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Post by lovemondays on Jan 9, 2015 2:45:01 GMT
Yeah my opinion is sometimes flexible after the first viewing. For instance I hated Filmed Adventures the first time but didn't mind it so much the second time and even laughed a bit. I tend to be rather high strung for the live viewing which I'm sure makes me take it all too seriously when it isn't meant to be. Whenever I get around to seeing it a third time I might come to like it, though I doubt it will ever be a favourite of mine. I'll always hate the opera one so no point forcing myself to watch it anymore. I tend to rewatch the season after it's completely over so probably some other episodes will improve for me because I'll be less focused on trying to solve the mystery and more in tune to all of the other nuances. The first time I watch anything I just take it as it comes. I rarely try to figure out whodunit as it spoils it for me however sometimes it's obvious. Most shows I'll watch once and that's enough however MM works on so many levels you really can't take it all in the first time ... or second and sometimes third. Eps I wasn't fond of first time around usually grow on me as I watch multiple times and see all the nuances. That happened with the Vaudeville ep, the more I watch the more I like it. There are a couple of eps that will never grow on me, Murdoch at the Opera and Rich Boy, Poor Boy. Not sure what it is about RB,PB but it just does nothing for me and MatO is so over the top I can't stand it. Other eps I just can't get enough of. I haven't heard the podcast yet...next thing on my list, but I do agree that the true richness and appeal of MM comes after several viewings. The first round...I'm just so excited to see what they'll do; second round I appreciate nuances I missed the first time around, and by the third viewing I'm swayed to actually enjoy an ep that I wasn't very keen on initially. Murdoch at the Opera is a fine example. I just can't get past Meesha's terrible overacting, and Belly Speaker still creeps me out. I've just done a marathon viewing of S6 and 7. There is so much to love and appreciate! I am very interested to see how Emily's character develops this season. I have to admit that I was less than thrilled with her early Wednesday Addams persona. I like seeing her quirkiness and spunk now because it's backed up with brains and a curiosity that approaches both William and Julia's. i would like to see some backbone though. I applaud George for holding her at arm's length and making her feel all the pain/remorse/anger at herself for shallowly falling for the pretty face with all the money. |
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Post by snacky on Jan 9, 2015 10:38:15 GMT
I don't necessarily think he does feel Julia's just fan service but she's certainly been treated that way recently. I loved the BAMFy Julia of the earlier seasons and yes I do think she represented the modern woman. Too bad they haven't carried that forward. Now that I think about it, I'm wondering if the writers are doing something that's just as lazy as fan service - automatically trolling shippers. Think about it. 1) Tie scene - dissolves into laughter. (I know CC loves this, but it always made me uncomfortable. I think this was why). 2) Promise to "always court" Julia defused by whoopee cushion/fart jokes. 3) 8 years of UST "resolved"/mocked by a fake horse-riding scene. 4) William "appreciated" by loony fans. Writers really hate to insert irrelevant ship scenes. I get it. I hate that, too. They stick out like a sore thumb. However trolling the "expected" fan service scene is not the same thing as originality. What would be original is integrating a good ship scene into a good mystery plot. The reason this is kind of annoying me at the minute is I think that this temptation to trolling has also been taking William out of character. As George has stated, William is "not a smiley man". Even if he smiles around Julia, he is not a cracking up sort of man. Yet now we've seen him cracking up a couple of times, at the expense of traditional romantic scenes. I don't like it.  |
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Post by Fallenbelle on Jan 9, 2015 14:02:09 GMT
I don't necessarily think he does feel Julia's just fan service but she's certainly been treated that way recently. I loved the BAMFy Julia of the earlier seasons and yes I do think she represented the modern woman. Too bad they haven't carried that forward. Now that I think about it, I'm wondering if the writers are doing something that's just as lazy as fan service - automatically trolling shippers. Think about it. 1) Tie scene - dissolves into laughter. (I know CC loves this, but it always made me uncomfortable. I think this was why). 2) Promise to "always court" Julia defused by whoopee cushion/fart jokes. 3) 8 years of UST "resolved"/mocked by a fake horse-riding scene. 4) William "appreciated" by loony fans. Writers really hate to insert irrelevant ship scenes. I get it. I hate that, too. They stick out like a sore thumb. However trolling the "expected" fan service scene is not the same thing as originality. What would be original is integrating a good ship scene into a good mystery plot. The reason this is kind of annoying me at the minute is I think that this temptation to trolling has also been taking William out of character. As George has stated, William is "not a smiley man". Even if he smiles around Julia, he is not a cracking up sort of man. Yet now we've seen him cracking up a couple of times, at the expense of traditional romantic scenes. I don't like it. I thought the fake horse riding scene was Yannick? The tie scene did devolve into laughter, but that also could have been nervous/emotional dissipation. I didn't mind it-would I have preferred it ended in a steamy Murdoch in Ragtime Kiss? Yeah, but William just threatened to beat someone up, plus, I think the writers may be trying to show William loosening up a little more within the private domestic sphere. We've seen a bit more goofy William this season because William's happy, he's engaged/married to the woman he's loved for years, and almost everything he's ever wanted is within grasp/possession. He's also not sexually frustrated anymore-which to me, is what the jokey scenes are supposed to hint at. He's gettin' some, so he's more relaxed. Also, it's a generalization, but boys/men are into fart jokes-particularly with girls/women as they know it grosses them out, and they know they'll get a reaction. Various men I dated did it to me a couple of times and my husband just did it yesterday. Dutch ovens wouldn't be a thing if men didn't enjoy things like that with women. Again, I know I'm generalizing, but... I think that scene was meant to show happy, relaxed private!William, and not mock shippers. Still, I'm concerned that they only show Julia in a shipper context now...I really miss the sparks between them as they worked together. I don't know why TPTB think that more shippy moments mean completely domesticizing Julia, but that does seem to be the route they've taken.  |
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Post by snacky on Jan 10, 2015 6:24:26 GMT
I thought the fake horse riding scene was Yannick? The tie scene did devolve into laughter, but that also could have been nervous/emotional dissipation. I didn't mind it-would I have preferred it ended in a steamy Murdoch in Ragtime Kiss? Yeah, but William just threatened to beat someone up, plus, I think the writers may be trying to show William loosening up a little more within the private domestic sphere. We've seen a bit more goofy William this season because William's happy, he's engaged/married to the woman he's loved for years, and almost everything he's ever wanted is within grasp/possession. He's also not sexually frustrated anymore-which to me, is what the jokey scenes are supposed to hint at. He's gettin' some, so he's more relaxed. Also, it's a generalization, but boys/men are into fart jokes-particularly with girls/women as they know it grosses them out, and they know they'll get a reaction. Various men I dated did it to me a couple of times and my husband just did it yesterday. Dutch ovens wouldn't be a thing if men didn't enjoy things like that with women. Again, I know I'm generalizing, but... I think that scene was meant to show happy, relaxed private!William, and not mock shippers. Still, I'm concerned that they only show Julia in a shipper context now...I really miss the sparks between them as they worked together. I don't know why TPTB think that more shippy moments mean completely domesticizing Julia, but that does seem to be the route they've taken. Yes, Julia does seem to be MIA even as a profiler. But I think it's because everyone realizes that a VicWardian profiler is boring unless s/he is a slightly creepy alienist like Dr. Sexy Beard. Julia needs to rediscover her self fo' sure. The horse: I thought that was the writers/producers and Yannick was embarrassed by it. Dutch ovens, etc. and the History of the World: how are we even managing to continue on as a species while men feel compelled to gross out women so much? Then there is the Sex in the City dilemma where Carrie felt she wasn't at liberty to be crass even if she felt like it. Frankly I think the things only one side of the relationship likes shouldn't be imposed. And to extend this to MM: this show has a big shipper audience, and that for the most part is a female audience. With the notable exception of CC, most of that audience was raised to appreciate the beauties of love. When they watch period drama, there are certain underlying expectations and unconscious archetypes that should be fulfilled. I think spoiling those beautiful dreams (which is par of why this audience is WATCHING TV in the first place) just for the sake of "boys will be boys" or 4chan-style trolling is really a poor excuse. I think a lot of male novel writers go for the crass move in the name of realism, and they never really follow through with the thought they just guaranteed many readers will skim or be completely turned off by their book (or make the excuse a guy wrote it) just on the hope that reader on the Pulitzer Prize or MacArthur Genius awards committee will be male and will also identify crassness with realism. But what about entertainment? That's what people are paying the tickets for. I see making Julia a fan of the crass aspects of vaudeville unrealistic for the era, and it seems to be basically an excuse to make her a vehicle to troll shipper expectations. Once more I'm all for avoiding fan service and challenging audience expectations in various ways: but there is a difference between challenging and trolling. Introducing fart jokes into MM is descending rapidly into trolling. As for William cracking up in private life: I do like the idea that that William enjoys Julia's company, and his sense of humor has improved since the "morgue humor" days. However, up until now William has seemed a lot more guarded even in his humorous moments. Doesn't it seem like he has a more screwball sense of humor now?? |
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