Head trip...

[butterfly]

I've been thinking about my own levels of... well, my ability to suspend belief when watching tv. I do have lines, which are both fairly firm, yet extremely malleable.

When I truly care about a show, I don't think of it as a tv show. Rather, I think of it as an alternate universe. Which means that I don't consider out of show reasons for things. I can accept that the 'real-life' reason Giles leaves is because Anthony Stewart Head wanted to go home, but that isn't taken into account in my view of the storyline. For me, the 'real' reasons for what happens must take place in-story.

Giles left because a) he wanted Buffy to stand on her own two feet and b) he couldn't watch her die again. He was tired.

Similarly, the reason that Spike's around may be because he is extremely popular with the fans, but I won't accept that as an 'in-story' reason. Which leads to some interesting trains of thought. Thoughts that are much more interesting and fulfilling than simply accepting the 'real-life' reason.

This also means that most of time, I don't notice things like stunt doubles or bad acting.

Actually, I've never noticed the stunt doubles. I watched the B/A fight in Becoming part 2, looking for the double and I never found him. I suck at that. People point them out and I still don't see them.

Anyway, this means that if a show breaks the magic, then I'm gone. You have to keep the magic, the suspension of belief, alive, or I can't operate in my fantasy world. I have boundaries.

Why do I mention this? Because, very recently, (in a dS episode) I actually said, "Or, he might not believe you because you're a bad actor." Which, as I have just pointed out, is not something I tend to do. Luckily, as it turns out, the guy was, you know, lying his ass off, so it worked for me. In-story reason for the worst excuse for crying since Dawson Leery.

Anyway, I have my Buffyverse, my Angelverse (the two have separated in my head totally), and (now) the dueverse. Smallville is still not fully formed in my head (may not ever be, considering the sheer lameness of some things). Nor is Firefly, but we just met. And I haven't seen all of Andromeda and thus do not want to judge hastily.

Angel got some hits with the Lamest Romance Ever (Cordy/Angel, if anyone's keeping track), but has really revived this season with the way it's handled stuff. And Buffy has never caused him to doubt my suspension of belief. due South is amazing so far. Just amazing. And the parallels between the pilot and the finale are beautiful. It fits, the story fits perfectly in the length that it was written in. It was exactly as long as it need to be. The circle was complete, and Ben ended up back home where he belonged, but only after he took the journey that he needed to take. And found someone to take back with him.

Comments

[rositamia.livejournal.com]

due South is amazing so far. Just amazing. And the parallels between the pilot and the finale are beautiful. It fits, the story fits perfectly in the length that it was written in. It was exactly as long as it need to be. The circle was complete, and Ben ended up back home where he belonged, but only after he took the journey that he needed to take. And found someone to take back with him.

I agree so totally with this. This is it exactly. Thank you for articulating my thoughts so well. Can you do the same thing for JuC and trickyfish for me, please? I can then show it to people when they ask me "Why?" ;-)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Hmm. JuC and Trickyfish. I'll have to think about that one, being primarily a lambs chick.

And whee! Someone else who watched dS! So cool! Almost wished I'd found it earlier! Then I remember about the Ray wars and I'm glad I missed that!

[rositamia.livejournal.com]

I was very, very, very lucky and missed most of it. I didn't watch it till it was in reruns. My first Ray was Kowalski, so for me, he has always been the real one. I'm actually really glad that he was the first one for me because if I'd seen Vecchio first, I wouldn't have gotten hooked on the show. I like the later season Fraser too. He seemed more real and more human. I loved the way he snarked at Dief and even at RayK. He didn't seem to be hiding so far behind his walls any more.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my first episode was Mountie on the Bounty, where Fraser loses his temper, which is a great thing to see.

And I, too, might not have gotten hooked if I'd seen Vecchio first. I adored the energy between Kowalski and Fraser. And yes, we see Fraser lose his Mountie mask with Ray. Which is nice.

But now that I've seen most of the Kowalski eps, I'm almost ready to fully dive into the Vecchio years. I want to see Fraser's growth. He's a great character.

[rositamia.livejournal.com]

I want to see Fraser's growth. He's a great character.

Yes, he really is. He comes across as fairly niave in some ways, and very wise in others. He seems to keep so much underneath the surface that you always wonder what he's thinking, feeling.

I liked the way that you could see him reaching out to RayK. I thought that he thought about trying to do that with RayV, but couldn't quite seem to be able to. And does he really seem like a Benny to you? That always felt like RayV's attempt to keep him in his place, to keep reminding him that, in the city, he was a babe in the woods. Know what I mean?

Only one of the many reasons that I'm glad I saw season 3 first. And of course the fact that I think CKR is one of the sexiest men around didn't hurt either. =) I have always had a thing for the second banana or sidekick, if you will.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

He seems to keep so much underneath the surface that you always wonder what he's thinking, feeling.
Yes, very much. He's a character with a lot of depth.

I liked the way that you could see him reaching out to RayK. I thought that he thought about trying to do that with RayV, but couldn't quite seem to be able to.
Mmmhmm. Although, I wonder if he could have handled RayK at all without RayV's prep work. All that electricity after nothing?

And does he really seem like a Benny to you? That always felt like RayV's attempt to keep him in his place, to keep reminding him that, in the city, he was a babe in the woods. Know what I mean?
Yeah. It's... infantilizing. Like Ben's twelve and needs to be reminded to tie his shoes. Treating him like... Frannie. Frannie, Benny. Hmm. He does treat Fraser like a kid brother.

[(Anonymous)]

I really wish you'd get over your Ray Vecchio hate. His nickname for Fraser was given as an endearment. He didn't try to infantalize Fraser at all! And "Benny" really signals a much closer relationship with Fraser and Ray than any relationship that Fraser and Kowalski had, because Kowalski only called Fraser by his last name.

[butterfly]

Seriously, hon, it's like you're obsessed.