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Why do I have to have an obsessive nature?
So, I’ve been musing about the nature of obsession. As in what makes *me* obsess, and why. Particularly - why Doctor Who, and why now...
I’ve been watching Doctor Who for three years. (I even watched Torchwood, which I like in a ‘maybe one day when the braces come off and you get a decent haircut and new clothes you’ll be real pretty’ kinda way.) Anyway, I watched it and enjoyed it. I squee’d at the brilliant bits and cried at the sad bits and rolled my eyes at the silly bits. I’ve read the occasional fic and watched a few vids. Even checked out meta when it popped up on my flist. I’ve done my best to see every ep. But I’ve not been obsessed. Because there is a *huge* difference between liking and loving, between enjoying and being sucked in. You see the problem with Doctor Who has been the fact that well... it can be a little clumsy. There are occasional episodes - or arcs - that are utterly brilliant, but there are a LOT of episodes where the metaphors are so obvious that I can almost see them jumping up and down going: ‘Look at me! I’m a metaphor! That means that I *mean* something and now I’m going to use primary coloured blocks to spell it out.’
Character/relationship wise it’s mostly excellent. And story wise the show is mostly very solid, although RTD really is the new Joss, only moreso:
“So if I can get past that by saying ‘Well these things happen when you’reon a Hellmouth a Time Lord, then we can get to what’s important.”
Luckily I have a *huge* tolerance for this - as long as the payoff’s worth it I can buy just about any ridiculous thing thrown at me. (I see the words ‘Written by Russel T. Davies’ pop up on my screen and I know I’ll have to suspend disbelief sooner or later.)
So - fun, entertaining, emotionally involving show. But until ‘Sound of Drums’ I never felt any compulsion to look underneath - I wasn’t even sure if there was a there there. And then came the drums...
It began with the continuity going stratospheric. And then came the character exploration and mirroring. Bringing with it huge, giant big themes that pretty much jumped out of the screen at me - beautiful and rich and deep and *begging* to be delved into. Could it continue? Oh yes it could. The finale didn’t just add to the continuity hundred fold, tying up all the stories into glorious circles, it did the same with all the themes and the layers and the imagery (*so* gorgeous). And the more I look, the more I see... and this is where the obsession kicks in. Because now I want to go back. I want to record everything (which means scrutinising the TV guide to keep an eye on re-runs), to poke and prod and see how it’s all connected.
And that... is going to take time. And fill up yet more brain space. Bother. As if I don’t have enough of that going on with Buffy...
But then I look at my wallpaper (spoilery for end of S3), and well - what am I supposed to do? And no, I’m not just talking about the pretty - I’m talking about all the other stuff. The same reasons I adore Spike and Buffy, and Spike and Angel. The way I look at them and see the most glorious, intricate and fascinating interplay - history and feelings and similarities and differences all adding up to something much greater than any one thing could be on it’s own.
And damn, now I’ve waffled again. If anyone reads this, then I apologise for this odd slice of my brain.
I’ve been watching Doctor Who for three years. (I even watched Torchwood, which I like in a ‘maybe one day when the braces come off and you get a decent haircut and new clothes you’ll be real pretty’ kinda way.) Anyway, I watched it and enjoyed it. I squee’d at the brilliant bits and cried at the sad bits and rolled my eyes at the silly bits. I’ve read the occasional fic and watched a few vids. Even checked out meta when it popped up on my flist. I’ve done my best to see every ep. But I’ve not been obsessed. Because there is a *huge* difference between liking and loving, between enjoying and being sucked in. You see the problem with Doctor Who has been the fact that well... it can be a little clumsy. There are occasional episodes - or arcs - that are utterly brilliant, but there are a LOT of episodes where the metaphors are so obvious that I can almost see them jumping up and down going: ‘Look at me! I’m a metaphor! That means that I *mean* something and now I’m going to use primary coloured blocks to spell it out.’
Character/relationship wise it’s mostly excellent. And story wise the show is mostly very solid, although RTD really is the new Joss, only moreso:
“So if I can get past that by saying ‘Well these things happen when you’re
Luckily I have a *huge* tolerance for this - as long as the payoff’s worth it I can buy just about any ridiculous thing thrown at me. (I see the words ‘Written by Russel T. Davies’ pop up on my screen and I know I’ll have to suspend disbelief sooner or later.)
So - fun, entertaining, emotionally involving show. But until ‘Sound of Drums’ I never felt any compulsion to look underneath - I wasn’t even sure if there was a there there. And then came the drums...
It began with the continuity going stratospheric. And then came the character exploration and mirroring. Bringing with it huge, giant big themes that pretty much jumped out of the screen at me - beautiful and rich and deep and *begging* to be delved into. Could it continue? Oh yes it could. The finale didn’t just add to the continuity hundred fold, tying up all the stories into glorious circles, it did the same with all the themes and the layers and the imagery (*so* gorgeous). And the more I look, the more I see... and this is where the obsession kicks in. Because now I want to go back. I want to record everything (which means scrutinising the TV guide to keep an eye on re-runs), to poke and prod and see how it’s all connected.
And that... is going to take time. And fill up yet more brain space. Bother. As if I don’t have enough of that going on with Buffy...
But then I look at my wallpaper (spoilery for end of S3), and well - what am I supposed to do? And no, I’m not just talking about the pretty - I’m talking about all the other stuff. The same reasons I adore Spike and Buffy, and Spike and Angel. The way I look at them and see the most glorious, intricate and fascinating interplay - history and feelings and similarities and differences all adding up to something much greater than any one thing could be on it’s own.
And damn, now I’ve waffled again. If anyone reads this, then I apologise for this odd slice of my brain.