Dragon ([info]ryuutchi) wrote,
@ 2008-05-16 10:35:00
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Current mood: aggravated
Entry tags:feminism, rant, suckiness, supernatural

I suppose I should...
Right, Supernatural. Last episode of the season.


Yeah, you saw that right.

See, the thing is I want to like the show. The boys are attractive. As a general rule the plots are interesting. But...

I keep asking myself "how many more skanky race and gender issues does this show need to have before I just give up?"

I'm still not sure, but when, at then end of a dramatic episode, where the main character ends up in hell with a meathook through his shoulder, I feel vindicated because he was a complete douchebag hypocrite to a woman who was going to hell (and he made rape jokes at her), and then engaged in slutshaming another woman in the finale?

Yeah.

It was a good episode. Very dramatic. Not too many narm moments. Too much Bobby, but honestly, for the most part any Bobby is too much for me. (Is it too much to hope that his disappearance means he's dead? Plz?) For the most part structured well. Some genuine creepy moments.

OTOH, mythology failure begins to get on my nerves after a while. If you want us to believe you do the research at least pretend to use some of it. Someone early in the season mentioned that Lilith is a "psychosexual demon" Yeah, would you stop it with the little kid thing? I know little kids are creepy, but Lilith is a full-grown demon, y'all.

And this is all ignoring the total failure of the main characters to grow or change or have any sort of emotional continuity in any meaningful way. (Yes, I remember Mystery Spot. Where is that coldness from Mystery Spot in the finale? Rottenfish and Bree over on JF pointed out too that Bela wouldn't have made the guys look half so dumb if they'd learned from their first experience with her. And also, why don't the boys ever seem to think about characters they've left behind or touched-- like Cassie or Ellen or Jo or Missouri.) They're supremely self-centered, but I'm supposed to like them. And... I kind of don't right now. Quite the opposite, in fact. The end of the season made me gleeful.

And I think that may mean I really need to take a break. From the show, from fandom. All of it.

Well, except from [info]cunnilingusfic. They're doing a "Eat Bela Out Challenge". I'm okay with that. Also, I will break this intended fast if someone writes Sam/Lilith.

ETA: ... well, that was a little more bitter than I was expecting.

ETA2: I should note this mostly means I'm taking almost all of the comms off my flist. I'm probably not gonna defriend anyone unless this drives me into a depressive funk.


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[info]moirarogers
2008-05-16 08:54 pm UTC (link)
Rottenfish and Bree over on JF pointed out too that Bela wouldn't have made the guys look half so dumb if they'd learned from their first experience with her.

They don't learn at all is my problem. Ever. From anything. The show expects me to believe that they are SUPER DEDUCTIVE AND AWESOME half the time, and so dumb I'm amazed they can get their shoes on the rest. But it's not even consistent. In one show Dean's brilliant about people. In the next he's an idiot. I just...bah. The characterization is so inconsistent that I just want to cry.

And the fact that no women can survive on the show no matter how old/unthreatening/whatever they are makes my face sad. And Kripke needs to deal with his Mommy issues and get over the Madonna/Whore thing because holy shit it takes a lot to get me riled up. (Seriously, I get flamed by feminists all the time, which is a whole different fandom rant. D:) But man this show is sort of brick to the face with the whole, "HAI VIRGINS YAY SLUTS BOOOOOOOOOO."

Bah.

Though I disagree about Bobby. I mean, as a character, he is poorly drawn. He is walking, talking exposition. BUT...the actor somehow makes that amusing, and I give him mad props because I can't imagine how hard it must be to play a character who is the male embodiment of an Info Dump. (Ruby is the female embodiment. Together...they dump info.)

-Bree

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Bitch bitch bitch
[info]ryuutchi
2008-05-16 09:07 pm UTC (link)
When everyone was talking about how Bela made Dean look "dumb" I kept thinking "what are you talking about? Isn't half the point of the character that he's a bit of a doof?" Because he has a store of knowledge, but beyond that he just doesn't seem to learn or grow. He doesn't think to remember what approaches work on a job. Sam's a little better, but he fluctuates from "total nerd" to "idiot little brother" to "miniDean".

Possibly I'm just bitter about Bobby coming back all season when Ellen (who is of the same status and has the same sort connection) didn't come back at all. It also felt like they were relying on Bobby WAY too much. I mean, they were constantly talking about "I called Bobby and he said..." So the character was a presence even when he wasn't onscreen. It felt like Bobby was diluting the 'brotherly love' more than anyone else.

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
[info]moirarogers
2008-05-16 09:36 pm UTC (link)
Well, I've never been a part of the fandom so I'm sure I miss a lot of it. :p The only info about Supernatural fandom I really have is what gets linked on JF and what [info]calicokat tells me when she's over here doing fandom-y stuff on my WiFi. ;)

I watched the show because the entertainment factor was greater than the WTF factor for me. But I have to like the main characters for that to happen, and I've been getting a little bored with both of them lately because they just don't grow. They don't change, nothing makes them learn. Even stuff like Sam's hardassness comes and goes.

If an episode from Season 3 could take place in Season 1 and the characters would do the same stuff...well, that's just not a good sign. To me. But I am not a fan of Monster/Criminal/MedicalMystery of the Week shows that don't have something else going on under the surface.

-Bree

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
[info]ryuutchi
2008-05-16 11:01 pm UTC (link)
I'm more into the fandom than I was expecting to get. I normally hang out around the edges, but I went to Wincon on a whim and made a bunch of friends.

I tend to really enjoy MotW shows, but if the characters don't change consistently, the monsters and recurring characters have to be at least interesting enough for me to ignore it. When they keep killing the recurring characters and the monsters of the week are either boring or make no sense AND the characters are inconsistent? It's a recipe for disaster.

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
(Anonymous)
2008-05-17 12:45 pm UTC (link)
Ellen (who is of the same status and has the same sort connection)

I love Ellen like crazy (and I love Sam Ferris even more if possible) and I wish she would have been able to come back this season. However, from everything we've heard from the writers and from Sam Ferris herself, it was more because of Dawn Ostroff who wanted the two new *young* females instead of Ellen that she didn't appear. Then they tried to get her back too but the schedules just weren't working (and I'm sure there were other problems as well including Sam feeling hurt by being replaced by Ruby and Bela). I think also the way they've written these characters, I disagree slightly on her having the same status and connection. The boys definitely began to care about her and trust her in Season 2 but based on their backstories, they've known Bobby since they were little kids ("Uncle" Bobby) so it makes sense that he'd be the one they're more likely to call instead of someone they didn't even know existed until last year. Though I would have been pretty happy if Ellen was at least mentioned a time or two.

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
[info]ryuutchi
2008-05-18 09:05 am UTC (link)
I keep hearing fans blame Ostroff for shit, but so far no one's been able to point me to any place where anyone has said "she told us to do this". First Bela and Ruby were her fault, then just Bela, now Ellen's disappearance? I know Sam Ferris mentioned being dropped for younger, prettier girls as a possibility on her blog, but that was her supposition, not actual, reliable information.

Also, that still means Kripke's a spineless weasel, since he could have pointed to any number of shows on the CW featuring young, pretty characters that also feature older characters (Smallville, for instance) if he'd felt like it was actually an issue.

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
[info]lady_ganesh
2008-05-18 02:51 pm UTC (link)
And note that Ma Kent left of her own volition, and was a pretty significant part of the show up 'til then.

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
(Anonymous)
2008-05-21 01:35 am UTC (link)
Yes, and like I said to ryuutchi, Mrs. Kent was significantly on the show long before Dawn came into leadership and with the establishment of Smallville in both length of time on air and ratings, I think they were able to at least get away with a little more than Supernatural would. Plus again, they haven't exactly been adding other significant older females on Smallville since Dawn either.

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
(Anonymous)
2008-05-21 01:32 am UTC (link)
Well Sam Ferris has told fans many times at the conventions she's gone to that it was the network and specifically Dawn that wanted her out and I'd never gotten the impression that she was just guessing when she talked to us. In fact, she had repeatedly mentioned talking about it with Kripke. I don't have the link offhand but there was an interview on either E!Online or the TV guide (online version) with Kripke where he admitted that they'd only planned on Ruby for the female recurring character but then Dawn requested it be two females (and given their threat of not being re-newed, I don't get the impression that it was so much of a request as a "do this or you're not coming back"). So they took Bela who was originally meant to be a one-off and had her put on Ruby's level of appearances. That's the "she told us to do this" when it comes to her being "at fault" for Bela's role anyway and like I said, I never got the idea that Sam was lying to us when saying that it was the network's doing.

As for Kripke, I do think he was being spineless in listening to Dawn. However, I think it was also a different circumstance because Smallville had been on longer with these older characters and had higher ratings so I think they could get away with more. Plus that show hasn't exactly been adding many older female actresses either since Dawn's become in charge.

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Re: Bitch bitch bitch
[info]ryuutchi
2008-05-21 01:38 am UTC (link)
I didn't say she was lying. I said she was speculating.

Also, link links or GTFO.

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