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6kinds_of_crazyOr not very many of them, at least. More specifically, I completely fail to understand why certain things cannot be let go of by fans. Or, more accurately, by fandoms.
The two examples that get nearly constantly under my skin? Monty Python and Firefly/Serenity.
Monty Python was last on a screen of any size for an original run in 1983 (if we restrict things to original material, not clip shows). Okay, they had a reunion thing on stage in 2014-- that really doesn't help the American fans any, as the stage was in England. Yet practically everyone I know still quotes Monty Python skits, movies and cast members as though they were Shakespeare, the bible and famous historical figures.
And the thing that rrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally gets under my skin? THEY WERE NEVER EVEN VERY FUNNY! I've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail-- and I never laughed but once. ("I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?" That got a laugh out of me.) Yet, for the number of memes and quotes and other stuff that you cannot escape if you are a geek on the internet, you'd think they were still active, and producing more new material than Doctor Who, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, every Star Trek show and movie EVER, and all the comic book publishers of the world combined.
And should you suggest, however politely, that Monty Python is long over, and you're rather tired of seeing things from it all these years later, THE INTERNET EXPLODES AT YOU!
It's insane.
Then we come to Joss Whedon's "space western," the show called Firefly that, after cancellation, somehow managed to get a big screen movie called Serenity made. Now, Firefly ran for 14 episodes before cancellation. Regardless of what fans say (or, more likely, SCREAM), the ratings for the show did not, in fact, justify keeping it on the air. The ratings are available online, look them up. I'd have cancelled the show myself, despite enjoying it, from a strictly business point of view.
Fans howled, screamed, and made a bunch of big hairy things of themselves, the DVDs of the show sold, and somehow, a theatrical movie got made. A theatrical movie, that, in cold hard fact, did not make its budget back.
And yet, the fans still howl, and scream, and demand another run at the TV show, and never mind that many of the actors either just don't care or have actively expressed a lack of interest. The one actor whom I have heard express a desire to see the show brought back is the one whose career seems to have largely have stalled since the show was cancelled.
And still, every week, there's a new shirt, or meme, or something. At least once a month, someone posts about how the show needs to be brought back, though it's been off the air (in original run, at least) since 2003, and out of theaters since 2005.
I find myself wondering... is my inability to connect with something dead and gone, to wish it back that strongly, a part of my Autism Spectrum Disorder? Or am I just... a lame geek? Given my passion for the Wild Cards books, the Dresden Files novels, Peter Clines's Ex-Heroes series, and the works of Stephen King, I rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally don't think my geekdom is questionable. So my impatience with the inability to let go of the dead and gone? I think it's the ASD.
Especially since that impatience in reference to things gone, and the clinging to of same? It seems to extend into every part of my life.
Seriously, people. What's dead is dead. Let it GO!
The two examples that get nearly constantly under my skin? Monty Python and Firefly/Serenity.
Monty Python was last on a screen of any size for an original run in 1983 (if we restrict things to original material, not clip shows). Okay, they had a reunion thing on stage in 2014-- that really doesn't help the American fans any, as the stage was in England. Yet practically everyone I know still quotes Monty Python skits, movies and cast members as though they were Shakespeare, the bible and famous historical figures.
And the thing that rrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally gets under my skin? THEY WERE NEVER EVEN VERY FUNNY! I've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail-- and I never laughed but once. ("I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?" That got a laugh out of me.) Yet, for the number of memes and quotes and other stuff that you cannot escape if you are a geek on the internet, you'd think they were still active, and producing more new material than Doctor Who, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, every Star Trek show and movie EVER, and all the comic book publishers of the world combined.
And should you suggest, however politely, that Monty Python is long over, and you're rather tired of seeing things from it all these years later, THE INTERNET EXPLODES AT YOU!
It's insane.
Then we come to Joss Whedon's "space western," the show called Firefly that, after cancellation, somehow managed to get a big screen movie called Serenity made. Now, Firefly ran for 14 episodes before cancellation. Regardless of what fans say (or, more likely, SCREAM), the ratings for the show did not, in fact, justify keeping it on the air. The ratings are available online, look them up. I'd have cancelled the show myself, despite enjoying it, from a strictly business point of view.
Fans howled, screamed, and made a bunch of big hairy things of themselves, the DVDs of the show sold, and somehow, a theatrical movie got made. A theatrical movie, that, in cold hard fact, did not make its budget back.
And yet, the fans still howl, and scream, and demand another run at the TV show, and never mind that many of the actors either just don't care or have actively expressed a lack of interest. The one actor whom I have heard express a desire to see the show brought back is the one whose career seems to have largely have stalled since the show was cancelled.
And still, every week, there's a new shirt, or meme, or something. At least once a month, someone posts about how the show needs to be brought back, though it's been off the air (in original run, at least) since 2003, and out of theaters since 2005.
I find myself wondering... is my inability to connect with something dead and gone, to wish it back that strongly, a part of my Autism Spectrum Disorder? Or am I just... a lame geek? Given my passion for the Wild Cards books, the Dresden Files novels, Peter Clines's Ex-Heroes series, and the works of Stephen King, I rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally don't think my geekdom is questionable. So my impatience with the inability to let go of the dead and gone? I think it's the ASD.
Especially since that impatience in reference to things gone, and the clinging to of same? It seems to extend into every part of my life.
Seriously, people. What's dead is dead. Let it GO!
