elisi | So... that Mark. I think I've worked it out. :)

(Karen Gillan in my icon is doing a Mark impression...)

First of all, then many thanks go to

gabrielleabelle for suggesting that Mark is so... OTT in his Buffy reviews because he expects angst. Because suddenly he was easy to diagnose. Basically he suffers from pre-Traumatic Joss Syndrome.

His tagline is 'You're Not Prepared', but this actually misleading. I don't mean that he's spoiled, but he is prepared. Here are my approximations of his mindset for various things:

Buffy:
'OH NOES IT'S JOSS AND HE LOVES TO STAB PEOPLE IN THE BACK WHEN THEY FEEL HAPPY! EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE PERPETUAL HEARTBREAK, ANYONE COULD DIE AT ANYTIME! WILL IT BE THIS EPISODE THAT BREAKS ME FOR GOOD? OR THIS ONE? OR THIS ONE? OR...'

Lord of the Rings:
'OMG EVERYTHING IS EPIC AND EVERYTHING IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL FANTASY THAT COMES AFTER AND HOW SHALL I DEAL???'

Moffat Who:
'EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE CLEVER AND COMPLICATED OH NOES WHAT-IS-GOING-ON-I-CAN'T-WORK-IT-OUT-HELP!!!!'

Twilight:
'THIS IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE RUBBISH AND TERRIBLE - AAAAAAAH! IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN I THOUGHT! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? AND IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE...'

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think these are a couple good points.

1) Now that he's doing this full-time, Mark has a vested interest in keeping his audience happy. As such, his reviews are inevitably going to be affected as he's focused more on that goal than on his sincere reactions. Not to say he's gonna be entirely disingenuous, but I think it's impossible to claim that he's completely uninfluenced by the desires of his audience. That would be stupid for somebody who is putting out a product to ensure their livelihood.

2) When you review at such a high pitch it become a monotone.

He's been doing this since S1. Is he gonna continue in this vein till the end of S7? That's a bit much. I wonder if Squee Fatique may set in for some people, especially those who aren't fans of the later seasons (honestly, I'm kinda getting there, but I was cynical from the outset, so I may not be representative of his audience).

Kinda like a car accident to me. I swear I won't be a lookie-loo, but then I turn my head anyway.

I enjoyed his enthusiasm at first, but I took it as meaning he liked that episode. Not that he LIKED EVERY EPISODE TO THE POINT OF ORGASMIC BLISS - AND OMG JOSS YOU HAVE MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL AND I THANK YOU!!!!!!

And he really kinda ignores Spike during his evil snarky pre-chipped eps. Yeah, Spike set some possibilities in motion, but why blame him for ruining everyone's lives in order to have an epiphany. Everyone made their choices - truths came out that were hard to deal with.

So... that Mark. I think I've worked it out. :)

no subject

no subject