, that I think I could handle more, because of the morbid sense of humour thing I have going on.
Yes, the guy Keller has his arm around is Schillinger. The actor JK Simmons lost a quite a bit of weight after the first two seasons, which might account for some of the confusion.
Aha. Thank you very much. thefourthvine and I were going back and forth, so it's nice to have confirmation from someone who's actually seen the show. Can I just say for the record that he is SO SCARY?
And you know, one thing I haven't seen mentioned here at all in this discussion is that the show isn't *all* violence and despair. It's really really funny sometimes. And human, and sometimes downright touching.
Well, I figured it had to be more than doom and despair, or else who would watch it, right? I'm just speaking out of a) ignorance and b) a real fear of getting into this show and then having to invest in psychiatric therapy. Because personally, (and I ended up going into this a little on my LJ) I get way too concerned with what happens to fictional characters -- it's embarrassing, but it's true. And I have a feeling that I could probably very easily get into this show, but I'm trying to stop before I start. The easiest way to do this is to remind myself of all the worst things that happen on the show. Kind of a screwed-up attempt at self-preservation.
I hope I don't sound prickly for saying this, but some of this discussion is making it sound like anyone who actually watches this show must be some sort of depraved ghoul. It's really not like that. This show was, for the most part wonderfully written, had one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled, and wasn't afraid to tackle real issues about race and social justice in America.
You don't sound prickly! And I'm really sure that no one intended it to sound like that at all. If anything, I was getting a huge sense of admiration for the fangirls who braved six seasons of the show, without the luxury of knowing what was going to happen beforehand. Honestly, I salute you girls. I couldn't have done it.
I think perhaps the fact that the show was so well-written is another reason people might be reluctant to get involved with it? I mean, people usually form an attachment to well-written characters, and maybe I'm generalizing again, but it sounds like OZ is not a fandom in which you want to get too attached to anyone. It looks amazing, and touching, and very real.
But...like I said before, I don't really consider myself strong enough to watch it all the way through alone without going a wee bit insane.
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I went to check this out, but it must be a locked entry. :-(
Anyway, no I totally hear you -- and believe me, OZ isn't the show for everyone. It is intense, and graphic, and it will put you on an emotional rollercoaster if you get attached to the characters. I'd say go ahead and rent the first season, give it a shot and see what you think. If it's too intense, you'll know after an episode or two, heh, but I doubt that would be enough to send you out for psychiatric care. :-)
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I think another part of the reason I'm reluctant [read: scared] to start watching is that, well...not unlike Beecher, I have a bit of an addictive personality. Only instead of drugs, I do fandoms. Multiple fandoms. For some reason, it is all too easy for me to get really really into a new fandom, and generally it doesn't work if I try to do it halfway.
So even if I do rent the first season, watch a couple of episodes, and then decided it's too much, I will in all likelihood, spend altogether too much time still thinking about it. "I wonder if so and so dies." "I wonder how many episodes I'd have to watch before Beecher goes nuts."
And so on. Before I knew it, I'd be howling and throwing things at the TV, but completely unable to tear myself away.
Also, my flist is completely barren of Ozfans, and there is no way I want to experience all this stuff without the benefits of cathartic whining.
[The sad thing is, I'm pretty much considering renting it now. Nooooooo.]
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My apologies; that wasn't what I intended to convey, or what I actually think. I just think you guys are braver and tougher than I am. I mean, I pitch a major wobbler when there's even one death in my favorite canons (Sirius, whose death really undermined my love for the whole HP series, being one example), and I tend to get squealy and scared and totally little-girly if there's the slightest hint of badness in TV shows. (Seriously. Cannot watch the second season of Sports Night without making this horrible noise, just because there's some drama happening there.) That does not make me not ghoulish, because I am. It just makes me really irritating to be around.
And I know the acting (on Oz, which is actually the subject at hand no matter how much I like to turn the conversation back to me me me) was incredible, and the show itself was amazing and ground-breaking. I even know there was humor in it, because I've read a few of the transcripts, and if something makes me smile in a transcript, I know it must've been profoundly funny in the actual show. And, truly, I've flirted with the idea of watching the show, because it sounds so damn amazing. I just know I couldn't handle it - because, you know, see above about squeamishness. In other words: the problem is me, not the show.
But, you know, lessien and I weren't just joking about being horrified by Ozfic (because, for one thing, I like warnings) but unable to look away. There's a reason why so many people get sucked into this fandom against their will ('cause, let's face it, if you're the type who wants schmoop and happy endings and fuzzy-wuzzies, this is not the fandom for you) - it's because the incredible characters and the intense realness of the show (and the humor and the good moments and the bad moments) come through in the fic. So those of us who got into this fandom through the back door love it, too; we just can't believe that we love it. Hence the moaning.
And thanks for verifying the presence of Schillinger, who is one scary-looking man. I remember watching that vid, which actually got me started on Oz fic, and thinking - ooo, this can't be good. He's all huggy. With Satan.
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Anyway, I'm sorry again for sounding cranky. I just get tired of feeling defensive about my fandom (You like WHAT??? Ohmigod, WHY???) and I guess my buttons are a little too easily pushed. :-(
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