not sure where it went wrong
Aug. 28th, 2011 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseOn the subject of Doctor Who, I have determined that I simply don't care enough anymore. This may change in the future, but for the moment... I just don't give a damn. It has turned out that I would rather watch Mad Men (quite a good show, as it turns out, and not only because Christina Hendricks is damned sexy and appears to be making a good go at taking over the world via a secretarial gig at a 1960s ad agency) and continue to write vastly extensive fan-fiction for a slightly dodgy '90s sci-fi than go to the effort of tracking down the latest episode of Doctor Who.
I'm not sure what the hell went wrong. And it feels very awkward, because I know that a couple of my co-workers are going to be very excited tomorrow about asking me if I've seen the latest episode, and I feel a bit weird about saying "No, and I don't really have any immediate plans to do so." So I'm writing this entry to try to see if I can't bring myself to some sort of understanding of what's going on in my head, as regards this show.
Weirdly, I'm pretty sure it happened around the time of That Episode That Was Unbelievably Awesome And Also Written By Neil Gaiman. I was unenthused by the opening two-parter before it, despite being really excited about the show starting up again, and I have had nearly zero desire to watch anything that's come since. I skipped the one directly after it because it looked like a bad Pirates of the Caribbean knock-off, and didn't really want to deal with it even after people insisted it wasn't, really. I tried to watch the one after that, but got tired of it after about ten minutes. I tried to watch the one after that, but likewise gave up early on and ended up watching Chuck instead (another very good series that I enjoyed quite a bit! But we're watching it on DVD, so don't spoil me for the most recent season, please).
...And, y'know, therein we end up right back at the source of the problem. I've started reading spoilers for DW, partly in hopes that they would pique my interest. Not so much working, let me tell you. I read about things like Madam Vastra and River's identity and all that, and I kind of go "oh, interesting, that sounds interesting." And then I wander off and do something else.
And it's funny, because I like Eleven, quite a bit in fact. I like Amy when she's not being used entirely as a "is she or isn't she really just in love with the Doctor?" trope (and I hope to everything that's holy that nonsense is finally over by now, but I would not be at all surprised if it cropped up again, because that's all anybody seems to think to do with her, apart from getting her pregnant with a sort-of time baby). I like Rory, particularly now that he's not doing that thing he did early on where he was Mickey Smith, v2.0 (which he SO WAS). And gods know I love River Song with a mad passion, so I should really be happy as a clam in mud this season. I keep trying to analyze what it is - do I just think that nothing should be allowed to sully the moment of pure fannish perfection that I felt after That One Neil Gaiman Episode With The Spoilery Title? Possibly. Do I not feel that it's entirely appropriate for the Doctor to have explicitly romantic relationships, even though I've been somewhat against the whole asexual-Doctor trope for a long time? Possibly. Do I just feel disenchanted with the whole concept? Possibly, although we watched the Eighth Doctor movie the other week and I was entirely content with that, despite it being probably the most absurd thing ever in a lot of ways. And I really want to show The Boy some of the Seventh Doctor, because I love me some Seven-and-Ace awesomeness, particularly in absurd and crazy things like "Battlefield."
My feeling at the moment is that Doctor Who just doesn't make sense. The plots feel contrived and thrown-together and too totally random, and while I'm sure Moffat will find a way to tie everything up in a nice little bow at the end of the season, I'm irritated by the seeming-irrationality of it and the need to pile mystery upon mystery upon mystery for no real reason other than because we can. I don't really like adult!Amy as much as I wish I did (or half as much as bitty!Amy). I don't really like what I've heard of the Major Revelations that have been coming out in this last episode. And possibly I'm just tired of the whole thing and want to watch something else for a while. I don't even know. While everybody else was looking forward to the 2nd part of the season, I was busy wanting more of BSG (except not that horrible "Blood and Iron," or whatever they were calling the stupid knock-off that has now apparently been relegated back to being a web-series - proper BSG with the cast that I love, damn it), or Avatar: The Last Airbender (omfg I want Legend of Korra NOW, PLZ?!!), or even (for a brief and crazy moment before I remembered that it would be horrible and also before JMS alerted everyone that it wasn't really happening) more B5.
I think I'll twiddle along and sit at the edges of fandom and wait to see what happens. I suspect that something, somewhere along the line, will drag me back. I'm not sure what it will be, because I'm not really sure what put me off to begin with. But at the moment I feel very dissatisfied. I get the sense from LJ that I'm not alone, but there doesn't seem to be any one reason that we're all in this state, as there was for the vast majority of us who were dissatisfied with, for instance, the latter part of RTD's run. And I'm confused because, in my limited experience, I generally like Moffat's writing. I enjoyed the heck out of most of his offerings in previous years ("The Empty Child" and "Blink" being major points along the road), and I still adore seasons 1-3 of the original Coupling and regard them as awesome comfort/happy TV. He's not good all the time, but few writers are. I don't know. I don't hate him. He's written some good stuff, even in the time that he's been producer. I just kind of don't give a crap, for the most part. I have a bad case of Doctor Who apathy.
Also, I have a headache and wish my fall allergies would go exterminate themselves. Nrgh. Going back now to the happy world of fic-writing. And possibly of having a late lunch, so that I'm not starving in a few hours when I go to make dinner.
I'm not sure what the hell went wrong. And it feels very awkward, because I know that a couple of my co-workers are going to be very excited tomorrow about asking me if I've seen the latest episode, and I feel a bit weird about saying "No, and I don't really have any immediate plans to do so." So I'm writing this entry to try to see if I can't bring myself to some sort of understanding of what's going on in my head, as regards this show.
Weirdly, I'm pretty sure it happened around the time of That Episode That Was Unbelievably Awesome And Also Written By Neil Gaiman. I was unenthused by the opening two-parter before it, despite being really excited about the show starting up again, and I have had nearly zero desire to watch anything that's come since. I skipped the one directly after it because it looked like a bad Pirates of the Caribbean knock-off, and didn't really want to deal with it even after people insisted it wasn't, really. I tried to watch the one after that, but got tired of it after about ten minutes. I tried to watch the one after that, but likewise gave up early on and ended up watching Chuck instead (another very good series that I enjoyed quite a bit! But we're watching it on DVD, so don't spoil me for the most recent season, please).
...And, y'know, therein we end up right back at the source of the problem. I've started reading spoilers for DW, partly in hopes that they would pique my interest. Not so much working, let me tell you. I read about things like Madam Vastra and River's identity and all that, and I kind of go "oh, interesting, that sounds interesting." And then I wander off and do something else.
And it's funny, because I like Eleven, quite a bit in fact. I like Amy when she's not being used entirely as a "is she or isn't she really just in love with the Doctor?" trope (and I hope to everything that's holy that nonsense is finally over by now, but I would not be at all surprised if it cropped up again, because that's all anybody seems to think to do with her, apart from getting her pregnant with a sort-of time baby). I like Rory, particularly now that he's not doing that thing he did early on where he was Mickey Smith, v2.0 (which he SO WAS). And gods know I love River Song with a mad passion, so I should really be happy as a clam in mud this season. I keep trying to analyze what it is - do I just think that nothing should be allowed to sully the moment of pure fannish perfection that I felt after That One Neil Gaiman Episode With The Spoilery Title? Possibly. Do I not feel that it's entirely appropriate for the Doctor to have explicitly romantic relationships, even though I've been somewhat against the whole asexual-Doctor trope for a long time? Possibly. Do I just feel disenchanted with the whole concept? Possibly, although we watched the Eighth Doctor movie the other week and I was entirely content with that, despite it being probably the most absurd thing ever in a lot of ways. And I really want to show The Boy some of the Seventh Doctor, because I love me some Seven-and-Ace awesomeness, particularly in absurd and crazy things like "Battlefield."
My feeling at the moment is that Doctor Who just doesn't make sense. The plots feel contrived and thrown-together and too totally random, and while I'm sure Moffat will find a way to tie everything up in a nice little bow at the end of the season, I'm irritated by the seeming-irrationality of it and the need to pile mystery upon mystery upon mystery for no real reason other than because we can. I don't really like adult!Amy as much as I wish I did (or half as much as bitty!Amy). I don't really like what I've heard of the Major Revelations that have been coming out in this last episode. And possibly I'm just tired of the whole thing and want to watch something else for a while. I don't even know. While everybody else was looking forward to the 2nd part of the season, I was busy wanting more of BSG (except not that horrible "Blood and Iron," or whatever they were calling the stupid knock-off that has now apparently been relegated back to being a web-series - proper BSG with the cast that I love, damn it), or Avatar: The Last Airbender (omfg I want Legend of Korra NOW, PLZ?!!), or even (for a brief and crazy moment before I remembered that it would be horrible and also before JMS alerted everyone that it wasn't really happening) more B5.
I think I'll twiddle along and sit at the edges of fandom and wait to see what happens. I suspect that something, somewhere along the line, will drag me back. I'm not sure what it will be, because I'm not really sure what put me off to begin with. But at the moment I feel very dissatisfied. I get the sense from LJ that I'm not alone, but there doesn't seem to be any one reason that we're all in this state, as there was for the vast majority of us who were dissatisfied with, for instance, the latter part of RTD's run. And I'm confused because, in my limited experience, I generally like Moffat's writing. I enjoyed the heck out of most of his offerings in previous years ("The Empty Child" and "Blink" being major points along the road), and I still adore seasons 1-3 of the original Coupling and regard them as awesome comfort/happy TV. He's not good all the time, but few writers are. I don't know. I don't hate him. He's written some good stuff, even in the time that he's been producer. I just kind of don't give a crap, for the most part. I have a bad case of Doctor Who apathy.
Also, I have a headache and wish my fall allergies would go exterminate themselves. Nrgh. Going back now to the happy world of fic-writing. And possibly of having a late lunch, so that I'm not starving in a few hours when I go to make dinner.
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-29 01:39 am (UTC)And that my interest in the Doctor pretty much ended when Ten did. I never could get into Eleven.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-29 02:48 am (UTC)Mad Men, though. Love! I am rewatching in preparation for the eventual return, but it was a disappointing summer without the show coming back. But it is an amazing show and really visually gorgeous.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-29 06:34 pm (UTC)I misted up at the novelty of giving a shit and enjoying myself, and the Doctor's portrayal. Also, I've hit the conclusion that I really don't give Grace enough love.
As for Moff!Who, my feelings are all across the internet on that one, so I won't go into them AGAIN here. FTR, though, you're not the only one who has to work hard at caring ATM.
I've been replenishing my soul with copious amounts of Fivey (Alexi had never seen any Tegan/Turlough! The horror!) and finally getting around to watching Buffy. I AM CURRENT.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 06:30 pm (UTC)