I agree with your whoooole first paragraph--fanwank is just not something I have any interest in engaging in. Fortunately, (most of) the people who respond to my metas seem to respond in the spirit in which it was written--of sharing perspectives in hopes that something one of us has noted might be enlightening for others, so that if we put together all the puzzle pieces, we're all happier fans for it.
As for the writers, I actually do think they have a huge amount of self-awareness, and an awareness of what it is they're producing, even if the game plan is sometimes "winging it" (which hey, I can respect!) and the story they know they need to tell outstrips their ability to tell it.
Well, after this week's episode, I have a lot more faith, but YESSS, I so agree with this. It seems clear a great deal of discussion has gone into the direction they're taking the show and that they really feel like they're expressing something and getting somewhere with it ... I just so often feel like their analysis/planning skills are better than their storytelling and "show don't tell" skills ....
There's something very free, and risky, and untutored about the whole TV thing that I just love (and that fan fic, as a genre, totally gets to bask in and take even further).
I feel another one of those long comment threads coming on (which reminds me--you mentioned in the Tricycle Man thread that the TM project explained something about our earlier threads to you, but I can't think which discussion you might be referring to and I'd love to be reminded ...), but YES, I love this about t.v., too, although it leads to a lot of contradictory plot points, both in SPN and in Buffy and other successful, freestylin' shows I've seen, which can be frustrating, too. But at least THEY GET TO GO WHEREVER THEY WANT, explore all kinds of different themes and ideas and such, and God bless SPN for never dipping a toe but diving whole-hog right into the mire!!
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branchandroot
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Date: 2014-02-07 04:35 am (UTC)As for the writers, I actually do think they have a huge amount of self-awareness, and an awareness of what it is they're producing, even if the game plan is sometimes "winging it" (which hey, I can respect!) and the story they know they need to tell outstrips their ability to tell it.
Well, after this week's episode, I have a lot more faith, but YESSS, I so agree with this. It seems clear a great deal of discussion has gone into the direction they're taking the show and that they really feel like they're expressing something and getting somewhere with it ... I just so often feel like their analysis/planning skills are better than their storytelling and "show don't tell" skills ....
There's something very free, and risky, and untutored about the whole TV thing that I just love (and that fan fic, as a genre, totally gets to bask in and take even further).
I feel another one of those long comment threads coming on (which reminds me--you mentioned in the Tricycle Man thread that the TM project explained something about our earlier threads to you, but I can't think which discussion you might be referring to and I'd love to be reminded ...), but YES, I love this about t.v., too, although it leads to a lot of contradictory plot points, both in SPN and in Buffy and other successful, freestylin' shows I've seen, which can be frustrating, too. But at least THEY GET TO GO WHEREVER THEY WANT, explore all kinds of different themes and ideas and such, and God bless SPN for never dipping a toe but diving whole-hog right into the mire!!