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Post by Hodge on Sept 23, 2014 16:07:12 GMT
From what I've read and seen of the books (have read a few of them) and the movies (haven't watched yet) are a result of Maureen Jennings' through research into the life and times of people living in Toronto about 1895. The TV show started off in that way but as they gained a wider audience it lost a lot of the dark, gritty nature. Now that they are actively seeking a young "family" audience, the edgy darkness seems to have given way to ball gowns and top hats and relationships. I'm not complaining, just noting the difference. I also notice a lot of the fan art on the FB page is Disney-ish ...again, just an observation. If nothing else it is evidence that a younger audience is "engaged" and loving the characters and their relationships as much as we are. The only problem I have with that is that it might mean they will shy away from some of the topics that were being dealt with in those days. When it first aired, The Green Muse was a topic of discussion in blogs etc. on line because of how it handled the topic of abortion and particularly Julia's reply to William that no, she didn't regret the decision. I'm loving MM and didn't start watching until I saw re-runs last summer and I didn't watch for years because it looked to be dark and serious and boring. So it was the relationships and humour and glamour that sucked me in and then as I watched all past episodes (several times) I could appreciate the earlier darkness and angst. Perhaps the 10% darker that Peter Mitchell spoke of is a way to get back to the earlier feel of the episodes. I think the show maybe got a bit off-track when they realized how popular the Jilliam relationship was and now that they've finally got them to where much of the audience wants them they're trying to get back to basics. I liked the earlier seasons however I saw them after the last three so I was invested in the relationship from the start. The first episode I saw was Murdoch in Ragtime and that's a huge Jilliam episode and I liked the couple from the start. Once I'd seen S5 and 6 on the CBC website I got the first 4 DVDs and really saw the difference. Whilst the production values weren't as good, the stories were just as good if not better (depending on your view). I liked watching the trials and tribulations of the relationship knowing that things would work out in the end all the time loving the way William solved the crimes as well. Ultimately though it was William's intelligence, integrity and 'gentlemanliness' that attracted me, it's so unusual for a character these days. The one thing really about this show is ALL the main characters are wonderful, there's not one of them that the show could do without. There's a character for everyone to follow and that's why it appeals to men and women and all age groups and that's what a hit show should do. I'm glad the show isn't like Maureen Jennings books, they're too dark for TV and wouldn't have drawn as big an audience and definitely not the wide range. I'm not into fan art just because much of it is Disneyfied ... and most not very good. |
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Post by snacky on Sept 23, 2014 18:11:18 GMT
Now that they are actively seeking a young "family" audience, the edgy darkness seems to have given way to ball gowns and top hats and relationships. I'm not complaining, just noting the difference. I also notice a lot of the fan art on the FB page is Disney-ish ...again, just an observation. If nothing else it is evidence that a younger audience is "engaged" and loving the characters and their relationships as much as we are. The only problem I have with that is that it might mean they will shy away from some of the topics that were being dealt with in those days. When it first aired, The Green Muse was a topic of discussion in blogs etc. on line because of how it handled the topic of abortion and particularly Julia's reply to William that no, she didn't regret the decision. I'm loving MM and didn't start watching until I saw re-runs last summer and I didn't watch for years because it looked to be dark and serious and boring. So it was the relationships and humour and glamour that sucked me in and then as I watched all past episodes (several times) I could appreciate the earlier darkness and angst. I agree with your reasons for why MM took a "lighter" turn. At the same time, I think they realize that depth keeps the long-term audience, and that's why this season is supposed to be "10% darker". I don't think they will forget the serious topics, but they will probably keep searching for the right balance within the successful formula they have going now. The whole "art" thing annoys me somewhat. CBC or the MM marketing team - not sure who made the decision here - decided to encourage hand-drawn art, and they are giving public recognition to people who do it. So people are getting on the bandwagon in drawing these "Disney" figures. Yannick has tweeted several of them. On Tumblr you can see people going wild because they got recognized by the actors on Twitter or Facebook. Normally I'd think this is wonderful. But there is a glaring omission here that seems outright disrespectful to me. For years people were producing very creative fan art using images from the show. Videos in particular are difficult and time-consuming to make. Even if they use images from the show, they require independent judgment, talent, and patience. It's time-consuming to make a video! These videos provided free advertisement for MM. They helped grow the audience for MM. While the difficulty bar is lower, the same can be said for other creative endeavors like fanfic, captioned gifs, and other photo projects you can find all over Tumblr. By lavishing love on these drawings, the MM people are shrugging off the people who brought them to the dance in the first place. In the background there are probably some snide opinions about "content stealing" that someone forgot to recognize turned out to be free advertising. How did I check out MM after catching an ep on Ovation at someone else's house? I watched fanvids on youtube until I decided I was interested. Whoever the stickler for "promoting originality" is at CBC is shooting themselves in the foot. Ps. IMHO, if MM becomes associated with a bunch of Disney-like drawings it's going to turn off potential new fans in the US. |
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Post by snacky on Sept 23, 2014 18:15:56 GMT
The one thing really about this show is ALL the main characters are wonderful, there's not one of them that the show could do without. There's a character for everyone to follow and that's why it appeals to men and women and all age groups and that's what a hit show should do. I'm glad the show isn't like Maureen Jennings books, they're too dark for TV and wouldn't have drawn as big an audience and definitely not the wide range. And they aren't all trying to stab each other in the back like they would be on an American TV show. |
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Post by Hodge on Sept 23, 2014 18:19:51 GMT
I agree with your reasons for why MM took a "lighter" turn. At the same time, I think they realize that depth keeps the long-term audience, and that's why this season is supposed to be "10% darker". I don't think they will forget the serious topics, but they will probably keep searching for the right balance within the successful formula they have going now. The whole "art" thing annoys me somewhat. CBC or the MM marketing team - not sure who made the decision here - decided to encourage hand-drawn art, and they are giving public recognition to people who do it. So people are getting on the bandwagon in drawing these "Disney" figures. Yannick has tweeted several of them. On Tumblr you can see people going wild because they got recognized by the actors on Twitter or Facebook. Normally I'd think this is wonderful. But there is a glaring omission here that seems outright disrespectful to me. For years people were producing very creative fan art using images from the show. Videos in particular are difficult and time-consuming to make. Even if they use images from the show, they require independent judgment, talent, and patience. It's time-consuming to make a video! These videos provided free advertisement for MM. They helped grow the audience for MM. While the difficulty bar is lower, the same can be said for other creative endeavors like fanfic, captioned gifs, and other photo projects you can find all over Tumblr. By lavishing love on these drawings, the MM people are shrugging off the people who brought them to the dance in the first place. In the background there are probably some snide opinions about "content stealing" that someone forgot to recognize turned out to be free advertising. How did I check out MM after catching an ep on Ovation at someone else's house? I watched fanvids on youtube until I decided I was interested. Whoever the stickler for "promoting originality" is at CBC is shooting themselves in the foot. Ps. IMHO, if MM becomes associated with a bunch of Disney-like drawings it's going to turn off potential new fans in the US. Short reply to a long post but I can't stand the Disney stuff, not my taste, and if this was all I saw from fans of MM before seeing the show I wouldn't be watching now as I'd have totally the wrong impression of it. |
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Post by snacky on Sept 23, 2014 18:24:39 GMT
Short reply to a long post but I can't stand the Disney stuff, not my taste, and if this was all I saw from fans of MM before seeing the show I wouldn't be watching now as I'd have totally the wrong impression of it. Someone needs to draw something from the dark side of the force for Yannick to post on Twitter before that impression gets out of hand.  |
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Post by Hodge on Sept 23, 2014 18:25:26 GMT
Short reply to a long post but I can't stand the Disney stuff, not my taste, and if this was all I saw from fans of MM before seeing the show I wouldn't be watching now as I'd have totally the wrong impression of it. Someone needs to draw something from the dark side of the force for Yannick to post on Twitter before that impression gets out of hand. Very good idea! |
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Post by Fallenbelle on Sept 23, 2014 18:26:03 GMT
I agree with your reasons for why MM took a "lighter" turn. At the same time, I think they realize that depth keeps the long-term audience, and that's why this season is supposed to be "10% darker". I don't think they will forget the serious topics, but they will probably keep searching for the right balance within the successful formula they have going now. The whole "art" thing annoys me somewhat. CBC or the MM marketing team - not sure who made the decision here - decided to encourage hand-drawn art, and they are giving public recognition to people who do it. So people are getting on the bandwagon in drawing these "Disney" figures. Yannick has tweeted several of them. On Tumblr you can see people going wild because they got recognized by the actors on Twitter or Facebook. Normally I'd think this is wonderful. But there is a glaring omission here that seems outright disrespectful to me. For years people were producing very creative fan art using images from the show. Videos in particular are difficult and time-consuming to make. Even if they use images from the show, they require independent judgment, talent, and patience. It's time-consuming to make a video! These videos provided free advertisement for MM. They helped grow the audience for MM. While the difficulty bar is lower, the same can be said for other creative endeavors like fanfic, captioned gifs, and other photo projects you can find all over Tumblr. By lavishing love on these drawings, the MM people are shrugging off the people who brought them to the dance in the first place. In the background there are probably some snide opinions about "content stealing" that someone forgot to recognize turned out to be free advertising. How did I check out MM after catching an ep on Ovation at someone else's house? I watched fanvids on youtube until I decided I was interested. Whoever the stickler for "promoting originality" is at CBC is shooting themselves in the foot. Ps. IMHO, if MM becomes associated with a bunch of Disney-like drawings it's going to turn off potential new fans in the US. Short reply to a long post but I can't stand the Disney stuff, not my taste, and if this was all I saw from fans of MM before seeing the show I wouldn't be watching now as I'd have totally the wrong impression of it. With few exceptions, I don't care a lot for the cutesy stuff either. I posted the link because the first pic really struck a chord with me after we'd been discussing William and Julia's fantasies. It was a slight exaggeration, but just enough to make me giggle. It was a good combination of ridiculous/timely/cute if that makes sense. |
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Post by Hodge on Sept 23, 2014 18:28:31 GMT
With few exceptions, I don't care a lot for the cutesy stuff either. I posted the link because the first pic really struck a chord with me after we'd been discussing William and Julia's fantasies. It was a slight exaggeration, but just enough to make me giggle. It was a good combination of ridiculous/timely/cute if that makes sense. The subject matter of the first and Disney style are somewhat incongruous. That was and the one with Julia and Emily with the brain were the only two I cared for. |
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Post by snacky on Sept 23, 2014 19:16:28 GMT
Short reply to a long post but I can't stand the Disney stuff, not my taste, and if this was all I saw from fans of MM before seeing the show I wouldn't be watching now as I'd have totally the wrong impression of it. With few exceptions, I don't care a lot for the cutesy stuff either. I posted the link because the first pic really struck a chord with me after we'd been discussing William and Julia's fantasies. It was a slight exaggeration, but just enough to make me giggle. It was a good combination of ridiculous/timely/cute if that makes sense. I don't lump the chibi with the Disney. Thanks for that link! It is super-cute. |
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Post by Hodge on Sept 23, 2014 19:19:32 GMT
With few exceptions, I don't care a lot for the cutesy stuff either. I posted the link because the first pic really struck a chord with me after we'd been discussing William and Julia's fantasies. It was a slight exaggeration, but just enough to make me giggle. It was a good combination of ridiculous/timely/cute if that makes sense. I don't lump the chibi with the Disney. Thanks for that link! It is super-cute. As far as I'm concerned it's all too cutesy. Guess I'm getting to old ... or jaded. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2014 3:36:25 GMT
Yes it was a sealskin coat that smelled bad when it got wet. In the books William was not at all dapper about his dress. He was quite poor and his clothes reflected that. The tv series is a little unrealistic in this aspect. The book or movie Murdoch would not have owned a top hat and tails to wear to the opera. And his suits would not look like they just came from the cleaners ! I think George sold one of William's inventions.   |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2014 3:42:14 GMT
I don't lump the chibi with the Disney. Thanks for that link! It is super-cute. As far as I'm concerned it's all too cutesy. Guess I'm getting to old ... or jaded. It's been a while since I saw the fan art that was posted on Facebook, but I have to agree that I was not impressed by most of it. One picture, however stood out. It was a pencil portrait of William Murdoch, very realistic. I have always been a "drawer" but for many years I did not do it: too much else going on. Now I have begun again, but just things like flowers and trees. No human portraits. Some day I hope to draw like that. Now I will have to go and find it! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2014 18:21:52 GMT
the picture I am referring to is by Miss Catherine on Deviant Art. I can't figure out how to repost or even if it is permitted.
I just spent two hours going through all of the fan art on this forum (because I have the time today and a cold is making me very lazy). My comments about pencil art in no way detract from the amount of talent and hard work it takes to put together the videos and gifs and music that are there. They capture the feelings of us fans on so many levels: the frustration, the humour, our wishes! Snacky is right: Cosmic Cavalcade is a mad genius.
Art is so personal and yet so universal that I find it hard to criticize any one art form: how the artist interprets the show is very personal. This is not to say I like everything. I don't like it all, just as I don't like all music. I just choose not to look or listen to what i don't appreciate. I have to admit that a small part of my admiration for the "technical" fan art stems from being awestruck!
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Post by snacky on Sept 29, 2014 23:27:14 GMT
I respect and admire good hand-drawn art. For instance, I think Yeaka's chibis are a hoot.
My gripe is with the MM marketing team's disrespect for fans whose spontaneous creative activity got them where they are now - long-time loyal fans who invested a lot of time and energy in ways that ultimately pay off more for MM than the drawings do. Where is their Twitter hug?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2014 0:24:29 GMT
They certainly deserve recognition.
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