*derides your truth-handling abilities* ([info]ijemanja) wrote,
@ 2009-03-10 22:06:00
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I'm slogging through the last few chapters of Watchmen and, okay, I feel like I should be putting this in a fandomsecret, but, GUYS THIS IS SO BORING. Where is the awesome? I... was expecting some awesome. Does it make me a bad human being for not liking this comic? Is there something wrong with me? WHAT AM I MISSING?

In less shameful news, [info]purimgifts has started, and it is perfectly delightful. Dozens of ficlets about your favourite women and Jewish characters from your favourite fandoms and everything is so fun and pretty.

I received an awesome little piece about Susan Ivanova here, and it's so good, guys. *loves secret purimgifter*

Both How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory were so good tonight. No, still not watching House. Unless something amazing comes along, I might wait till the season ends and then watch them all at once. (This is what I am doing with BSG, btw.) It is a useful strategy with shows I'm having a problem with -- mainlining episodes, I find, tends to smooth over the rough patches, and I usually end up focusing more on the awesome.

Anyway: [info]purimgifts!!

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[info]pirateygoodness
2009-03-10 12:28 pm UTC (link)
. . .yeah, that's pretty much what I got out of it, too. I think my problem is, when I read about nihilism, I don't automatically thing OMFG THIS GUY IS A GENIUS SCORRRRRE. Which means I am Doing It Wrong.

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[info]ijemanja
2009-03-10 03:14 pm UTC (link)
Yes. Me too. My mind remains un-blown. I've generally been reading the whole time picturing how much the fandom probably woobifies Rorschach. I need to entertain myself somehow and I still have one chapter to read and god so booooring.

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[info]fivil
2009-03-10 02:21 pm UTC (link)
I think for me, a huge part of why Watchmen failed to impress was because a) I'm not that familiar with comics before or after it and b) the book is 22 years old so by now a lot of things have emulated things that were so impressive about it. Even recently, stuff like Heroes etc.

Oh and because it is so bleak and negative, which is a worldview that's been prevalent in Hollywood films and such as of late and I just find it really tiring. Everything has to be dark and gritty in order to be "cool".

Also, like all of the characters are anti-heroes - to the point where I don't even find any of them particularly fascinating, just unpleasant or REALLY unpleasant/hatable.

(After I finished reading I wanted to read some feminist critiques of it but sadly couldn't find any...)

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[info]ijemanja
2009-03-10 03:20 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, I don't have any trouble understanding why it was ground-breaking at the time. And it's not that I don't get what it's trying to do, I've just seen it before, and I'm tired of it. Also, the casual misogyny is distracting, and yes, the characters are impossible to relate to - which, yeah, part of the point, I know. But once you alienate the audience, you need something else to keep them engaged and I? Am not so engaged over here. Bleh. *continues slogging*

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[info]holdouttrout
2009-03-10 03:35 pm UTC (link)
I found it interesting, in that it must have been OMG SO COOL at the time when it was first written, but yeah. Other people have done it since, and with more explosions. *g*

Still, I liked the format a lot, which is saying something, because I'm not that big into comics as a format, mostly because the art means the stories spread out a lot, and I want MORE than just one comic book for that kind of money.

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[info]ijemanja
2009-03-13 10:28 am UTC (link)
This is why I might prefer the movie - a soundtrack and things going boom might go a long way towards keep my attention... Or I could stay home and rewatch Leverage episodes, because they have those things AND characters I actually like.

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[info]sangria_lila
2009-03-10 06:57 pm UTC (link)
Because you never did Heart of Darkness and went OMG THE META, THE ALLEGORY when you read it and went SHIT DUDE THIS IS HEART OF FREAKING DARKNESS BUT JUST ON A TECHNICOLOR SCALE.

Anyway. It's a comic book that's at once bleak and nihilistic and yet affirms human existence and questions our place in the universe. Yes, the ending is a bit abrupt, but also very appropriate, and just, the writing is so tight. Though as a comic book universe, I still prefer Sandman. But I love the punch of Watchmen's writing.

Like you have Rorschach who at once embodies the uncompromising nature of what we think people should have, but actually is psychotic, and is the ultimate anti-hero, and yet none of us want to be that antihero, so are we bad people for not choosing Rorschach's stubbornness, to put it lightly.

I could go on and on, but I mainly love Watchmen for its ability to integrate visual, as well as many genres of writing and different types of contemplation all in one book. No one has still managed to do what Watchmen did altogether and so well.

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[info]ijemanja
2009-03-13 11:13 am UTC (link)
See, and I can appreciate all those things, I mean it's not like I don't get what the text is doing, I'm just really the wrong audience for it. I mean, clearly. SO boring, I'm sorry! :)

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[info]sangria_lila
2009-03-13 11:15 am UTC (link)
I can appreciate that you find it boring, but I don't think anything following Watchmen has done it and done it better.

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[info]shutterbug_12
2009-03-10 07:48 pm UTC (link)
*stalking* Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother were so awesome last night! We're taking the TRAIN! And thinks-he's-drunk Raj! And, oh, God, the whole thing was awesome. They just seem to get better and better. And HIMYM! "Because I forgot my PANTS." Teehee. I'm sorry. They're such happy-making shows. I couldn't resist.

Out of curiosity, why aren't you watching House these days? I feel like I know so many who aren't anymore (I myself am very cautious) and sometimes I feel like I should take a poll. LOL Although, the last two episodes were some of the best of the whole season, if you were to ask me, not...that you would, probably. But...yeah. =)

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[info]ijemanja
2009-03-13 11:53 am UTC (link)
Hee pants, yes. Oh! And MOONPIE. So awesome. :)

With the show, I think it mostly comes down to the fact that I've been so invested for so long, and though I still really care about these characters... I've been getting kind of bored. Particularly with House, I have so much less patience for his antics than I used to. And there are always things that I enjoy in the episodes that offset that, but the meh outweighs the yay a lot of the time. So I'm on hiatus for a while. I don't know, it's not a concrete thing! I might feel differently and start watching again next week. I'll definitely catch up eventually, though. /rambling

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[info]hihoplastic
2009-03-10 09:41 pm UTC (link)
Purim gifts is awesome!! I forgot to take it off my flist when I didn't sign up, and now I'm being bombarded by all kinds of shiny fic!! Not that I'm complaining :D

House has been pretty good, actually! I think Joy was the best episode of the season, and it's going to be hard for them to top it, but. The Softer Side was pretty good, and has a beautiful yet heartbreaking scene between House and Cuddy at the end. (I'll let you know when Baby!Rachel comes back. That's what's most important ^^)

I haven't been watching HIMYM :( No time! I'll try to catch up over the break. I miss it so!!

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[info]ijemanja
2009-03-13 12:35 pm UTC (link)
You're on babywatch, check. [info]purimgifts had Cuddy/Rachel here and there and it made me SO HAPPY.

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[info]lyssie
2009-03-10 11:43 pm UTC (link)
Yet another reason not to ever read Watchmen... ;]

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[info]ijemanja
2009-03-13 12:43 pm UTC (link)
It's not bad, in that everything it tries to do, it does quite effectively. I just was not interested in what it was doing.

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