Frustrated

[blehmeh05]

Everyone thinks they have good taste. I know this. And I know that it's the ultimate in hubris to believe that unlike so many of those other idiots out there, I'm actually one of the people who truly does have good taste. So yeah, I'm feeling like a jackass with every word I type, but at this point, the rant is imminent.

Comments

[blehmeh05]

I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass and say everything you've ever written has rocked my world, but no, your work most definitely doesn't disgust me. I sincerely appreciate the way you consistently try to break new ground, address real issues, and try to write slash that's more than just pretty men fucking. (Btw, most of the stuff that I've enjoyed in the last couple years--those Archer stories, notmanos' books--I found through your recs.)

Too many fuckwits writing it, too many fangirls lapping it up.That's putting it bluntly, but yep, it kinda does sum things up. The problem is people don't like to be told the stuff they like is bad. People don't want to hear that their cigs are giving them cancer, their chilli cheese fries are making them fat, and their vapid slash is numbing their minds. I can shout Manna Francis at every slash forum I can find, but her sales are still going to pale in comparison to the latest shitty vampire ebook from Torquere or whathaveyou

[blehmeh05]

Well, if you put any stock in IQ scores (which I kind of do, although most of the time I try not to be a wanker about it...although I guess today I'm feeling wanky), I'm smarter than about 99.95% of the population, so almost everybody seems dumb sometimes. Thinking about it too hard is the ticket to serious feelings of disconnectedness and misanthropy, so I try to skew the other way and remind myself that I can learn something interesting and valuable from pretty much every person out there. Even if they do like Twilight.

[harpergrey]

I'm with you on pretty much all fronts here -- I feel guilty judging people based on what they like, I do... But I've done enough research on the background of the media that people are being spoonfed to be disgusted by the idea of ever subjecting myself to it again. I find it very encouraging whenever I'm reminded that I'm not the only one who feels that way. :)

And it's not necessarily that I think the people who enjoy this working-from-a-formula stuff are stupid, more that they're intellectually lazy. Their reading/viewing experience is not about learning anything new, so they're perfectly satisfied to devour more and more of the same repetitive crap. It may well be arrogance speaking, but I think that anyone who prefers to exercise his or her intellect will get bored with that over-and-over-again drivel in fairly short order.

But then, I guess not everyone thinks about it in those terms. (There are moments when I'd argue that not everyone thinks, but that's beside the point.) And just for the record, I love it when you rant

[blehmeh05]

*nods* Yes, we're definitely on the same page. I know being disappointed in other people's standards won't make me feel any better or change the fact that lazy media almost always wins, but it's still hard not to get all huffy about it sometimes. I guess we just need to put more work into making stuff that we like for ourselves.

And hey, thanks for the rant appreciation! :)

[tameiki]

Readers like the same old tired phrases in the same old wheezy sex scenes...and a lot of them skip the plot just to get there.There are some readers who don't. They're in the same boat as you are wondering where the really good writers and stories are. Thankfully, there are some really good writers out there who consistently write well thought-out plotlines, engaging stories with characters who feel real and plausible situations. I actually do find them every now and again although they can be hard to find, it's totally worth it when I do

[blehmeh05]

Heh...both of my in-laws are journalists, so I've been trained to be quite discriminating when it comes to my news. (Too bad whenever I visit my own folks I still have to hear Fox News in the background.)

See, back when I first got into slash, since everything was new, it was easy to find all the really good stuff...there were years of material and recommendations to catch up on. The good stuff is totally worth it, but now it's a lot harder to find something great that I haven't already read multiple times. Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion that the more I read, the higher my standards get. After more than five years, it's just too easy to spot all the cliches.

[nekojita]

I've given up on a lot of the media - I tend to get my news on the web, picking and choosing websites from what I consider knowledgeable, factual and mostly bias-free sources. One of the things I hated back when I waited tables is they did keep Fox news on for the customers and if things were slow, I'd spend half my time debunking the crap that they had on there, amazed at how so many of the people who watched them didn't know the 'full' story of what was going on. Talk about spinning an angle

[blehmeh05]

I think I'd start to go a little crazy if I had to listen to Fox News every time I worked. At least it sounds like some people listened to you when you debunked stuff, which, hey, progress!

I've been shopping around a bit lately for some new fandoms, hoping that might help me rediscover the love, but so far, nothing's catching my fancy. Anime has been leaving me feeling a bit cold lately, and Merlin, which seems to be one of the big newer fandoms, just isn't quite my cuppa either.

[nekojita]

If only I could get Irish gram to watch something other than Fox news... but at least it's not on all the time when I visit, and we can have civil debates on topics over tea, unlike with most other family members (and they wonder why I spend all my visits with *them* with a glass of wine firmly in hand). *deep sigh*

I never could get into Merlin myself. Finding a few gems in KHR, I must admit - the whole time play/10 year later arc fact lends to some fun probabilities when it comes to plot.