Huckabee, incidentally? Just got cancelled.
So, another Tuesday, another set of primaries, another sign of how much the Dems have two AWESOME CANDIDATES who our nation will be willing to put their weight behind.
In short: \o/
My problem, however... Dude, when did politics become fandom?
Obama and Clinton. Clinton and Obama. Two awesomely strong candidates who have huge groundswells of support- more than we've seen in a while, really.
But with that awesome comes the backlash of sorts: really, really, really intense fans.
Clinton supporters are like really obsessive Buffy fans. They don't understand how everyone isn't watching their show. It's because it's about a girl, isn't it? Dude, there's a MESSAGE in this one. The "high school is hell" metaphor is a good starting place, but look at the amazing ways that was expanded upon. There's a clear five-season arc. There's a plan. This show single-handedly (okay, with Dawson's Creek) supported the WB for YEARS. When you take everything else away, their heroine is right there, simultaneously being a strong character and a strong female role model. This show not getting an Emmy nom is a TRAVESTY.
Obama supporters are like Browncoats. They can't believe the way that TPTB at FOX can move around the schedule, screwing with Firefly's chances of success. Haven't people paid attention? This show is amazing. It's a new and inventive melding of genres that's never been done before. The writing is new and inspired, and there's a sense of fighting against outrageous odds, and yet succeeding through honor and virtue. You can't blame the fans for being militant supporters, especially not by the time they actually get a MOVIE out of the deal; they have done the impossible, and that makes them mighty.
(For the sake of everyone involved, I am not going to explain how Nielsen ratings, time shifting, cities not getting the WB, and illegal downloading can translate to the political process. YOU ARE TOTALLY WELCOME.)
The problem, of course, is... well, how many of y'all were at LJ the summer Serenity came out? Every other day, there was a new meme about the fandom, and a new- and totally valid!- reason to be gleeful and giddy about all of it. And for fans of the show that was AWESOME. But for a lot of others, the overexposure kind of soured them on the entire concept of the movie, and maybe on opening weekend they went to see A History of Violence instead.
And it was the same with Buffy fans; it was impossible, for a few years, to talk about how much you loved [insert show on the WB here] without it being compared (unfavorably, obvs) to Buffy. And frequently it was a completely accurate assessment- as much as I love the Ros, and I do, anyone who wants to favorably compare s2 Roswell to s2 Buffy is in for the fight of their life- it made it awfully hard to want to watch Buffy if you were a fan of, say, Holly Marie Combs Alyssa Milano's breasts Charmed.
I don't think either side is wrong; I think the level of enthusiasm is AWESOME, and I also think it makes sense that people who aren't fans could get turned off by the level of love people have for it.
But, guys, can we remember something?
We're all on the same team here.
We all like Joss shows. We may prefer "Objects in Space" to "Hush", or whatever, but we like Joss shows. We may have issues with some of Joss's politics- we may write long posts about how he screws up, sometimes, with race or gender or sexuality or believing his own hype- but we all know that, even considering those things, we'd still rather have him in charge of our show than, say, (and Picket Fences is one of my favorite shows ever, but) David E. Kelly.
So while SO MUCH of being fannish is comparative (you can't say a show has good acting, writing, directing, plotting, whatev if you don't have less-awesome things to compare it to), it does not actually need to be a race to see which Joss show is the best. Because that's the kind of attitude that means the earliest chance we have of all agreeing is Dollhouse, and that hasn't even been fully cast yet.
I mean, think of how many years Seventh Heaven got the highest ratings on the WB. Please do not let that happen to this country.
NOTE, JUST IN CASE: I'm sure a lot of this is debatable, and that debate is totally welcome; I am sure I misphrased a bunch of things that could be clarified. But attacks- on other commenters, on other candidates, or on other shows- are not cool. For the record.
In short: \o/
My problem, however... Dude, when did politics become fandom?
Obama and Clinton. Clinton and Obama. Two awesomely strong candidates who have huge groundswells of support- more than we've seen in a while, really.
But with that awesome comes the backlash of sorts: really, really, really intense fans.
Clinton supporters are like really obsessive Buffy fans. They don't understand how everyone isn't watching their show. It's because it's about a girl, isn't it? Dude, there's a MESSAGE in this one. The "high school is hell" metaphor is a good starting place, but look at the amazing ways that was expanded upon. There's a clear five-season arc. There's a plan. This show single-handedly (okay, with Dawson's Creek) supported the WB for YEARS. When you take everything else away, their heroine is right there, simultaneously being a strong character and a strong female role model. This show not getting an Emmy nom is a TRAVESTY.
Obama supporters are like Browncoats. They can't believe the way that TPTB at FOX can move around the schedule, screwing with Firefly's chances of success. Haven't people paid attention? This show is amazing. It's a new and inventive melding of genres that's never been done before. The writing is new and inspired, and there's a sense of fighting against outrageous odds, and yet succeeding through honor and virtue. You can't blame the fans for being militant supporters, especially not by the time they actually get a MOVIE out of the deal; they have done the impossible, and that makes them mighty.
(For the sake of everyone involved, I am not going to explain how Nielsen ratings, time shifting, cities not getting the WB, and illegal downloading can translate to the political process. YOU ARE TOTALLY WELCOME.)
The problem, of course, is... well, how many of y'all were at LJ the summer Serenity came out? Every other day, there was a new meme about the fandom, and a new- and totally valid!- reason to be gleeful and giddy about all of it. And for fans of the show that was AWESOME. But for a lot of others, the overexposure kind of soured them on the entire concept of the movie, and maybe on opening weekend they went to see A History of Violence instead.
And it was the same with Buffy fans; it was impossible, for a few years, to talk about how much you loved [insert show on the WB here] without it being compared (unfavorably, obvs) to Buffy. And frequently it was a completely accurate assessment- as much as I love the Ros, and I do, anyone who wants to favorably compare s2 Roswell to s2 Buffy is in for the fight of their life- it made it awfully hard to want to watch Buffy if you were a fan of, say, Holly Marie Combs Alyssa Milano's breasts Charmed.
I don't think either side is wrong; I think the level of enthusiasm is AWESOME, and I also think it makes sense that people who aren't fans could get turned off by the level of love people have for it.
But, guys, can we remember something?
We're all on the same team here.
We all like Joss shows. We may prefer "Objects in Space" to "Hush", or whatever, but we like Joss shows. We may have issues with some of Joss's politics- we may write long posts about how he screws up, sometimes, with race or gender or sexuality or believing his own hype- but we all know that, even considering those things, we'd still rather have him in charge of our show than, say, (and Picket Fences is one of my favorite shows ever, but) David E. Kelly.
So while SO MUCH of being fannish is comparative (you can't say a show has good acting, writing, directing, plotting, whatev if you don't have less-awesome things to compare it to), it does not actually need to be a race to see which Joss show is the best. Because that's the kind of attitude that means the earliest chance we have of all agreeing is Dollhouse, and that hasn't even been fully cast yet.
I mean, think of how many years Seventh Heaven got the highest ratings on the WB. Please do not let that happen to this country.
NOTE, JUST IN CASE: I'm sure a lot of this is debatable, and that debate is totally welcome; I am sure I misphrased a bunch of things that could be clarified. But attacks- on other commenters, on other candidates, or on other shows- are not cool. For the record.