Anna calls me her hero

Jenny O' chats Smallville & backlash

Jess expands the thought

Tinkerbunny says Amen

(and finally...Lar's Heart, which inspired the rant the first place)

03/14/02

I don't know why, but this week's community snarking about Buffy really ticked me. Usually, I don't much care what other people think. About most things, actually. It's kind of one of my points of pride. I can form and express my own opinions pretty much even in the face of an angry mob bearing torches. I'm stubborn and darn near impossible to sway. So it's not that I suddenly *agree* with the Buffy naysayers. And usually, I'd shrug and say, "Whatever." But now...it's just...I dunno. My dander is up. 

I can't help but wonder, why are these people sticking around if they are so staunchly opposed to everything the characters now represent? If they can find no good word for the writers? If they feel like Joss has jumped ship, and the shark, for Firefly waters? And most of all, why do I *care*??

I find folks who 'threaten' to stop watching deeply annoying, and I'm down with Jess who invites them to "do so, we won't miss you." I find the arrogance of those who have indeed stopped watching, yet feel compelled to flood the lists with Revisionist Fanfic highly amusing. But I can't stomach the crowd who watches simply in order to do *nothing* but snark about it on their blogs. For godsake, Strega gets *paid* to do it, it's her gig, what is *your* excuse?

Oh, I don't mean an intelligent, critical analysis. Or the occasional "what the FUCK were the writers 
on ?!" God knows I've whimpered over Angel in public, and quite loudly, very often this season. But I was never...man, I dunno..fucking *militant* about it. And I know, Criss calls me a bloody apologist, but damn, I *knew* it had to get better. I just knew it. And sure enough, it did. (So good in fact, it even made Strega sing a ditty. Sure, it was snarky, but she was happy. I could tell. She rhymed.)

Did I think the revisionist "I was in a mental institution and never mentioned it before" plot device was, pardon the pun, nuts? Well, yea. But the show overall was so fucking good, I can overlook it. It in no way *ruins* the past eps for me, as someone suggested. How can it? The past eps succeed on their own merits, what Joss does *now* has no bearing on how enjoyable they were, and remain, when I watch them on FX. And it makes me wonder, is that the crux of the issue? Do these fans wax so romantic for the older, "classic" eps, that nothing anyone writes these days can hope to compare? And, frankly, how fucking stupid is that?

Who wants a show that lasts a couple of seasons, then dissapears? How much character development can occur in 40 eps? How far have the characters come since S3? And how much would we have missed out on if Buffy was pickled and preserved Foralltime in her High School years, as some people seem to want to do?

God, I still love this show. Adore. Worship may not be too strong a word. I am amazed when I watch the reruns, at how much Buffy herself has come into her own. Yea, she's currently a depressed and occasionally schizophrenic Slayer, but hey, she has also grown up, *alot.* And fast. She isn't ready to be a parent, but I don't think she does too damn bad with a sister who never existed before, and who never even said thank you for jumping to her death to save a green glowing ball of energy's ass. She may be fucking her enemy, but you know what? She's not slicing her wrists and banging her head into the wall, like Crazy!Angel in the "Birthday-verse" when he got all stressed, and she's only a scant fraction of his age. She is no longer the little girl who wanted only party dresses and popularity. She is no longer deluding herself into believing she can have a normal life. She is no longer innocent. It is sad, and bittersweet, but it's real. She fucks up. She pays consequences. She keeps paying, Joss makes sure of that. It's alot like life. I like that. I like her.

All the characters have changed and grown, just like us...but they retain their essential truths, just like us. Even Spike still carries William with him. It's fantastic writing, and it touches something in me, every time I watch an ep, old or new.

The plot arcs as a whole are flawless. Yea, there's retcon, yea, there's moments of crackwhore writing. But overall? In EPISODE ONE of Buffy, we hear Cordelia say, "I'd kill to live in LA. That close to that many shoes!" What stunning foreshadowing. Who else writes like this, *anywhere*? Who else kills off main characters, destroys entire sets, turns the storylines inside out and never hesitates to make fun of their own work, all just to further the Grande plot? Who else harnesses these ancient human myths and makes them so godamn approachable, emotional, and damned relevant, all the while keeping tongue planted firmly in cheek, and never once failing to acknowledge the fanbase that keeps this show thriving? 

I'm a staunch fangirl of the Buffyverse. I have embraced my inner geek, and I give her a big smacking kiss. I feel kinda sorry for people who've lost that majik. For me? There's no ship, ex-ship, retcon, or foolish looking costumed monster that is gonna change my mind. I'll still be watching when the fat lady sings. Which knowing Joss, she actually might.
 

Bring on the Torches
 
 
 
 
 
 

OF THE THEN
 

ARCHIVES

 

Hm. You just described Farscape. Careful with the 'my show is better
than your show' vibe. ;-)
No, seriously, I understand exactly what you're saying. When Buffy and Angel started to bore me, I just left until I found something that suited *me* better. I've followed your advice and watched S6 and S3, but it's still not reeling me back in. Too late for me. Doesn't mean I go around ruining
everybody else's fun and calling the people still watching tasteless
morons (I've seen that happen). Even when I was really unhappy with the show, I don't think I aired my dislike week after week.
I can understand it going on for a little while, people being disappointed with something they relied on, something they really cared about -- and perhaps, that's what this public bitching is all about: disappointment, a
sense of betrayal, which leads to payback. And misery loves company, so they want to share it loud and clear. Drag everyone down, because the more
(people bitching) the merrier. It's a perverted sense of community. They were attached to the fandom, they want to keep that connection, but they can only achieve this if everyone likes or dislikes the show at the
same time. Anything else will rip the fandom apart and threaten their little established community. Personally, I think it's fear talking. I
also think this is going to ruin the show for people who score high on the suggestibility scale. They would keep enjoy it on their own, but the community pressure is hard to take. Your guess is as good as mine. 
As for Revisionist Fanfic... I know who you're talking about. It's the
last thing I saw before I unsubbed from i2. Can we say neurosis?

-Maayan

***

 I just wanted to let you know that your rant on Buffy fans jumping ship this year put into words things that I have been feeling since this season started.  I have quit almost all of my Buffy groups entirely for this reason, and it's nice that somebody else out there feels the same way.  It was getting to the point that other people's feelings toward the show was beginning to influence my reaction to the show.  Just wanted to let you know that somebody agrees wholeheartedly with you.  Thanks for your time!

-Jennifer

***

I think all the people who love the Jossverse still are making a stand this week against the haters.
(Privately, I think Strega's the Anti-Christ and I would pay her fifty dollars a recap to STOP recapping--and I once considered putting "her"--more like my rage-filled fictionalized version of her--into a fic I was once going to do--as the obnoxious, wretched black-wearing, cappuccino-drunk assistant of a bizarre director rather like David Lynch who had hired Angel to play a vampire detective in his new vampire detective movie--which Cordelia made him do because the DL-like character 
promised her a role in the film if she convinced Angel to stay on....but I digress.)
So. VERRRRRRY. VERY. tired of the haters. Particularly tired of the C/Lex haters who prove themselves to have the critical discernment of eleven-year-olds. Smallville? Meh. Definitely not BETTER than the Jossverse 
this season, just newer. And the boys? Not my cup of tea. But I find it really amusing and hella annoying when someone publishes their ten page 
"Buffy has Betrayed Us All and This Is Why and Wah Wah Wah" and then says, 
"Ohmygod! SMALLLLLLLLVILLE! I want to be Lex Luthor's bitch! And then I want to watch as he fucks Clark over and over and over."
Okay. So probably not in those words. But. you get my meaning. 
-Jenny O'

***
Just surfed on over from Tink's journal and it's so refreshing to find someone who's not pissing and moaning about the changes that are going on on Buffy. I may not love all that happens (miss Tara, miss Oz, wish X/A had
married) but I trust in the fact that this is a very good show and even
episodes I wish hadn't happened mix in with the episodes I love to make a lovely bittersweet experience all around.
Just had to add my two cents. ;)

-Journalkitten