Tuesday Top Five: Spilling the Salt
Dec. 10th, 2024 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nevannaSometimes – plenty of times – the media that I love has disappointed me deeply. In discussing those disappointments, I’m not trying to insult anyone else’s taste; the opinions expressed by Nevanna do not reflect the Fannish Court of Public Opinion, if such a thing exists. In all cases, just because I am not talking about other complaints about the media in question doesn’t mean that I don’t have them. And I also still have at least some affection for all of the media in question; otherwise, I wouldn’t care.
With all of that said, here are five moments or turning points that have made me a salty, salty fan.
1. X-Men: The Last Stand
I only saw this movie once, when it premiered in 2006, so my recollection of the plot and of the fandom’s response probably isn’t perfect, but I actually think that my reaction was more or less in line with fannish consensus, at least among people that I knew. Like many of those fans, I was cautiously intrigued upon learning that this movie would adapt the "Mutant Cure" storyline and the Dark Phoenix Saga, and was alternately unsatisfied and infuriated by the careless way that it handled both. I didn’t hate the revelation that Charles had suppressed Jean’s powers when she was younger, but a story in which she consciously reclaimed her agency and power – even if she sometimes did questionable things with them – would have been a more satisfying progression than a story about how difficult it was for the men in her life to control her and how sad one of them was when he had to stab her to death. I can also understand why viewers who loved movieverse Magneto and Mystique were angry with his decision to abandon her once she was cured, and her choice to betray the mutant cause as "a woman scorned."
Additionally, the new characters and attempts to world-build – which should have made this universe feel bigger and more lived-in – ultimately overcrowded the story and were swallowed up by forgettable action sequences. If any fans were as energized and inspired by The Last Stand as I was by the first two X-Men movies, then I am genuinely happy for those people, but there is a reason why I’ve never particularly wanted to revisit it.
2. The Vampire Diaries
I stopped watching TVD during the fifth season, and my overall dissatisfaction with Season 4 likely played a part in that decision. I’ve written before about Bonnie’s relationship with Professor Shane, a storyline that I was fully prepared to enjoy but that squandered any potential that it might have had, and how it fit into a pattern of how that show treated its characters of color. Likewise, I wasn't too fond of the storyline in which the resident bad boy vampire accidentally made the woman he loved loyal and submissive to him when he turned her; I've been known to sum it up as "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Elena?" (I don’t know all the reasons why I had so little patience for that twist when I later wrote many words of fic about vampires and their thralls in a different fandom; there could simply be some small but crucial divergence between the TVD writers’ creative priorities and my own.)
But those factors were part of my overall problem with Season 4, which answered the question, "Can a story ever have too much mind control for Nevanna?" with a resounding "YES!" Not only was Elena’s autonomy compromised by her mystical bond with Damon, but when she suffered one of many terrible losses and was breaking down from grief, he used that bond to command her to turn off her emotions, turning her into a different kind of Problem that the other characters had to Solve. Also, her brother Jeremy was mystically compelled for several episodes to kill all supernatural creatures, including his friends and loved ones. Also, Bonnie was mentally manipulated by Shane and the Big Bad that he served. ALSO, vampiric compulsion, which was portrayed as a frightening and relationship-damaging violation in Season 1, had become a convenient tool that our heroes used casually when they wanted to escape an awkward situation or just have a good time.
That is too many ways to remove your characters’ free will, show. Put some back.
3. Supergirl
This gripe is more straightforward: I liked the relationships that the title character initially developed with her friends Winn and James, and shipped them as a triad, even though I knew that the show would probably not go there and was pretty happy when Kara and James seemed to become an item at the end of the first season (and both of their friendships with Winn remained intact, rather than devolving into love-triangle jealousy). The beginning of Season 2 broke off their romance to make room for Mon-El, a bland white dude who did not interest me nearly as much as the show wanted me to be interested in him. I also never found the relationship between James and Lena Luthor (whom many people also shipped with Kara) the slightest bit convincing.
4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
I’ve become increasingly resistant to Special Bloodlines as a plot device in recent years, so the revelation that Rey comes from "nobody" was one of my favorite parts of The Last Jedi (a divisive entry in the Star Wars franchise that I really liked overall). There were other ways to show Rey’s temptation by the Dark Side and make self-determination central to her character arc besides retconning her into a Special (But Evil) Bloodline in the following movie.
5. The Magnus Archives
I’ve already tried to summarize my issues with the fifth and final season of my Emotional Support Horror Tragedy Podcast. I still hope to discuss them in more detail someday soon. The short version is that, in addition to introducing the "everybody in the world either Constantly Suffers or Constantly Causes Suffering" world-building, the plot and character developments in Season 5 undermine a lot of what I’d loved about the show before that point, and the trolley problem in the last few episodes felt less like a resolution than a philosophical exercise (that also hit my scrupulosity buttons in a way that I did not enjoy). Arguably, the lack of concrete resolution is the point, and I actually didn’t mind the ambiguity of the final minutes, but I will probably always be ambivalent about much of what led up to them.
What are some of your biggest disappointments in the media that you've enjoyed? Were they deal-breakers? Do you know why or why not?
With all of that said, here are five moments or turning points that have made me a salty, salty fan.
1. X-Men: The Last Stand
I only saw this movie once, when it premiered in 2006, so my recollection of the plot and of the fandom’s response probably isn’t perfect, but I actually think that my reaction was more or less in line with fannish consensus, at least among people that I knew. Like many of those fans, I was cautiously intrigued upon learning that this movie would adapt the "Mutant Cure" storyline and the Dark Phoenix Saga, and was alternately unsatisfied and infuriated by the careless way that it handled both. I didn’t hate the revelation that Charles had suppressed Jean’s powers when she was younger, but a story in which she consciously reclaimed her agency and power – even if she sometimes did questionable things with them – would have been a more satisfying progression than a story about how difficult it was for the men in her life to control her and how sad one of them was when he had to stab her to death. I can also understand why viewers who loved movieverse Magneto and Mystique were angry with his decision to abandon her once she was cured, and her choice to betray the mutant cause as "a woman scorned."
Additionally, the new characters and attempts to world-build – which should have made this universe feel bigger and more lived-in – ultimately overcrowded the story and were swallowed up by forgettable action sequences. If any fans were as energized and inspired by The Last Stand as I was by the first two X-Men movies, then I am genuinely happy for those people, but there is a reason why I’ve never particularly wanted to revisit it.
2. The Vampire Diaries
I stopped watching TVD during the fifth season, and my overall dissatisfaction with Season 4 likely played a part in that decision. I’ve written before about Bonnie’s relationship with Professor Shane, a storyline that I was fully prepared to enjoy but that squandered any potential that it might have had, and how it fit into a pattern of how that show treated its characters of color. Likewise, I wasn't too fond of the storyline in which the resident bad boy vampire accidentally made the woman he loved loyal and submissive to him when he turned her; I've been known to sum it up as "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Elena?" (I don’t know all the reasons why I had so little patience for that twist when I later wrote many words of fic about vampires and their thralls in a different fandom; there could simply be some small but crucial divergence between the TVD writers’ creative priorities and my own.)
But those factors were part of my overall problem with Season 4, which answered the question, "Can a story ever have too much mind control for Nevanna?" with a resounding "YES!" Not only was Elena’s autonomy compromised by her mystical bond with Damon, but when she suffered one of many terrible losses and was breaking down from grief, he used that bond to command her to turn off her emotions, turning her into a different kind of Problem that the other characters had to Solve. Also, her brother Jeremy was mystically compelled for several episodes to kill all supernatural creatures, including his friends and loved ones. Also, Bonnie was mentally manipulated by Shane and the Big Bad that he served. ALSO, vampiric compulsion, which was portrayed as a frightening and relationship-damaging violation in Season 1, had become a convenient tool that our heroes used casually when they wanted to escape an awkward situation or just have a good time.
That is too many ways to remove your characters’ free will, show. Put some back.
3. Supergirl
This gripe is more straightforward: I liked the relationships that the title character initially developed with her friends Winn and James, and shipped them as a triad, even though I knew that the show would probably not go there and was pretty happy when Kara and James seemed to become an item at the end of the first season (and both of their friendships with Winn remained intact, rather than devolving into love-triangle jealousy). The beginning of Season 2 broke off their romance to make room for Mon-El, a bland white dude who did not interest me nearly as much as the show wanted me to be interested in him. I also never found the relationship between James and Lena Luthor (whom many people also shipped with Kara) the slightest bit convincing.
4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
I’ve become increasingly resistant to Special Bloodlines as a plot device in recent years, so the revelation that Rey comes from "nobody" was one of my favorite parts of The Last Jedi (a divisive entry in the Star Wars franchise that I really liked overall). There were other ways to show Rey’s temptation by the Dark Side and make self-determination central to her character arc besides retconning her into a Special (But Evil) Bloodline in the following movie.
5. The Magnus Archives
I’ve already tried to summarize my issues with the fifth and final season of my Emotional Support Horror Tragedy Podcast. I still hope to discuss them in more detail someday soon. The short version is that, in addition to introducing the "everybody in the world either Constantly Suffers or Constantly Causes Suffering" world-building, the plot and character developments in Season 5 undermine a lot of what I’d loved about the show before that point, and the trolley problem in the last few episodes felt less like a resolution than a philosophical exercise (that also hit my scrupulosity buttons in a way that I did not enjoy). Arguably, the lack of concrete resolution is the point, and I actually didn’t mind the ambiguity of the final minutes, but I will probably always be ambivalent about much of what led up to them.
What are some of your biggest disappointments in the media that you've enjoyed? Were they deal-breakers? Do you know why or why not?
no subject
Date: 2024-12-11 11:24 am (UTC)There are individual things I love about it, but I choose to forget the ensemble ^^
no subject
Date: 2024-12-11 04:20 pm (UTC)I would love to read, or hear, or perhaps even write, a retrospective of the X-Men movie fandom, comparing and contrasting the fanworks and fan culture around the first three movies to those surrounding the new timeline introduced in X-Men: First Class. Both eras gave rise to some truly incredible art and discussion, but they flourished nearly a decade apart and on different platforms. I think that the testimonies of people who participated in one phase, or the other, or both, would all be equally fascinating.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-11 04:25 pm (UTC)XDDD SO TRUE. And you know I'm with you on TVD; season 4 is when it really took a nosedive in quality, IMO.
I had more tolerance for/enjoyment of Mon-El than you did - likely, ironically, because I had a lot of affection for the actor thanks to his earlier work on later seasons of TVD, which I continued watching to the end despite it being largely terrible, because I will go to great lengths to continue to look at Damon Salvatore. Chris Wood was heavily featured in one of the better late season arcs (Damon and Bonnie get trapped in a time loop pocket world and develop a DEEPLY charming friendship) and I am, as always, helpless before a funny evil guy. But Mon-El was not nearly as good a character as James OR Winn. As for James and Lena, I had forgotten they even got together, which perhaps says something about that particular choice.
I think you're probably right that of many mistakes, the worst thing Rise of Skywalker did was retcon Rey's backstory. I was also furious that they killed off Kylo Ren at the end of his redemption arc, which is a tired, tired, TIRED trope. Let your redeemed villains LIVE, fiction! I'm so sick of their ~tragic, noble~ deaths!
I've had a fair amount of other fannish disappointments. Season 5 onward of Buffy was just a series of increasingly diminishing returns for me, but it's hard to pinpoint a specific moment. (I hate to say Dawn, because I don't think she was the only problem and I really don't want to dislike her, but I don't think they handled her character well at all until maybe season 7 and I fear her appearance might mark the beginning of things really going downhill for me.) And four years later, I still haven't really forgiven Supernatural for killing Dean at the end. (The whole show is the brothers! THE BROTHERS TOGETHER AGAINST ALL ODDS! DID WE REALLY HAVE TO END WITH THEM BEING APART FOR DECADES BEFORE A REUNION IN HEAVEN? Aargh!) There are for sure others. I'll come back if I think of them and have anything intelligent to say about them. :P
no subject
Date: 2024-12-14 01:42 pm (UTC)In retrospect, the "Elena with her humanity switch off" episodes were the beginning of the end for me. "Oh no, Damon overwrote Elena's personality, and it contradicted the last time he overwrote her personality!" Thanks, I hate it.
Chris Wood is very pretty and charming, and I'm glad that you enjoyed watching Mon-El even if I didn't click with him. We might disagree on some of the things you've mentioned, but we agree on a lot, too. Although you love Kylo a lot more than I do, you are completely right that redemptive deaths are much less interesting than characters who have to live with their bad choices and try to make better ones.
The whole show is the brothers! THE BROTHERS TOGETHER AGAINST ALL ODDS! DID WE REALLY HAVE TO END WITH THEM BEING APART FOR DECADES BEFORE A REUNION IN HEAVEN? Aargh!
From what I've gathered from fannish osmosis, you are not the only SPN fan who feels this way!