The Secret

[oselle]

After last night's riveting season finale of The Walking Dead, I found myself wondering what is the secret to creating great entertainment in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre. I think it comes down to two things --

1) Taking the subject matter seriously.

2) Respecting the audience.

Which frankly, are interrelated. If you take your subject matter seriously, you'll respect the audience because you know they take it seriously too. In contrast, if you think your story is kind of silly, then you'll no doubt think your audience is silly for liking it so much. And because it's a vicious cycle, once you start thinking your audience is silly, you'll take your story even less seriously because its biggest fans are losers who probably have nothing better to do than watch your silly show. See how that works?

Comments

[roque-clasique.livejournal.com]

D'accord

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Merci.

[lsketch42.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

[zatnikatel.livejournal.com]

God, this. With frosting and sprinkles.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

And cherries.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

So so true. And the thing is, you can take it seriously while still having a sense of humor. It's two different things.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

You made me think of Mad Men which isn't a genre show but is a great example of how a show can be dead serious and still, at time, howlingly funny. I swear, some of my biggest TV laughs this year came from MM.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Totally. I remember on some commentary MW said he basically considers it a comedy. So many funny moments, they're just all totally real.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

The Don & Peggy episode was not only one of the season's best but was such a laugh riot that...I'm laughing about it right now! OMG, remember when Don found the tapes of Roger's memoir..."Miss Blankenship was a hellcat? Cooper got his balls shot off? Roger's writing a book!?!"

Re: so this is a pointed hint, right?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

A pointed hint? Why, I don't know what you're talking about.

*whistles innocently*

[salty-catfish.livejournal.com]

So how excited are you about this season's Meta Ep? :|

[twirlycurls.livejournal.com]

I'm so disgusted they're doing another one. ENOUGH ALREADY. You hate us and think we're stupid -- WE GET IT. Arrrguh.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THEY'RE DOING IT AGAIN!?!?

[salty-catfish.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't mean to spoil. Yes, and it's probably going to be more idiotic embarassing terrifying than ever. (...Do you even want to know?)

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Well, now you HAVE to tell me.

[twirlycurls.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. Don't write as if your audience a bunch of drooling morons whose brains switch off the second they catch sight of your pretty lead actors.

This is my single biggest complaint about SPN and has been since they started doing meta episodes: they clearly both resent their audience and think we're idiots.

On the bright side, I am VERY pleased by The Walking Dead.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

The meta thing might have been funny...one time. Now it's just fucking stupid and embarrassing. Do these writers think their job is to entertain themselves? At the expense of their own fan base? Again I have to ask...what the fuck is wrong with them?

And all this meta -- they act like they're the only show that's ever been on television that's had this kind of following. Are they that ignorant or are they just that fucking full of themselves?

[twirlycurls.livejournal.com]

I didn't even find the first especially funny because it struck me as neither good-natured nor affectionate but pretty damn hostile, and I say this as someone who had never so much as read a piece of fic at the time I watched it. It retrospect that's probably where I should have stopped watching; once the writers make it clear that they resent and look down their noses at the audience, it's time to bail.

I just can't seem to stop watching, even after last week's clear demonstration of how badly things have gone off the rails. I must be more masochistic than I realized.

[octavius-x.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen Walking dead (have heard good things) but I know SPN is lurking in the backshadow of these 2 things and just want to say WORD esp. to thing 1. This hasn't happened in a lonng time, especially in comparison to those early seasons and look at just how dark and vast the fantasy world was then, now it's more narrowed and strained. As for #2 I feel like the writers are confusing the words "respect" and "masturbate" and as audience members we're too busy enjoying the cheap thrills to realize that eventually we're going get to the grim morning after and be like "WTF happened and how did we end up here?"

Also hello&sorry. Stumbled on this while reading All Saints. Hope you don't mind.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

This hasn't happened in a lonng time, especially in comparison to those early seasons and look at just how dark and vast the fantasy world was then, now it's more narrowed and strained.

I never thought those first few seasons were masterpieces of gripping television but they were positively brilliant compared to what the show's doing now. I don't know if the fantasy world has gotten narrow -- if anything, it should be even richer now that there's a whole tableau of angels and demons and prophecies etc. I think the big difference between then and now is that back then, there was at least a feeling that the writers were fully invested in what they were doing. For quite some time now, I've just gotten the feeling that they think it's all one big joke -- and I don't know if they think the audience is in on the joke with them, if they think we're too stupid to notice, or if they've just decided (like Chuck said in the season finale) that the audience "will bitch" no matter what, so our criticism doesn't have any merit.

I feel like the writers are confusing the words "respect" and "masturbate"

Personally, I think the people behind the show have developed a very real disdain for the audience. This meta-masturbation is strictly for themselves -- an episode like "The Real Ghostbusters" seemed to have been written entirely as their own inside joke and this season's upcoming meta laff-riot does not sound any different. I know that there are still some viewers who see these sorts of episodes as affectionate nods to the audience. I don't at all agree on the "affectionate" part -- but even if these meta episodes were humorously well-meant, they just don't contribute anything to a show that, by now, is desperately in need of some good, cohesive, serious storytelling. Somebody needs to crack the whip on these folks, and there just isn't anyone to do it.

[octavius-x.livejournal.com]

I don't know if the fantasy world has gotten narrow -- if anything, it should be even richer now that there's a whole tableau of angels and demons and prophecies etc.

It should be richer. There's the problem you see with a world expanding is that all the character hierarchy becomes clear, and what you can do with each of them becomes...more narrow, because there are certain expectations as to what they are capable of. Instead of character or story growth for the show I feel more like things are just being rearranged(the sam&dean role reversal at the beginning of the current season) And as you said why contribute when they have a formula that works.

UGH "the real ghostbusters". Cringeworthy. I actually didn't make it through the whole episode because I was so ashamed that that's how they view us.

[mulder200.livejournal.com]

So much word to this.

2) Respecting the audience.

Bingo! And I can the disturbing impression that the writers no longer respect their viewers let alone the fanbase.

TBH, I lost any faith I had in the writers after that ridiculous excuse of a 5th season. I mean the first half was all right but towards the second half, it was clear they had no idea what they were doing.

Then again, I felt things were fucked up when I saw a commentary with the show's creator saying, "Oh shit! We have to write the Apocalypse!" Needless to say, after watching that, my worse fears were confirmed.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I felt things were fucked up when I saw a commentary with the show's creator saying, "Oh shit! We have to write the Apocalypse!"

I really hate it when I read things like that because I don't think they're joking. I think at some point last season they did suddenly wake up and remember they were supposed to write the apocalypse. Then they probably banged it out in one weekend and broke for Miller Time.