Love & Vegetables
Sep. 19th, 2006 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfold_xA friend of mine posted a (well thought out) rant about fandom's reaction to certain Supernatural spoilers that have been floating around. This was my reply:
Nards said:
You know what all the bitching about the Supernatural promo spoilers reminds me of?
"I hate carrots."
"You've never tried carrots."
"Yeah, but I can just looking at them that I'll hate carrots."
Which is the stupidest way to look at things ever.
I always hate the backlash when a male character suddenly gets a love interest. Fans turn on the love interest and say things like she's a Mary Sue, she's not written like a real woman, she's not this, she's not that. She's not perfect enough.
What they always mean though is 'she isn't me' (or she gets in the way of the incest I'm imagining). And I'm sure I'm going to get a bunch of people denying it, but it's so damn obvious. So damn obvious.
Supernatural is great entertainment. But that show is also someone's money making business. So they've got to sit down and think, "Gee, how can we keep this show interesting enough to keep around, thus ensuring I have enough pocket change for lap dances?"
You find a formula that works and you uh, work it. Then before the masses get bored, you tweak the formula. And tweak it. And tweak it. And tweak it until there's no more room for movement. Then you start over with a new money making idea.
We have the brothers. They look for their missing father. TWEAK - they look for their missing father while killing the monster of the week. TWEAK - they look for their father while killing the monster of the week, and hunting the demon that changed all their lives.
That was the entire season and it worked. WB sold DVDs, and they got renewed. Now what?
TWEAK - LOVE INTEREST.
It has to be done, and despite the prayers of slashers, it won't be the first incestuous prime time pairing.
To which I replied, in my long-winded fashion:
I see what you're saying (and why the preemptive whining is annoying). However, I think the analogy is off. I think it's closer to:
"I hate carrots."
"You haven't tried Kripke's recipe."
"Yeah, but every other time I've had carrots, they've sucked."
I love raw carrots. I love the snap and the texture and the lightly sweet taste. They're filling. I have a 1/2 cup everyday at lunch.
I hate cooked carrots; they tend to be overly sweet and mushy. They're especially bad if they come from a can. I haven't had a cooked carrot since I moved out of my parents' house.
I know that a lot of the complaining is from slashers who don't want a constant (stronger) reminder that Dean isn't sexually attracted to Sam. They want arugula, and outside of a remake of I, Claudius, that's never going to happen.
But many gen fans (including myself) are worried that the new relationship will take screen time away from character moments for Dean and Sam, especially the family/friendship moments.
I've seen carrots introduced to buddy and ensemble fannish shows, and I think most of the time, it's sucked. The way that they are executed tend to detract from why I'm into the show (the non-romantic relationships). It's not inevitable, but it's happened in the past quite a bit. It might actually serve to make the show more marketable (because romance does tend to sell), but will it make it less enjoyable for the fans who are watching it for what it is now (a genre show with strong non-romantic relationships)? Possibly. Not inevitably, which is why the doom prophecies are premature. But it's common, so there's reason to quietly worry but also to hope.
It all depends on how the carrots are cooked, and whether they remain a side dish rather than the bulk of the meal.
A romantic subplot doesn't have to be done. It's just that love interests are so cliched and common that is seems like it has to be done. Which, to me, is a reason not to do them. I agree that the show needs to be tweaked to make sure that it does not become rote or stale, however, you've listed a bunch of ways to tweak the show without reaching for the can of carrots. One reason why I'm afraid of this particular vegetable is that it is common because it's easy. If you want to tweak a show, adding a new character as a love interest is one of the oldest ways to do it, and there's a whole pantry full of canned storylines that center around it.
I agree that SPN has to be more the the MOTW, but we could tweak it in any number of ways, many of which would involve more thought an originality than a romantic subplot. As you mention, they could dig more deeply into the hunter subculture (something I've heard they will do, which sounds exciting to me); they could revisit old characters from previous episodes, expanding on them; they could conclude the Demon arc that they started the show with and move into a different Big Bad. They could play more with how the Real World can affect the hunters' world. Giving Dean a girlfriend isn't the only way, or the most creative way, to tweak the show.
I don't normally like romance plotlines, because I think romantic love has shoved most of the other relationships in western culture off the stage (heck, out of the theatre) to the point where we sexualize everything and devalue our equally important non-sexual relationships (as you have seen me write about at length).
But like I said, I love raw carrots. Maybe this subplot will executed in a way that I enjoy; Dean won't go OOC and start writing DW [hearts] CarrotGirl in the dust on the back of the Impala, the girl will be well-written and cool (like Sarah), and the relationship will be a sidedish and not detract one whit from the deep, loving, difficult, fascinating, non-sexual relationship between the brothers Winchester.
-----------------------------------------
In the end, all Nards is asking for is for people to give the show a chance before they start complaining. Which, in fact, I'm all for. I am purposefully not reading spoilers because I don't want to have a lot of preconceived notions to overcome. I'm going to try to give this girl a chance, and wait until Tok'ra Barbie shows up in a leather catsuit before I get too upset.
Nards said:
You know what all the bitching about the Supernatural promo spoilers reminds me of?
"I hate carrots."
"You've never tried carrots."
"Yeah, but I can just looking at them that I'll hate carrots."
Which is the stupidest way to look at things ever.
I always hate the backlash when a male character suddenly gets a love interest. Fans turn on the love interest and say things like she's a Mary Sue, she's not written like a real woman, she's not this, she's not that. She's not perfect enough.
What they always mean though is 'she isn't me' (or she gets in the way of the incest I'm imagining). And I'm sure I'm going to get a bunch of people denying it, but it's so damn obvious. So damn obvious.
Supernatural is great entertainment. But that show is also someone's money making business. So they've got to sit down and think, "Gee, how can we keep this show interesting enough to keep around, thus ensuring I have enough pocket change for lap dances?"
You find a formula that works and you uh, work it. Then before the masses get bored, you tweak the formula. And tweak it. And tweak it. And tweak it until there's no more room for movement. Then you start over with a new money making idea.
We have the brothers. They look for their missing father. TWEAK - they look for their missing father while killing the monster of the week. TWEAK - they look for their father while killing the monster of the week, and hunting the demon that changed all their lives.
That was the entire season and it worked. WB sold DVDs, and they got renewed. Now what?
TWEAK - LOVE INTEREST.
It has to be done, and despite the prayers of slashers, it won't be the first incestuous prime time pairing.
To which I replied, in my long-winded fashion:
I see what you're saying (and why the preemptive whining is annoying). However, I think the analogy is off. I think it's closer to:
"I hate carrots."
"You haven't tried Kripke's recipe."
"Yeah, but every other time I've had carrots, they've sucked."
I love raw carrots. I love the snap and the texture and the lightly sweet taste. They're filling. I have a 1/2 cup everyday at lunch.
I hate cooked carrots; they tend to be overly sweet and mushy. They're especially bad if they come from a can. I haven't had a cooked carrot since I moved out of my parents' house.
I know that a lot of the complaining is from slashers who don't want a constant (stronger) reminder that Dean isn't sexually attracted to Sam. They want arugula, and outside of a remake of I, Claudius, that's never going to happen.
But many gen fans (including myself) are worried that the new relationship will take screen time away from character moments for Dean and Sam, especially the family/friendship moments.
I've seen carrots introduced to buddy and ensemble fannish shows, and I think most of the time, it's sucked. The way that they are executed tend to detract from why I'm into the show (the non-romantic relationships). It's not inevitable, but it's happened in the past quite a bit. It might actually serve to make the show more marketable (because romance does tend to sell), but will it make it less enjoyable for the fans who are watching it for what it is now (a genre show with strong non-romantic relationships)? Possibly. Not inevitably, which is why the doom prophecies are premature. But it's common, so there's reason to quietly worry but also to hope.
It all depends on how the carrots are cooked, and whether they remain a side dish rather than the bulk of the meal.
A romantic subplot doesn't have to be done. It's just that love interests are so cliched and common that is seems like it has to be done. Which, to me, is a reason not to do them. I agree that the show needs to be tweaked to make sure that it does not become rote or stale, however, you've listed a bunch of ways to tweak the show without reaching for the can of carrots. One reason why I'm afraid of this particular vegetable is that it is common because it's easy. If you want to tweak a show, adding a new character as a love interest is one of the oldest ways to do it, and there's a whole pantry full of canned storylines that center around it.
I agree that SPN has to be more the the MOTW, but we could tweak it in any number of ways, many of which would involve more thought an originality than a romantic subplot. As you mention, they could dig more deeply into the hunter subculture (something I've heard they will do, which sounds exciting to me); they could revisit old characters from previous episodes, expanding on them; they could conclude the Demon arc that they started the show with and move into a different Big Bad. They could play more with how the Real World can affect the hunters' world. Giving Dean a girlfriend isn't the only way, or the most creative way, to tweak the show.
I don't normally like romance plotlines, because I think romantic love has shoved most of the other relationships in western culture off the stage (heck, out of the theatre) to the point where we sexualize everything and devalue our equally important non-sexual relationships (as you have seen me write about at length).
But like I said, I love raw carrots. Maybe this subplot will executed in a way that I enjoy; Dean won't go OOC and start writing DW [hearts] CarrotGirl in the dust on the back of the Impala, the girl will be well-written and cool (like Sarah), and the relationship will be a sidedish and not detract one whit from the deep, loving, difficult, fascinating, non-sexual relationship between the brothers Winchester.
In the end, all Nards is asking for is for people to give the show a chance before they start complaining. Which, in fact, I'm all for. I am purposefully not reading spoilers because I don't want to have a lot of preconceived notions to overcome. I'm going to try to give this girl a chance, and wait until Tok'ra Barbie shows up in a leather catsuit before I get too upset.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-19 08:06 pm (UTC)However what got me was the generalizations this person made. I really hate that. I'm not a slasher for Supernatural and I don't want to see a romantic subplot with a kick-ass better then Dean, blonde female in a size 4 pair of jeans who btw can't act (and this is my opinion from watching her on Veronica Mars). I'm not pining for Sam and Dean to get together actually I liked Sarah and wouldn't mind seeing her again. But the way this new character is described she's just not real (again see my rant yesterday for why I feel that way). It has nothing to do with being a slasher (which I'm not for this show) and everything to do with having seen this before and not buying it (Stargate anyone?).
Also the romantic subplot is NOT the ONLY way to grow a show. It's a facile and lazy way to do things, a little imagination, a little work and you have a second season that's not stale WITHOUT the stupidity of a romance that more often then not changes the dynamics of the show and veers it towards a will they won't they soap opera annoyance.
Supernatural is an action/adventure/horror show, where in there does it say romance?
If they want to see romance that's integrated in the plot and doesn't take away from the dynamic then they should watch something else like maybe Veronica Mars (which I adore by the way) and stop trying to fit the show into their narrow view of what is acceptable to them.
Oops... I think I'll take this to my LJ instead of invading yours ;-)