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telophase (![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} telophase) wrote in ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/community.gif){kind=small} fandom_wank,@ 2004-12-23 11:33:00 |
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'Tis the season...
...for more Lord of the Rings wank, now that the extended edition has been released on DVD. This particular one isn't, however, from the fanfic sphere, but from the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.composition via Google Groups. (To read the entire thread in context, start here.)
r.a.sf.c is an interesting read. The participants tend to be more sophisticated the usual run of online fannishness, so there are comparatively few grudges, more civil disagreements, correctly spelled words (aside from the occasional typo), and for the most part the wank is restrained. And due to Google Groups' not being able to single out individual subthreads in a quotable way, the wank is woven into the various digressions, subthreads, chatting, and puns that make up the thread as a whole, so you have to stick with it to get it all. I've dug through it and pulled out a few choice bits for you to savor.
It starts off innocently enough, with this post linking Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea rant and the original poster complaining about Hollywood's treatment of classic novels, which is certainly a valid point.
All seems well for a while with general civil discussion about film adaptation and random Miyazaki fangirl/boying until about 15 posts in, when Peter Jackson's butchery of LotR is dropped into the conversation with a thud, and the wank-gates open, albeit without TYPING IN ALL CAPS or serious profanity. It really gets its wind up when the original poster details the the changes that completely ruined the story while a peacemaker tries to educate her about the realities of filmmaking.
Many subthreads branch off at this point, which dilutes the wank stream but if you stick with it, you will come upon the post wherein the splooge hits the fan with the central theme of the wank, that only the Special Few people can truly understand what Tolkien was doing with his characters:
This theme is underscored later with a "I can no more explain Tolkien's characters to you than I can explain what colours are to a person who has been blind all his life."
The original poster again misses the economic realities of modern filmmaking and asserts that the movies should have been made for the elite book fans instead of rewriting the story to pander to the great unwashed, or it should not have been made at all.
That pesky Earth logic is re-applied when it's pointed out that people who invest $300 million into a movie would prefer that said movie actually make back the investment, but it does no good.
And then, the inevitable "Can't we all just get along?"
It continues going after that, but enough digressions and side-threads have sprung up that the wank is diluted. However, there's bonus racism wank, discussions of multicultural and transgender Shakespearean productions, debate over pikeorcs and battle tactics, and gratuitous Princess Bride jokes woven into the threads of conversation, but due to Google Groups' inability to thread properly, you'll have to search them out yourself.
...for more Lord of the Rings wank, now that the extended edition has been released on DVD. This particular one isn't, however, from the fanfic sphere, but from the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.composition via Google Groups. (To read the entire thread in context, start here.)
r.a.sf.c is an interesting read. The participants tend to be more sophisticated the usual run of online fannishness, so there are comparatively few grudges, more civil disagreements, correctly spelled words (aside from the occasional typo), and for the most part the wank is restrained. And due to Google Groups' not being able to single out individual subthreads in a quotable way, the wank is woven into the various digressions, subthreads, chatting, and puns that make up the thread as a whole, so you have to stick with it to get it all. I've dug through it and pulled out a few choice bits for you to savor.
It starts off innocently enough, with this post linking Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea rant and the original poster complaining about Hollywood's treatment of classic novels, which is certainly a valid point.
All seems well for a while with general civil discussion about film adaptation and random Miyazaki fangirl/boying until about 15 posts in, when Peter Jackson's butchery of LotR is dropped into the conversation with a thud, and the wank-gates open, albeit without TYPING IN ALL CAPS or serious profanity. It really gets its wind up when the original poster details the the changes that completely ruined the story while a peacemaker tries to educate her about the realities of filmmaking.
Many subthreads branch off at this point, which dilutes the wank stream but if you stick with it, you will come upon the post wherein the splooge hits the fan with the central theme of the wank, that only the Special Few people can truly understand what Tolkien was doing with his characters:
What's important is Tolkien's eyes. And I, unlike Jackson, can understand Tolkien quite well. And from email exchange with Alma, I get the impression that she is one of those few other people who are likewise capable of understanding Tolkien.
The reason Jackson gets away with it is that he is not unique in being unable to understand Tolkien, rather that is the normal condition today. *Most* people, living today, do not understand Tolkien.
This theme is underscored later with a "I can no more explain Tolkien's characters to you than I can explain what colours are to a person who has been blind all his life."
The original poster again misses the economic realities of modern filmmaking and asserts that the movies should have been made for the elite book fans instead of rewriting the story to pander to the great unwashed, or it should not have been made at all.
That pesky Earth logic is re-applied when it's pointed out that people who invest $300 million into a movie would prefer that said movie actually make back the investment, but it does no good.
And then, the inevitable "Can't we all just get along?"
It continues going after that, but enough digressions and side-threads have sprung up that the wank is diluted. However, there's bonus racism wank, discussions of multicultural and transgender Shakespearean productions, debate over pikeorcs and battle tactics, and gratuitous Princess Bride jokes woven into the threads of conversation, but due to Google Groups' inability to thread properly, you'll have to search them out yourself.
