I miss Torri

[marguerite_krux]

Some people say, ‘Why watch a show if you don’t like it? Don’t waste your time and ours by complaining afterwards’. 

A thread to that effect exists on GW, though I haven’t had a chance to view it yet. The thing is, when you’ve invested enough of yourself into something, no matter how grim the outlook, how heavy the losses, how despairing you are and wishing desperately to be free of it all, you can’t just walk away. You used to care about the characters, about their adventures. I may hate the loss of Elizabeth from SGA, but I have to remain up to date with the show, I haven’t cut the ties just yet. And I think it’s arrogant of people to say ‘if you don’t like it, give up now because you aren’t worthy of it’. No one has the right to tell another person not to watch something.

 

Or at least, it depends. Bear with me, I know it sounds like I’m selling out- that I’m being a hypocrite, ‘oh, no one can say that to me, but I’ll throw it in someone else’s face when it suits me’. That’s not it at all.

 

There are two categories of people who criticize shows.

 

One is filled with those who condemn Californication, for instance, because of the swear words liberally interspersed throughout the episode, practically serving as punctuation for each statement; because of the numerous sex scenes, all the women that Hank sleeps with, because of his promiscuity and the way he treats women as sex objects [one could argue it’s men’s payback for Sex and the City]; because of the lack of family morals, their shallowness, the bad example they set for the viewers. Whatever else outraged people write in to complain about in the newspapers.

 

The other category is composed of disillusioned fans. People who religiously watched the show, were devoted to it, spent hours in creative pursuits revolving around it- writing fanfic, creating icons and wallpapers and banners, making fanvids, joining forums to share their passion with other fans [maybe not Californication in this context, lol]. People who were shattered by a development- often the loss of a favorite character, or perhaps put off by a turn in the direction of the series, such as a tendency to kill off civilians and focus exclusively on one or two main characters and an interloper with no business being in the show.

 

I believe that the former category should stop whingeing and allow the show to do what it will. They don’t really care about it, they have no personal stake in it. If they’re that offended, then don’t watch it.

 

[Although I sympathize when they’re waiting for a program that’s on afterwards and are forced to sit through the last ten minutes because they don’t want to miss the start of their show. That’s just cruel. I’ve had to sit through Big Brother a number of times and it pisses me off.]

 

The latter, however, have genuine reason to be upset. They’ve formed an attachment to the show, they care about its characters and its growth, they have a stake in how the writers choose to develop it. And a show is meant to please its fans. If it alienates a group of them, they have just as much right to criticize what it is they hate, just as it is the right of satisfied fans to glee and squeal and rejoice over what they like. People can’t just welcome the good comments and ostracize those who have a different opinion, and they’re rude and intolerant if they expect unhappy fans to keep quiet about what’s making them miserable.

 

The die-hard fans who don’t like anti-season 4 fans shouldn’t take it as an insult, though they will; I’d advise them to be pleased at how strong a hold their show has on other people, that they would be completely miserable and devastated at the developments, yet incapable of letting go and moving on, that they’re still compelled to haunt it, drifting around the edges like ghosts unable to leave familiar, once beloved grounds. This is quite a strong compliment to the show itself. A worse insult would be growing tired of it and leaving it behind, because that shows that it didn’t mean anything at all. At least the anti’s are acknowledging the power it has, the wealth of potential in it, the addictiveness that sadly traps so many fans.

 

Maybe this doesn’t make much sense, but it’s my own personal code and I believe in it. Look at it this way- I love Elizabeth Weir, and I wouldn’t visit an anti-Weir thread because I know it would infuriate me and provoke a fight that could be otherwise avoided. And I would be in the wrong because it was my fault for going there in the first place when there was never going to be a good outcome.

 

But as a fan invested in her character, I can look at some of the flaws in the woman, acknowledge some of the mistakes she may have made, while also considering the extenuating circumstances and the way she’s grown from it and become wiser. I don't have to be blind, just understanding. Balance it against the good that she’s done. And in that frame of mind, I will mourn her, I'll miss the contribution she made to SGA and sci-fi in general.

And if I want, I have every right to watch s4 and hate every ep and make numerous criticisms about it. This used to be my show. I can still have an opinion on it, even if I'm not being all sycophantic. JM can hate me all he likes, I'm under no obligation to appreciate the mess he's made of SGA, and if enough people feel like me, hopefully it'll penetrate his thick skull and they'll try to please the audience for once, rather than alienate them. I'm not supposed to like the show just to make his job easier. If all the fans campaigning for Paul and Torri, or watching in the hopes they return, were to give up, they'd have no show anymore. No one would give a damn. They need the goodwill of the fans to stay in business. 

If only they'd listen to us for a change.