![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Oh fandom...why must you make me care so?
Dec. 4th, 2009 01:25 pmI am a fangirl (and person, but we're not talking real life in this post) who is, for the most part, resistant to change.
This works quite well for me most of the time. I tend to like the main characters in the fandoms I'm in, and they're usually protected from change, particularly when it comes to TV shows, movie trilogies, and book series, as those things have to be able to continue.
SPN is a great example - Sam and Dean, despite everything they go through, generally end up much the same at the end of the episode as they were at the beginning. When this doesn't happen, it is immediately fixed in the next episode. S4 and a few episodes at the beginning of S5 played with that a bit, but at the end of the day, we still have Sam and Dean, saving people, hunting things. Same as it ever was.
HOWEVER.
Doctor Who and Torchwood are upsetting me greatly in this respect. Or perhaps that's not the right word, upsetting. More, they're pushing me out of my comfort zone, and that makes me nervous.
Torchwood presented itself one way in S1, pretty much stayed exactly the same in S2 (following traditional serial mentality), and then TRANSFORMED ENTIRELY in S3, even down to the show format. That threw me. I've never seen anything on TV quite like it. And I can't even say if it's a good change or not, not until I see S4. Right now, I feel very much in limbo, as I bet most of the fandom does.
When it comes to Doctor Who, it's a different story, but no less unsettling. I started watching Nine, and I fell in love with him, particularly toward the end of that season. Then, suddenly, there's Ten, and I'm thrown for a loop. I knew this was coming, knew that was part of the character, but I'd JUST had enough time to get into the character I'd been presented with. Now I had to do that all over again?
I was extremely wary of the new version at first. This was unfamiliar and strange and I didn't like it at all. Of course, within the space of a few episodes, I was more in love with Ten than I'd ever been with Nine, more than I'd ever THOUGHT I could be in love with this character or this show. And so he sticks around, and there's a lot of sameness for a few seasons, which I absolutely love.
But now it's about to change again, and again I feel extremely unsettled. I love the way things are now, and I feel extremely resistant to the new choice. It's nothing in particular against that actor - I haven't seen a thing from him yet, so I can't judge - but still. Not at all what I would have preferred. And there's a chance that I'll love the change, but there's also a chance that I'll hate it, and I DON'T LIKE NOT KNOWING.
In conclusion, CHANGE IS WEIRD. ALSO, I CARE WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT FICTIONAL CHARACTERS.
This works quite well for me most of the time. I tend to like the main characters in the fandoms I'm in, and they're usually protected from change, particularly when it comes to TV shows, movie trilogies, and book series, as those things have to be able to continue.
SPN is a great example - Sam and Dean, despite everything they go through, generally end up much the same at the end of the episode as they were at the beginning. When this doesn't happen, it is immediately fixed in the next episode. S4 and a few episodes at the beginning of S5 played with that a bit, but at the end of the day, we still have Sam and Dean, saving people, hunting things. Same as it ever was.
HOWEVER.
Doctor Who and Torchwood are upsetting me greatly in this respect. Or perhaps that's not the right word, upsetting. More, they're pushing me out of my comfort zone, and that makes me nervous.
Torchwood presented itself one way in S1, pretty much stayed exactly the same in S2 (following traditional serial mentality), and then TRANSFORMED ENTIRELY in S3, even down to the show format. That threw me. I've never seen anything on TV quite like it. And I can't even say if it's a good change or not, not until I see S4. Right now, I feel very much in limbo, as I bet most of the fandom does.
When it comes to Doctor Who, it's a different story, but no less unsettling. I started watching Nine, and I fell in love with him, particularly toward the end of that season. Then, suddenly, there's Ten, and I'm thrown for a loop. I knew this was coming, knew that was part of the character, but I'd JUST had enough time to get into the character I'd been presented with. Now I had to do that all over again?
I was extremely wary of the new version at first. This was unfamiliar and strange and I didn't like it at all. Of course, within the space of a few episodes, I was more in love with Ten than I'd ever been with Nine, more than I'd ever THOUGHT I could be in love with this character or this show. And so he sticks around, and there's a lot of sameness for a few seasons, which I absolutely love.
But now it's about to change again, and again I feel extremely unsettled. I love the way things are now, and I feel extremely resistant to the new choice. It's nothing in particular against that actor - I haven't seen a thing from him yet, so I can't judge - but still. Not at all what I would have preferred. And there's a chance that I'll love the change, but there's also a chance that I'll hate it, and I DON'T LIKE NOT KNOWING.
In conclusion, CHANGE IS WEIRD. ALSO, I CARE WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT FICTIONAL CHARACTERS.
