Green Room - Week 26 - Day 7
Remember what I said about how I try to always be optimistic - because what is happening is going to happen regardless, and you might as well find something positive to focus on? (And of course there are some *truly* horrific things that are exempt from that
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This format (the one they lifted and tried to copy) didn't exist 11 years ago. It's like another appendage for me. For someone else trying to copy it? They never got the right feel for it. Because they didn't *love* it. It wasn't their passion. It was something they were doing.
Another big thing is that they didn't just want to run things, they wanted to *play* as well. Which I think is a rookie mistake. The person in charge can *never* be involved on that level. That's such a fundamental ethical problem that I've never been able to understand how anyone has ever failed to see it.
I also think that I am at my best when I stay out of your way. Guide you down a path, but for the most part realize that it's not MY tastes that are going to rule out. Entries I loved get eliminated. Entries I didn't care for move forward. It doesn't mean that the voters got it wrong. It doesn't mean that my personal tastes are wrong - it just means people like different things, and you can't always predict what those are going to be, especially when that result is taken in with a collective result. That's one thing that "the others" always bristled at. They never truly got that it's *not* about them... Idol *is* a big part of me. I take it very personally... but it's all of us. Everyone who shows up. Everyone is has EVER shown up, and what they have brought to the table. You lose sight of that, and you've lost.
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I think there's a volume of essays in your Idol ponderings. Especially in today's age when most of us are intimate with online relationships and the competitiveness that is part and parcel of many social media platforms. I know "I" would read a collection of your essays about the years you've spent at the helm of this amazing writing game.
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Hence all those "voting blocks" as well as "communities made solely to push newbies forward".
What you haven't mentioned in this, though, is how you modeled the game after "Survivor" where all those twisty-turny-voting block-blindsiding stuff came from. The game on TV veered into TEH DRAMA back then and that was reflected in Idol back then because, as I've said before, it was more about the game and less about the writing. I haven't watched Survivor the last few seasons so I don't know if TEH DRAMA is as draaaaaaaaahma as it was back then.
They never truly got that it's *not* about them... Idol *is* a big part of me. I take it very personally... but it's all of us. Everyone who shows up. Everyone is has EVER shown up, and what they have brought to the table. You lose sight of that, and you've lost.
Which makes you take anything against Idol personally. That's understandable.
However, most people didn't take that into consideration back then. For them it was a game, a gossip mill, a way to create community, make friends. Some have fond memories of it, some don't. It was almost like Idol had two faces back then -- it had its own "thing" going on when you were hands off and it did a 180 in some respects when you were hands on. People would get angry about that because they wanted to resolve/do things THEIR way (you know what I mean).
Idol IS what you make it. A few people have developed freelance careers stemming from their participation here. Some have been published. However, there are many people who never had their sights on either and are here for the community, and IMO they've been sort of shuttled to the side these last few seasons, myself included. I honestly don't think it's on purpose -- I think it speaks more of the state of things now vs. then.
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And there's where we differ in how we are look at things...
From where I'm sitting, Survivor didn't invent interpersonal drama. There's a heightened tension because strangers are in close quarters and under pressure from the elements. But people don't suddenly react in ways they wouldn't normally react. (Well, there *can* be a more extreme version of it. I'm not an asshole because I'm tired and hungry... being tired and hungry means I'm more likely to show that part of my personality.)
Survivor is, at it's heart, a game about social interaction. Always has been. Everything else is the trappings to keep people interesting and give them something to do.
Livejournal, especially when it was active, but now as well - is about that social interaction. Which is why it was so filled with drama. Idol definitely didn't generate that. You didn't have to go far to get your share of the drama.
Which is why I strongly disagree with the notion that other places were "all about the drama" whereas Idol was "all about the game". Idol was simply honest that there was a game, whereas the others were trying to pretend that there wasn't.
"I haven't watched Survivor the last few seasons so I don't know if TEH DRAMA is as draaaaaaaaahma as it was back then."
Yes. People are still people. :)
Of course, there's more of a focus on MAKING BIG MOVES!!!! Which does increase certain aspects of the drama because people are being encourage to sabotage their own games for "good tv".
"It was almost like Idol had two faces back then -- it had its own "thing" going on when you were hands off and it did a 180 in some respects when you were hands on. People would get angry about that because they wanted to resolve/do things THEIR way (you know what I mean)."
I know what you mean. But for those who don't - there were folks who thought they should be able to make the rules - AS WE WENT. Literally "I don't like how this is going, so you need to change it right now." In the last few years, I've actually given myself more leeway and wiggle room for each week. But in the beginning, everything was planned out down to the last detail, and changing anything felt like it was risking the integrity of what I was doing... the stated rules were the stated rules, and if I said there was going to be a certain twist during Week 7, it didn't matter what happened in the meantime,it was happening in Week 7! (Now it may happen in Week 8 or 9 if I think it works better. Or in a couple cases, scrapped entirely if I think that's the thing to do. I rarely *add* anything.)
" and IMO they've been sort of shuttled to the side these last few seasons, myself included. I honestly don't think it's on purpose -- I think it speaks more of the state of things now vs. then."
It's definitely not. I do think there was a period where more folks were coming in who *wanted* to only talk about their writing, and who had definite ideas of what they wanted from the experience. Other people (including you) have pointed out that a lot of folks have taken their social interaction to FB and other social media. Which is a big part of the "then vs now". But I think there's still folks who want to talk - but no one wants to be the one to talk *first*. :)
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I think this is one of the keys to why Idol works so well. You actually care about the ethics of it and trying to make it fair. You listen to people and hold steadfast to your rules when needed but also bend when needed. You maneuver this whole thing absolutely brilliantly. Thank you for your efforts :D.
Also, I never understand how people can do those anonymous ones. I did one once and not being able to control my own pieces formatting was killing me. It's like, it wasn't even my piece, it wasn't how I intended it to be, so what was the point.
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