Fandom Longativity!
Ok, didn't see David and Ronnie today. Started coughing, sneezing, aches and pains and a headache. I think the headache was due to lack of sleep. So I phoned them and cancelled, took some lemsip, and went back to bed. The headache is gone, but, apart from the sniffling, the ball of my right leg is killing me.
I will not call this a meta, more along the lines of my rambling.
While it could be argued that the Doctor Who fandom is the one that lived longest in the hearts and minds of people, this one is more along the lines of on-line fandoms, and what makes them live. Or why I think the Buffy!Verse will outlive the Supernatural fandom after it has finished airing. In fact I think the Buffy!Verse fandom will outlive all other Joss Whedon shows as well. It has grown, has developed it's own life away from it's creator (Joss encouraged this, and that just goes to show that the man is a total genius).
The Buffy!Verse has a host of well naucenced characters who have such character development that they can be explored in fandom for a long time, even the secondary characters had personalities that are interesting and make good topics for discussion, while people can write them in many ways. The casting team were also very good in picking the right actors for the parts, actors we can see in our heads and can put in situations with these characterisations. Joss is the master of characterisations. He is a slow burner, taking time to set up charactor, situations and a host of other things which appeal to the imagination. I just hope that in this viewing age, when, if it doesn't make an instant impression, people do not give it a chance, his type of story-telling hasn't died out. It is masterful.
Eric Kripke hasn't got that. His characterisation is not in the same league as Joss, neither are his secondary characters, who, mostly he doesn't develop enough to give them a personality to inspire the imagination before killing them off.
While in Supernatural, the story arc is longer term, and centered round the two main characters is excellent, it often leaves the villian totally unexplaing on their own.
As an example, take the mayor. He had his own scenes, insight into his motavations, and interaction with others, while with Azazel, he never had a scene on his own. Yes, I fully understand that Eric wants to keep us guessing as much as possible about events, and that might be his style, but here was an interesting character that could've been developed. It is the same with Lilith now, and even Ruby. Keeping us guessing is a good tack, but it doesn't give us characters to play with, which is what keeps a fandom alive.
It also puts a lot of pressure on Jensen and Jared. SMG had a lot of scenes, but she didn't need to be in as many scenes, and we were sufficiently interested in other characters that they could have their own centric episodes. Castiel has been, for the majority, well recieved, but this week's episode of Jimmy/Castiel centric storyline hasn't been as well recieved as his popularity would say it should.
Joss is still the master of characteristion, and that is what keeps his fandom alive.
I will not call this a meta, more along the lines of my rambling.
While it could be argued that the Doctor Who fandom is the one that lived longest in the hearts and minds of people, this one is more along the lines of on-line fandoms, and what makes them live. Or why I think the Buffy!Verse will outlive the Supernatural fandom after it has finished airing. In fact I think the Buffy!Verse fandom will outlive all other Joss Whedon shows as well. It has grown, has developed it's own life away from it's creator (Joss encouraged this, and that just goes to show that the man is a total genius).
The Buffy!Verse has a host of well naucenced characters who have such character development that they can be explored in fandom for a long time, even the secondary characters had personalities that are interesting and make good topics for discussion, while people can write them in many ways. The casting team were also very good in picking the right actors for the parts, actors we can see in our heads and can put in situations with these characterisations. Joss is the master of characterisations. He is a slow burner, taking time to set up charactor, situations and a host of other things which appeal to the imagination. I just hope that in this viewing age, when, if it doesn't make an instant impression, people do not give it a chance, his type of story-telling hasn't died out. It is masterful.
Eric Kripke hasn't got that. His characterisation is not in the same league as Joss, neither are his secondary characters, who, mostly he doesn't develop enough to give them a personality to inspire the imagination before killing them off.
While in Supernatural, the story arc is longer term, and centered round the two main characters is excellent, it often leaves the villian totally unexplaing on their own.
As an example, take the mayor. He had his own scenes, insight into his motavations, and interaction with others, while with Azazel, he never had a scene on his own. Yes, I fully understand that Eric wants to keep us guessing as much as possible about events, and that might be his style, but here was an interesting character that could've been developed. It is the same with Lilith now, and even Ruby. Keeping us guessing is a good tack, but it doesn't give us characters to play with, which is what keeps a fandom alive.
It also puts a lot of pressure on Jensen and Jared. SMG had a lot of scenes, but she didn't need to be in as many scenes, and we were sufficiently interested in other characters that they could have their own centric episodes. Castiel has been, for the majority, well recieved, but this week's episode of Jimmy/Castiel centric storyline hasn't been as well recieved as his popularity would say it should.
Joss is still the master of characteristion, and that is what keeps his fandom alive.