From: seanc130@hotmail.com   
      
    wrote   
   > seanc130@hotmail.com (Sean Carroll)   
      
   >> If you enjoy the show, then why is every word you speak about it   
   >> negative? According to   
   >> you, it's 'boring', full of 'bad acting', a 'rip off', and makes you want   
   >> to fall asleep. How is it   
   >> possible that you could say you 'enjoy' such an experience?   
   >> I don't understand how you could enjoy something, and yet every single   
   >> word you say   
   >> about it is a put down. It makes no sense to me whatsoever.   
      
   > I guess I just enjoy Hating this show so much, that I am compelled to   
   > watch it. It's a fun show as long as you do not take it too seriously.   
   > The bad acting, and the bad writing, are some of the "best things" about   
   > this show. To me it is more of a comedy, than a drama, and I always get   
   > a few laughs from every episode. So now you know why I watch this show,   
   > and I will continue to watch it, until I get totally bored with it!   
      
   To be honest, I still don't fully understand.   
      
   I mean, yes, I understand that one can derive a lot of fun from watching   
   something awful and mocking it. That's the entire essence of MST3K.   
      
   But there are two aspects to this that I just don't get:   
      
   1) It's one thing to enjoy watching bad acting and bad writing. It's quite   
   another thing to enjoy something that, according to your own claims, is   
   'boring'. You keep calling it boring. You said it 'makes you want to   
   sleepwalk'. You even said that it 'takes a huge effort for anyone to pay   
   attention to it'. These are not descriptions of something so bad it's good.   
   They're descriptions of something that's just plain *bad*, and not in an   
   amusing way. The very definition of 'boring' is something that's *not*   
   enjoyable, in *any* way! 'Boring' is not the same thing as 'bad'. If you're   
   having fun with it, even just by mocking it, it's obviously not 'boring'.   
      
   2) I reiterate, going back to the MST3K model, that it is possible to find   
   *tremendous* enjoyment in picking apart a piece of bad entertainment.   
   However, this requires at least some small amount of wit and cleverness --   
   at least, for it to be worthwhile to go online to share it with others. Try   
   not to take this personally, but I find no wit or cleverness in your   
   criticisms of 'Fringe'. It's basically the same simplistic observations over   
   and over again -- 'These actors are terrible, especially Anna Torv! The   
   stories make no sense! And it's a huge ripoff of XF!' -- lather, rinse,   
   repeat ad infinitum. I have a hard time understanding how even you yourself   
   could actually 'enjoy' making such a tepid series of straightforward, style-   
   and panache-free, repetitive complaints. But even granting that *you* do,   
   it's highly unlikely that anyone else will find any enjoyment in reading   
   them, unless you spice it up a little. Be acerbic! Be scathing! Rip the show   
   a new one if you enjoy hating it so much! Demolish it! Don't just post brief   
   little whines. Now *that* is boring.   
      
   Now, as for my own opinion about the show? It's obviously nowhere near the   
   level XF was. (Who but a fool would ever expect it to be?) And yet, I find   
   myself strangely hooked on it. They must be doing *something* right, since   
   it's still one of the biggest shows around, and a major watercooler topic   
   among the hip kids. Most of my old X-Phile friends seem to be fans. And I   
   almost never feel 'bored' when I'm watching it. Even if it's not a   
   spectacular masterpiece, I still find it to be fairly intelligent,   
   engrossing, scary at times, and visually striking -- there are some pretty   
   damn good special/visual effects, usually at least one or two per episode.   
   At least, it's enough of all those things to keep me watching, and to make   
   most of my thoughts and feelings about it lean to the positive side, toward   
   praise rather than criticism. (Not that I don't think some legitimate   
   criticisms can be made.) Hell, the character of Walter Bishop, particularly   
   his chemistry with Peter, is worth the price of admission alone, as far as   
   I'm concerned.   
      
   As for it being a 'comedy' ... well, it does certainly have a campy edge,   
   and some things that aren't really supposed to be 'jokes' do make me laugh   
   every once in a while. But go back and watch that scene in the diner where   
   Olivia confronts Walter about his experiments on her, and he breaks down   
   crying with guilt, and then tell me there's no decent drama on the show, at   
   least *once* in a while. (I can think of other scenes to adduce for this   
   point, too, but I think that one is the most compelling.)   
      
   Okay ... off now to watch last night's episode!   
      
   --   
   --Sean   
   http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1062439264&ref=profile   
   http://spclsd223.livejournal.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)