![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mark Watches. (and Reads)
Thoughts inspired by the posts by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gabrielleabelle and shadowkat67, because of the fact that Mark actually now makes his living with his blog (and good for him! I've not got any problems with this at all). But it's still weird for the rest of us...
Let me start with a Moffat quote which sprang to mind:
Mark is, essentially, that 'occasional viewer'. Sure he's watching his way through the whole thing with determination, but his posts are reaction posts. To him, Buffy is just a story, and he looks at it like a story, whereas most of us, I'd wager, looked past the story 223 metaphors ago. We would (and many did) PAY to watch the show, not the other way around...
It is, essentially, the difference between initial reaction and subsequent analysis. It's nice for him that he has a market for his initial impressions, but I, personally, would not be interested in either writing & selling something like that, nor buying it, since first impressions are [for us] merely the starting point, not the end product. That's why it's weird. (Heck just look at all these posts we're writing trying to analyse why it feels weird.)
Which reminds me - I'm also following his 'Mark Reads LotR' (which has made me go hunt out trailers & clips from the movies, 'cause OMG the nostalgia), but that slight disconnect there is between his viewing of a show from the '90 through today's eyes? Is HUGE when it comes to LoTR. He is very character focussed, and it's just WEIRD. Tolkien is all story (history), and reactions like 'How can he DO this to so-and-so???' just make me tilt my head, because it just doesn't fit... (Do you know what I mean? Tolkien has marvellous characters, but he's so far from Joss as to be on another planet.)
I like Mark, he's fun and entertaining, but when it comes to 'proper, paid up, head-full-of-lists fans' (like us) look no further than Tea at the Ford, Slayage, Whedonistas, Chicks Dig Timelords, etc... (I'm not saying that Mark couldn't become one of us. Just that he isn't yet.)
gabrielleabelle and shadowkat67, because of the fact that Mark actually now makes his living with his blog (and good for him! I've not got any problems with this at all). But it's still weird for the rest of us...Let me start with a Moffat quote which sprang to mind:
No, you're not understanding me. I'm a proper, paid up, head-full-of-lists fan. Lots of my friends are fans too, I go to the fan gathering every month in the Fitzroy ... I think we're all lovely, and don't need to be kept in basements. Well, except him. And him. And those two. And her.
But when I write the show I put my professional telly head on and try to address the occasional viewer. Cos that's the vast majority of the audience. Getting lost in the fan perspective, can be a problem - and such an easy trap for me! As far as feedback goes, I prefer it from the playground or the pub.
Mark is, essentially, that 'occasional viewer'. Sure he's watching his way through the whole thing with determination, but his posts are reaction posts. To him, Buffy is just a story, and he looks at it like a story, whereas most of us, I'd wager, looked past the story 223 metaphors ago. We would (and many did) PAY to watch the show, not the other way around...
It is, essentially, the difference between initial reaction and subsequent analysis. It's nice for him that he has a market for his initial impressions, but I, personally, would not be interested in either writing & selling something like that, nor buying it, since first impressions are [for us] merely the starting point, not the end product. That's why it's weird. (Heck just look at all these posts we're writing trying to analyse why it feels weird.)
Which reminds me - I'm also following his 'Mark Reads LotR' (which has made me go hunt out trailers & clips from the movies, 'cause OMG the nostalgia), but that slight disconnect there is between his viewing of a show from the '90 through today's eyes? Is HUGE when it comes to LoTR. He is very character focussed, and it's just WEIRD. Tolkien is all story (history), and reactions like 'How can he DO this to so-and-so???' just make me tilt my head, because it just doesn't fit... (Do you know what I mean? Tolkien has marvellous characters, but he's so far from Joss as to be on another planet.)
I like Mark, he's fun and entertaining, but when it comes to 'proper, paid up, head-full-of-lists fans' (like us) look no further than Tea at the Ford, Slayage, Whedonistas, Chicks Dig Timelords, etc... (I'm not saying that Mark couldn't become one of us. Just that he isn't yet.)