rj_anderson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rj_anderson) wrote2003-11-26 10:08 pm
rj_anderson) wrote2003-11-26 10:08 pm
Entry tags:
Took me long enough to get to this...
My (possibly) unpopular fannish opinions, in no particular order:
1. If the long-simmering resentment between your non-romantically-involved protagonists erupts in a screaming match, and then all of a sudden one throws the other up against the wall and kisses them savagely, that person is an abusive, self-centred, domineering jerk. And if the other person likes being treated that way -- which is unlikely -- they are in need of professional help. In any case, this kind of behaviour is no foundation for a romance.
2. All canonical evidence appears to indicate that Sirius and James were the inseparable pair at Hogwarts, and that the friendship between Remus and Sirius was not nearly as strong. (If it were, Sirius wouldn't have been nearly so miserable in OotP, nor would he and Remus feel such an obvious need to relive their past and resurrect James in their imaginations.) As a corollary, HP fandom needs more fics in which Remus and Sirius have an ordinary, platonic male friendship -- by which I mean that they do not feel the need to be together all the time, and there is a general lack of mucking about in each other's personal lives or talking about their feelings. If I never read another fic which depicts Remus and Sirius behaving like an old married couple, it will be too soon.
3. 3,000 pages of senseless misunderstandings, petty jealousies, yelling matches and shocking revelations does not constitute a viable plot. This is even more true when two-thirds of those pages are devoted to having your characters mope about and do stupid, destructive things because they're upset over the latest misunderstanding, fight, or shocking revelation. Many would-be epics would be greatly improved if introduced to a ruthlessly pragmatic and unsentimental editor armed with 14" pruning shears.
4. Syd/Vaughn is soppy and boring (sez the woman who wrote two S/V fics at the end of Season 1, back when the pairing was still interesting and Vaughn was a dynamic character instead of a forehead-furrowing millstone around Sydney's neck). Syd/Sark, while somewhat more interesting, veers dangerously close to the cliche I discussed in Opinion #1. If Syd had a functioning brain cell when it comes to romance, she would steel herself to get over Vaughn, resist any attraction she might feel to Sark, and start hanging out with Weiss more often. Even if nothing came of it, at least she'd have spent some quality time with a solid, caring friend who would help her shoulder her emotional burdens instead of dumping more angst on her.
5. Anime-style fan art has been done to death, especially in HP fandom. Can we please have more male character sketches with genuinely masculine features, a normal haircut, and/or visible body hair?
I seem to have run out of rants for the moment. I'll have to do the other five when I think of more...
1. If the long-simmering resentment between your non-romantically-involved protagonists erupts in a screaming match, and then all of a sudden one throws the other up against the wall and kisses them savagely, that person is an abusive, self-centred, domineering jerk. And if the other person likes being treated that way -- which is unlikely -- they are in need of professional help. In any case, this kind of behaviour is no foundation for a romance.
2. All canonical evidence appears to indicate that Sirius and James were the inseparable pair at Hogwarts, and that the friendship between Remus and Sirius was not nearly as strong. (If it were, Sirius wouldn't have been nearly so miserable in OotP, nor would he and Remus feel such an obvious need to relive their past and resurrect James in their imaginations.) As a corollary, HP fandom needs more fics in which Remus and Sirius have an ordinary, platonic male friendship -- by which I mean that they do not feel the need to be together all the time, and there is a general lack of mucking about in each other's personal lives or talking about their feelings. If I never read another fic which depicts Remus and Sirius behaving like an old married couple, it will be too soon.
3. 3,000 pages of senseless misunderstandings, petty jealousies, yelling matches and shocking revelations does not constitute a viable plot. This is even more true when two-thirds of those pages are devoted to having your characters mope about and do stupid, destructive things because they're upset over the latest misunderstanding, fight, or shocking revelation. Many would-be epics would be greatly improved if introduced to a ruthlessly pragmatic and unsentimental editor armed with 14" pruning shears.
4. Syd/Vaughn is soppy and boring (sez the woman who wrote two S/V fics at the end of Season 1, back when the pairing was still interesting and Vaughn was a dynamic character instead of a forehead-furrowing millstone around Sydney's neck). Syd/Sark, while somewhat more interesting, veers dangerously close to the cliche I discussed in Opinion #1. If Syd had a functioning brain cell when it comes to romance, she would steel herself to get over Vaughn, resist any attraction she might feel to Sark, and start hanging out with Weiss more often. Even if nothing came of it, at least she'd have spent some quality time with a solid, caring friend who would help her shoulder her emotional burdens instead of dumping more angst on her.
5. Anime-style fan art has been done to death, especially in HP fandom. Can we please have more male character sketches with genuinely masculine features, a normal haircut, and/or visible body hair?
I seem to have run out of rants for the moment. I'll have to do the other five when I think of more...
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#3. 3,000 pages of senseless misunderstandings, petty jealousies, yelling matches and shocking revelations does not constitute a viable plot.
Indeed, indeed. But it seems to be the staple of soap operas. Which is why I can't stand them. Nor Roswell, nor Beauty and the Beast -- though what really irritated me about Beauty and the Beast (I mean the TV series) was that Catherine was a self-pitying wishy-washy wimp. If she really loved Vincent, she should either have gone with him, or brought him out with her, and stared down anyone who dared to whisper about him. Humph!
(hmmm, got a bit carried away there...)
Buffy at its worst is also soap-opera-ish.
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Vincent was purty, though, and Ron Perlman had a lovely voice.
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Let's see -- Dumbledore not understanding Harry's need to know/Harry not opening Sirius's package and why/Snape; Cho's reaction to the name 'Hermione'; Harry and just about everybody; the scenes in the Dept. of Mysteries and in Dumbledore's office....
Sounds like Order of the Phoenix a lot, no? Gawd, I want to sit down half the characters and slap them for being idiots, I swear.