I was a fan... until.
Mar. 25th, 2009 05:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
author_by_nightAs I have mentioned, I've been watching Buffy. I've seasons 1-2 countless times, and have managed to catch some of the other seasons. Once in a while I'll pop in on some discussion, if I'm bored/procrastinating/whatever else. I've also discussed the show with friends.
One thing I've noticed is that a lot of Buffy fans say that they liked the show - until a particular season. The consensus is usually season four, sometimes season five.
I don't know whether they're right or wrong - what I've seen seems just fine, but hey, what do I know?
I've noticed this in the Harry Potter fandom as well. Harry Potter is to me what I think Buffy was to a lot of people - I followed it for years, speculated on pairings, read every fic out there, etc. In short, I was a bit of a Potterhead. (Okay, maybe I still am just a little.)
I loved all the books. Sure, there were things I might have done differently, but I loved the first book the moment I picked it up, and the seventh book the moment I put it down. However, I've noticed a lot of people really disliked the last two or three books. (I've even heard of some people who only liked the first three books, but not as many. Mostly the cut off seems to be OoTP/HBP.)
I've had this experience with other shows and books too, either in terms of seeing that reaction or even feeling it myself. The Earth's Children series... Ugly Betty... Boy Meets World...
In short, it seems that along the way, fans and fanbases may stay, but not for the same reasons they originally got into the series.
My question is... why is that?
I think that it's just really interesting to see, albeit definitely not a new phenomenon - I have been asking myself this question since I was fourteen and realized a show I used to love, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, made me want to poke my eyes out. Was it that I could no longer appreciate the fact that it was really for preteens and I was growing up, or had the plot really become just that horrible? I blamed the show, but part of me wasn't sure.
Sometimes I do think it's the creator(s). I think that some things should just stop before they get out of hand. (Especially "the college years" - I have never heard of that concept working.) And sometimes they decide to try "new things" that just don't... work.
There are also times, apparently, that the creator(s) will intentionally ruin something. I heard that the show Gilmore Girls got pretty stupid in one of the later seasons; after that, I heard that apparently one of the writers/directors (something like that) had intentionally butchered the show. (I could be completely wrong on one or both counts, of course - this is hearsay, if from a source whom I trust.)
Other times, I wonder if it's the fans, especially for long-running series. Do we expect too much? Do we want everything to stay too close to the original? Is it hard for us to accept when characters we love change too much - or at all?
I don't think there's really a universal answer for all of those - I think it depends on the show and even your own opinion. I'm just curious as to what everyone thinks.
One thing I've noticed is that a lot of Buffy fans say that they liked the show - until a particular season. The consensus is usually season four, sometimes season five.
I don't know whether they're right or wrong - what I've seen seems just fine, but hey, what do I know?
I've noticed this in the Harry Potter fandom as well. Harry Potter is to me what I think Buffy was to a lot of people - I followed it for years, speculated on pairings, read every fic out there, etc. In short, I was a bit of a Potterhead. (Okay, maybe I still am just a little.)
I loved all the books. Sure, there were things I might have done differently, but I loved the first book the moment I picked it up, and the seventh book the moment I put it down. However, I've noticed a lot of people really disliked the last two or three books. (I've even heard of some people who only liked the first three books, but not as many. Mostly the cut off seems to be OoTP/HBP.)
I've had this experience with other shows and books too, either in terms of seeing that reaction or even feeling it myself. The Earth's Children series... Ugly Betty... Boy Meets World...
In short, it seems that along the way, fans and fanbases may stay, but not for the same reasons they originally got into the series.
My question is... why is that?
I think that it's just really interesting to see, albeit definitely not a new phenomenon - I have been asking myself this question since I was fourteen and realized a show I used to love, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, made me want to poke my eyes out. Was it that I could no longer appreciate the fact that it was really for preteens and I was growing up, or had the plot really become just that horrible? I blamed the show, but part of me wasn't sure.
Sometimes I do think it's the creator(s). I think that some things should just stop before they get out of hand. (Especially "the college years" - I have never heard of that concept working.) And sometimes they decide to try "new things" that just don't... work.
There are also times, apparently, that the creator(s) will intentionally ruin something. I heard that the show Gilmore Girls got pretty stupid in one of the later seasons; after that, I heard that apparently one of the writers/directors (something like that) had intentionally butchered the show. (I could be completely wrong on one or both counts, of course - this is hearsay, if from a source whom I trust.)
Other times, I wonder if it's the fans, especially for long-running series. Do we expect too much? Do we want everything to stay too close to the original? Is it hard for us to accept when characters we love change too much - or at all?
I don't think there's really a universal answer for all of those - I think it depends on the show and even your own opinion. I'm just curious as to what everyone thinks.
