Twilight the Movie, SPN 5:01

[oselle]

Someone at work loaned me the DVD of Twilight. It's 11:30 pm and I've basically been trying to watch it since I got home at 7:30. I thought it would be fun, brainless diversion for a rainy night but it can't even accomplish that much because it's so stupefyingly dull. I keep turning it off to go do more interesting things. Like load my dishwasher. I'm thinking that maybe, maybe this is actually some kind of brilliant, subversive satire. One day we'll find out that Stephenie Meyer is not a Mormon hausfrau who built a multi-million-dollar franchise off a single wet dream but is, in fact, a chain-smoking performance artist from Berlin who cooked up this whole scheme as a way to prove to her fellow bongo-playing, tiny-moustachioed bohemians that the rubes will buy anything if it's packaged the right way.

RE: SPN 5:01.

I'm glad that in the last 30 seconds Dean finally got around to saying to Sam what he (and Bobby and Anna and Castiel and anyone else I can think of) should have said to Sam all last season: You chose a demon over your own brother and you can't be trusted. PERIOD. I'd get excited about this development but I'm sure that before the Thanksgiving hiatus rolls around, at least one person, prophet or angel will give Dean his usual humiliating kick to the curb and lecture him about forgiveness and family and blabbity-blah-blah-blah and Dean will be all contrite and self-castigating and there'll be some teary roadside blabbity-blah and BLAH. Enjoy those balls while you got 'em, Deano, 'cause you'll be handing them over soon enough.

Speaking of humiliation, BOY am I glad I've stuck to my guns and never attended a con because their depiction of the "typical" fan was, shall we say, less than flattering and they've got to be getting that impression from somewhere. I want that "fourth wall" to go back up RIGHT THE FUCK NOW because they are getting way, way too off on wanking the fandom. It unsuspends the disbelief, it's not funny, it's clearly just a running inside gag for the show's writers and cast, and it makes me fucking squirm. It embarasses me. I have many, many opportunities to be humiliated by my life, I don't need to have it piled on by a goddamn TV show. YMMV LOL.

I liked the new Meg (and that actress was maddeningly familiar). She had great presence but she lasted all of two minutes so buh-bye to that.

The opening was pure Annie Wilkes cockadoodie WTFness with Sam and Dean suddenly being raptured up to an airplane that apparently crashes (?) but not before our boys get whisked off yet again to some car that is not the Impala as repeated lingering close-ups of the sleek digital dashboard more than effectively demonstrated.

I liked the way they worked Lucifer's vessel into the story as someone who's been a victim of horrible tragedy and therefore is vulnerable to such temptation. I especially liked Lucifer telling him that contrary to the stories, he always tells the truth, because I think there is something horribly apt about that. In SPNverse at least, Lucifer is certainly coming across as far more honest and honorable than any other divine entity we've yet encountered.

Since it's been canon for four years that any old guttersnipe of a demon can possess whomever he likes whenever he likes, I guess I have to fanwank that angels, even the most powerful, need permission from their vessels because they're better than demons, not less potent.

Castiel continues to kick ass and at this point he's stealing the show from his co-stars. I notice that Misha now has "above the fold" co-billing with the Js, as I'm sure you all noticed as well.

The highlight of the premiere, however, was the nape of Jensen's neck. It struck me as especially pretty last night and I look forward to seeing more of it this season.

Comments

And finally....

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Had a shower and some lunch and I'm still thinking about this idea of "extending the same latitude" to the show that we do to fanfic writers and what about that strikes me as incorrect. And in addition to what I've already said, fanfiction is not the show. To say that they're comparable is a false equivalency.

With fanfiction, you've got hordes of writers and thousands of stories to choose from. You don't like this writer or that story...move on. A fanfic writer offends you, you don't need to sit there and lecture her about what she should or shouldn't be writing because you have no reason to confine yourself to her work. You can still enjoy plenty of SPN fiction without ever coming in contact with her again.

There is however, only one Supernatural. I can't flip over to NBC or ABC on Thursday nights and watch different episodes of Supernatural, also starring Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, because I didn't like the one on CW. Unlike with fanfiction, with the show, I'm stuck with whatever Kripke and Co. want to dish out. In this case, they're dishing out something that I think is mean and gratuitously stupid and exists solely for their own self-gratification and that pisses me off and I can't flip the channel to a new episode of SPN where that isn't happening. Yeah, I can watch another show but I really do want to watch this one and I shouldn't have to swallow my pride in order to do it.

So no, I don't think they deserve the same latitude as fanfiction writers, because they are the only game in town. They are Supernatural. They establish the canon. They set the tone. And right now, IMO, they're setting the tone of belittling their fans just for kicks, and I think I've made it very clear how I feel about that.

Re: And finally....

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

A very quick response off the top of my head as I’m rushing around doing last-minute packing.

Like I said, we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one because I’m not currently offended by the representations of fandom in the show, so while I can recognise the validity of your arguments they’re not going to change that gut reaction. That may well change, because the writing team have a habit of taking things that amuse them to the point at which they stop amusing us (Dean’s eating habits, the Ghostfacers, Bela getting the better of the boys) but for now I’m OK with it. Like I said, that’s a gut reaction and is in no way aimed at changing your (or anyone else’s) mind.

Does the fandom belong in the show in the first place? It’s an odd decision, given the potential to piss off the core viewers, but I’m currently assuming that they think it’s what amounts to an affectionate shout-out. Do the writers pay to much attention to fandom? Only when they’re listening to the people I don’t agree with :)

As for the question of latitude, I know that the writers have the power in this situation since they’re writing the one, true canon, but I have difficulties with allowing myself to object to a mildly mocking representation of people like me in the show when I’m sitting here reading J2. Again, that’s entirely personal.

Anyway I’m going away for a few days and will have limited or no access to the Internet, so I probably won’t be replying to any response to this. Hope you have a good Birthday and I’ll ‘see’ you after the next episode airs :)