Missing the trees for the forest...
I sat down earlier today and started rewatching Buffy. Starting all the way at the beginning.
Nah, I'm not gonna do a formal "rewatch" where I do up pithy comments on the episodes and share. I'm just kicking back and watching. You know, for fun.
I've been officially "in fandom" near on a year now (two weeks shy of, apparently), and...you know, it's easy to lose sight of why we're here in the first place.
I mean, I watch episodes. My favorite episodes. Or I go back and watch scenes for various reasons. But those are snippets. Snapshots. Often watched in the context of fandom. To review something for fandom.
And then I get caught up analyzing minutiae and dissecting and criticizing and debating and then suddenly the series is a chore. A much beloved chore, but a chore. A mental chore that I sit around and hash out with a group of other people. The fandom becomes more central than the actual show. The show only becomes relevant in how it contributes to fandom.
Then I get caught up in the meta and the discussion and I forget the whole reason I became a fan.
It's because I just like watching the show.
There. That's it.
All the fannish stuff. The fics, the meta, the squee. That's just extra. That's just me displaying and sharing this enjoyment.
But the enjoyment's still there. I just forget about it because I get so caught up in the external manifestation of that enjoyment.
So watching the show...not worrying about figuring it out or seeing patterns or having to write about it or argue a point or be clever about observations or really think much about it at all. Just relaxing, enjoying the smart dialogue, the cadence, the female kick-assedness, the cast, the story, the fun.
Yeah, it's good to get that reminder. This show is awesome.
Nah, I'm not gonna do a formal "rewatch" where I do up pithy comments on the episodes and share. I'm just kicking back and watching. You know, for fun.
I've been officially "in fandom" near on a year now (two weeks shy of, apparently), and...you know, it's easy to lose sight of why we're here in the first place.
I mean, I watch episodes. My favorite episodes. Or I go back and watch scenes for various reasons. But those are snippets. Snapshots. Often watched in the context of fandom. To review something for fandom.
And then I get caught up analyzing minutiae and dissecting and criticizing and debating and then suddenly the series is a chore. A much beloved chore, but a chore. A mental chore that I sit around and hash out with a group of other people. The fandom becomes more central than the actual show. The show only becomes relevant in how it contributes to fandom.
Then I get caught up in the meta and the discussion and I forget the whole reason I became a fan.
It's because I just like watching the show.
There. That's it.
All the fannish stuff. The fics, the meta, the squee. That's just extra. That's just me displaying and sharing this enjoyment.
But the enjoyment's still there. I just forget about it because I get so caught up in the external manifestation of that enjoyment.
So watching the show...not worrying about figuring it out or seeing patterns or having to write about it or argue a point or be clever about observations or really think much about it at all. Just relaxing, enjoying the smart dialogue, the cadence, the female kick-assedness, the cast, the story, the fun.
Yeah, it's good to get that reminder. This show is awesome.