Fan Girl

I have a few fandoms that I am a part of. I love Dr. Who, but I also love Fall Out Boy, Death Note (anime) and I grew up loving Harry Potter and Twilight. I don’t really associate with just one fandom but a few. At the same time, I have never gotten fully invested in just one show or idea. The current fandom that I am heavily invested in is Dr. Who.

The values and narratives shared through Dr. Who are adventure, friendship and an underlying idea of a forbidden romantic relationship. Almost every doctor has at least one companion (over the few that they have) that stimulates the feeling of more than a friendship. That is kind of my pull into the show; I love romance, but I also love adventure and suspense. The idea of a re-occurring theme was also really positive idea that I love. The Doctor is someone who wants to help everyone and everything; humans, aliens everything. That is why he calls himself The Doctor. Each actor emphasizes a different idea and characteristic because that is how this actor sees the Doctor and then personifies the character as they see it. Yes, some of it is the writing and the screening that the writer has, but then the actor has to have us believe it.

What I think binds the fans together is their love for the idea of The Doctor (because he is always changing) and everything he stands for. Everyone has their favorite doctor and I think that is the true connection between fans. For example, I love Matt Smith as The Doctor while my boyfriend like David Tennant and my roommate loves Christopher Eccleston and Peter Capaldi. I think it is what we see in each of ourselves portrayed as the different doctors, which really attracts us to the different doctors.

Everything changes but everything stays the same. The actor for the Doctor changes which brings a different approach to the character, new companions come with the new doctor, new ‘quirks’ (sayings, calling cards, clothing) that always change, sometimes new villains and sometimes reoccurring villains because of how wildly loved they are. Each new season could bring new villains or simply upgrade past villains to a newer model where it is like every day where things upgrade over time. I don’t think the setting of Great Brittan plays too much of an important role. The show was created in Great Brittan, and because of this, non-Brits romanticize the country. It is the idea of adventure but still being a positive force in the world. The thing that I believe saved the show was the re-boot that brought the show into our timeline. It is that much more believable and relatable which makes it that much more enjoyable for watchers today. It walks the line of this is happening in today’s world so it’s believable, but it’s still fantastic enough to attract viewers.

In class assesment

Are there any symbols?

Well, I don’t really get any symbols. The only thing I suppose you could call a symbol is the Re: and how this hologram reads like a contract. This is a break up, but not really. In the end, you discover that his ‘girlfriend’ is another superhero (?) and he is the nemesis. Even though he is making this a break up and explaining everything like a break up, it’s really not. He seems really happy through his other explanations, so obviously his feelings are real (he’s really ending the feelings he has). But in the last sentence, he has 2 offers; one to fight and one to team up, so it is kind of a contract.

Connections made?

I didn’t pick up on any literary connections so I will opt for my connection to the story, which was none. It was an ok read; witty and charming but I did not get into it. The only character connection was the fact that we were told that they were archenemies and the whole ‘secret lair’ thing, but hey, people have secrets. One of my teachers has almost a double life. Their significant other doesn’t like their attraction to the scandalous anime statues. They keep these things in their office and their significant other has no clue. So I mean yea, the connection is a real relationship and how people sometimes keep secrets.

What changes to fit another medium?

I would adapt this to film. First thing to go is the opening. It was so bad and confusing and did not work for me. I would show/describe how someone got to where they are first and then introduce the holographic person. Then I would explain what was happening. I would keep a lot of the same writing style like have the hologram say ‘Re:’ but then instead of describing the situation. I would do a flashback. So narration/voice over of the first line of the ‘Re: BLAH BLAH BLAH” then play the flashback, fade back in and continue like that until the end. Then write the rest of the story (the precursor to this) and start the movie.

Games

 So I am not a gamer. I do not follow the big or indie games and when I think of games, I think of Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. My game play experience goes like this: Spyro the Dragon, Duck Hunt, Mario, arcade games, pc tv games and free games. I tried shooter games, but they either scared me or was too difficult to handle. I tried puzzles, but they often proved too difficult for me to figure out.  I tried the ‘World of War’ games, and I either didn’t have the money to buy the cool stuff or would get lost and not even recognize that I was in a game, let alone a big chat screen. I have never been a big gamer, so unsurprisingly, a lot of these games turned me off. This is just my personal taste and therefore holds no merit, because I am not a gamer at all.  That being said, I looked at Spunky World and was turned off. I am not attracted to the style or that gameplay. I can know that this is ‘that’ gameplay by the style and the screenshots. The story could be unexpected, but the gameplay is very Mario reminiscent, where you have to climb the latter and jump thr barrels to get to the door. I do not enjoy these games and I do not like the shooter games again, because I am bad at them and they scare me. I played cube slam and it was ok, but I got bored really fast. I find that to be another huge turn off, if the game is the same thing over and over with no changes, I do not enjoy those games either. The two games that I did enjoy was Depression Quest and I saw Her Standing There. I saw Her Standing There was simple enough but challenging enough that it made me interested, but the whole repetition and lack of instruction became more of a hassle than I would like.

            As I brought up in class, Sims is my absolute love. I love how you cam be someone or something different that what you are doing, but still close enough to resemble real life where you do not have to reap the repercussions of your bad life choices. Sandbox and choose your own adventure games are my absolute favorite. I love having the control (or at least letting the gaming company let me think that I am making choices) to choose my fate. It is because of this that I was really attracted to Depression Quest. Half of my appeal is the control aspect, but the other half is the favt that I love reading. I choose to read over the Sims if I have an amazing book. Growing up I read instead of playing video games, so that might me why I choose to read over the Sims (depending on my book). My ideal merger is are the quizzes where you read a page or so and choose the next option; like Depression Quest.   

Anime and Me

I feel like the anime style is somewhat important. I do not know as much about anime as most of my friends back home (yes, I was in anime clubs and went to Anime Boston and everything else), but I really was never as into anime as my friends. I went along with them because they were my friends, but my extant of anime appreciation was a few random episodes of Niurto, random episodes of Pokemon, and a few random episodes of Yuh Gi Oh, and that was pretty much it. I was really into Deathnote, so much so that I shot-gunned trough the series and cosplayed as Misa-Misa one year, and Haruhi Susumia is another anime I enjoyed. It helped that both female characters were characters that I felt that I could identify with. I believe that the attraction for me here was more about the characters than the show itself. Even in class, the reason I believe I was more attracted to Parasyte because of how extreme it was. I have never been a huge fan of gun related shows, but extreme shows.  I use the term extreme almost like satirical. These shows know how out there this idea is, so they don’t hold back. Even if it’s something that could happen someday, they push the idea and then poke fun at it. If it is not this aspect that attracts me, then it is a certain character (normally the comic relief or a relatable female character).

While I’m not as big of an anime fan as some of my friends, I do enjoy them. I don’t think I have one anime that I could really reference as ‘most important’, but whichever one someone likes could be arguable for ‘most important’ in an art sense.  I believe that this easy drawing style coupled with available subjects is extremely important to someone that wants to get into art. Anime was my gateway into the art field because the ‘how to’ books were always available and there was no way to mess up, plus my art program at school stunk. Once I would understand anime and how to draw some characters, I would try to draw my favorite characters from the animes I was watching, and then I would slowly grow into drawing people I know and creating my own style. Granted, one could fall into the pit of always drawing anime because it is such a simple style,  but there are some key things that I learned from those ‘How to Draw Anime’ books that helped me understand what I needed to learn here.

Instead of links to animes, I am linking some of my pre-Ringling high school anime art. Please don’t judge too harshly.

Most are from 2007 through 2009 (I didn’t understand what time stamps were)

http://swentz225.deviantart.com/art/Girl-124703556

http://swentz225.deviantart.com/art/couple-129215903

http://swentz225.deviantart.com/art/Future-132702598

http://swentz225.deviantart.com/art/full-pic-133769313

And then I went to precollege classes and Ringling and anime faded away.

Comics

I would like to prelude this post with these facts about me; I read Sex Criminals. A good friend suggested I read it, so I did. I am not a comic reader. I have never really read a serious comic (unless you count newspaper comics) and I don’t see much of the appeal. I don’t like creating them and I just have never been attracted to them. I will read them when I am required to, but if given the choice, I will often go for a novel.

Keeping these things in mind, I am not really sure what to say or compare this comic to.  However, I saw why my friend suggested that I read this comic. I love humor and especially breaking the fourth wall and that was honestly my favorite part of this whole comic. In case you did not read this comic, let me explain. There is a part where the main character (Suzie) is out with her boyfriend (Jon) and the song ‘Fat Bottom Girls’ comes on the radio. She comments about how this is ‘her jam’ and she starts to sing. The background changes from the billiards place to her imaginary music video and everything; but they could not get the rights to the lyrics. So instead of her ‘singing along’ (aka them writing the lyrics) they cover the already placed speech bubbles with post-it yellow squares and a different font. They explain their situation and how maybe it’s all timing, maybe price and how at this part they were ready to call up a band member and it’s a lot of babble. I love it. I laughed so hard and just love when the fourth wall is broken successfully. I find it hysterical and the best thing a director could do for a funny movie. Again, I am sorry that I do not know any comics, but I do know movies!!

So first is my personal favorite, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’. This is the remake with Jim Carey and Cindy Lou goes to the Grinch’s house to be the holiday cheermister. The Grinch tries to scare her off but she isn’t frightened, causing him to break the fourth wall (skip to about :48)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBmNcy4zZNU

Next is a ‘Saved By the Bell’ clip. This show is probably the most similar use of freezing time to break the fourth wall and just freezing time in general when compared to the comic. Zack is able to move to save himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO2SirSH7Rg

Another one of my favorite movies that breaks the fourth wall is ‘Blazing Saddles’ (and every other Mel Brooks films). This is a cowboy movie and this is the climax fight scene between the good guys (a safe town put into the hands of a black sheriff in hopes that he would fail and the town would collapse) and the bad guys (the ones who sent the black sheriff to ruin the town to buy it for the railroad). They cut away from the western theme and bring us into another set, to have the cowboys break into these sets and other places during their fight (skip to :50).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMK6lzmSk2o

Finally, there is the spoof horror move, ‘Return of the Killer Tomatoes’ with a young George Clooney as the lead actor. This clip is a little longer, but it’s particularly funny. Ultimately, half way through the movie, the director stops everything because they run out of money. You back out of the hall scene to see the set and people working on set and after some discussion, George Clooney has the idea of product placement. This is really great because after they start re-shooting, it is just like a commercial, promoting Pepsi, Nestle, Kellogs and others, but they continue this trough out the rest of  film with different logo and brand stickers placed in very obvious areas and it’s just great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogId4kCae1A