Posts tagged meta
Posts tagged meta
7 notes &
One of the pleasures in writing about anime and manga is when readers discover something to enjoy in what you enjoy (therefore recommend).
However, the nature of attacking what you enjoy, belongs in another dimension of fandom. See the terrible behavior of the Gundam fandom…
The money quote:
Basically, when you express a negative opinion on something, you may be helping someone choose what to consume. And that’s alright.
But when, for example, a reviewer turns a negative review into a diatribe vs. the fans of whatever they don’t like (“if you like this, there’s something wrong with you [ergo there’s nothing wrong with me, as I don’t like it]”), that reviewer is doing it wrong. It isn’t about enjoying art (or not) anymore; it’s about willful refusal to empathize, and that’s something I tend not to tolerate so well.
There we go. Telltale signs of this kind of behavior is the presentation of notions that the naysayers deem as self-evident, and even objectively so.
Indeed there is a refusal to empathize, and truly the opposite of empathy: the intent to put down, ridicule, and act superior towards others.
I’ve made diatribes at certain shows: The Prince of Tennis, Bincho-Tan, and notably Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam. In all cases I endeavored to present (directly or indirectly) how the issues I have are my own, borne out of my possibly unique context experiencing the works.
In hindsight, instead of refusing to empathize with those who would enjoy these shows, I seek empathy for having a negative experience with a show — an activity undertaken to acquire a positive experience.
Here’s a favorite phrase of mine I hear from tough-guy pundits:
“This show has [element which the reviewer hates] which means everyone will like it. You all suck and I hate you.”
The phrase is presented in a tongue-in-cheek manner, or it’s vaguely implied to be satirical or whatnot, but I don’t buy it. It may be a genuine schtick, but it’s not something I particularly find fun.
1 note &
Why should these matter for us consumers?
Just thinking out loud after a few exchanges with friends on twitter, I attempt to figure out the utility of these things.
Objective #1: Selection
You need to watch something new (or read something). If at this point you don’t have a community around you that have a good sense of what you enjoy (who will directly recommend items for you), then you’ll need other sources of decision-making considerations. Some sources are:
I don’t suggest that this is the ultimate determining factor of the selection decision. This will depend on your trust level, mood, and perhaps other things. I do suggest that it’s not a bad place to start.
Objective #2: Affirmation (and/or Domination)
This is more important to people than you think! You then interact with the marketplace of opinions and the jostling (directly or indirectly) to establish who has influence, and what is accepted opinion.
Works and authors have fanbases who care how these things are perceived. Part of these is the very human desire to appear tasteful, cultured, etc. All this contributes to influence dynamics.
Things that come into play:
While it may seem that I’m negatively portraying this objective, I submit that it’s a part of fan activity and is a source of much secondary recreational value that I too indulge from time to time. After all, this objective directly or indirectly impacts the first.
Notes &
While it’s nothing new to say that blog comments are desirable, and in my case (the discussion offered by comments) form the most important part of the ‘payoff’ of the hobby, I arrived at two thoughts just now.
I recently posted this on We Remember Love:
The Feat of “In-universe Parody” & What it Does for Shows (e.g. K-ON!!, Genesis of Aquarion)
To which Kadian1364 responded beyond expectations. The commenter did actual original (if informal) research that contributed what amounts to an appendix to the blog post proper. I archived it here: Kadian on Characters in Anime Doing Each Other
To some degree I feel like blog comments like this can be made efficiently via tumblr, or reblogged in some form via tumblr. What happens is that the conversation is expanded from commenter to post-writer, to commenter to all possible readers. I did this myself yesterday.
As I reminder, I do enjoy archiving blog post comments and welcome submissions. The guidelines are here, and you can leave a comment on that post for a submission if you don’t fancy using twitter.
