2020surgery

I strongly agree with the premises of this article by Freddie deBoer for the blog Parabasis that for the past week has been running a series of posts dedicated to deconstructing modern fandom. Seriously go read them all they’re both fascinating and thought provoking I think in his essay he raises some very important points about how fandom has grown to dominate Hollywood and his summing up is masterful. Still there were some problems I had with the peace with regards to how the author handles the grievances of some fans who still feel like their interests are being debased even as films like The Avengers break box office records far and wide.

First of all allot of the negative criticism The Avengers and other properties based on comics or sci-fi and fantasy have garnered seems to have this really nasty streak running through it. It seems like its coming from a very dark place like it’s not just enough for critics to poke holes in the films narrative or characters they have to make these really bitter asides about the kinds of people who’d go and watch such a film in the first place.

Also he mentions that fans of such mediums can stop hunting for mainstream recognition just because Return Of The King got a best picture Oscar as 10 other awards (mostly technical but it was always going to win those). While that is a very positive step (assuming you do feel like the Academy Awards are a fair judge of cinematic quality) it’s still a film based off of one of the most celebrated works of literature of all time, a series of books that even the stuffiest of cultural critics hold in high esteem. It was a fantasy film sure with Elves, Hobbits, Wizards, Dragons but it was the good kind of fantasy film based off of a property that the Academy Judges could understand. Meanwhile a few years later The Dark Knight a film that garnered praise from some most unlikely places wasn’t even deemed worthy of a best picture nomination although they showed sense with giving Heath Ledger a posthumous award for his portrait as the Joker and once again it was rightly nominated for a ton of technical awards. It was still denied the big awards for being the legitimate narative and artistic achivment it undotably was. So I don’t really think you can blame certain corners of fandom for feeling like the world still treats their interests as unworthy of serious consideration.

Still I have to mention the point underlying the peace is solid that fans of properties based off of pop culture staples such as comics should start being more positive that the things they love are being recognised as having genuine worth and are not as maligned as they used to be. There is still significant quarters of that don’t except them as worthy of legitimate praise on their own merits and will take a road most petty in decrying them.

The reason I call this a non review is due to the fact that really I’m not a film critic as one of the tenants that professional film critics must abide by is to remain ultimately neutral. Whilst I know that this is not always the case and even the pros can have there judgment impaired by personal feelings ultimately they try to remain objective and I can’t really do that not with this. Bellow the jump I’m going to list some of the things I particularly enjoyed loved even about The Avengers but make no mistake this list is far from exhaustive as I keep coming up with new things to squee about.

Read More

So now the furore over Mass Effect 3’s ending is dying down I think it might take a stab at trying to understand why everyone got so angry about the games ending and my mixed feelings that come from the announcement that Bioware are indeed changing the ending.

First though I should mention the only game in the series I’ve played is the second one and while I enjoyed it immensely I never managed to play it right the way through to the end because as if indeed you are a Mass Effect aficionado you know they are games that take allot of commitment, time and effort to get through and at the time I just did not have that kind of patience. Yet allot of people did and I think was partly the main reason for the outcry.

This wasn’t just a gaming version of a choose your own adventure book as Moviebob so churlishly dismissed it as in his Game Overthinker episode on the subject (seriously even though I believe that he is blazing a trail in videogame critique and analysis that was a quite blatant peace of flame bate but watch it anyway because he still raises some interesting counterarguments) to the people who had invested their time into it his was chose your own life, love interest, personality, friends, enemies and attributes. Every decision you made had an effect on shaping the universe you found yourself living and surviving in. Though I only played through half of the second game I could see how far reaching the choices you made affected your relationships with the various alien races that populate the game world.

To suddenly have all that ripped away from you after the player has spent such a long ass time over three games crafting his own unique vision of the story of  Commander Shepherd and the crew of the Normandy and told you can ether choose A, B or C seems like a blatantly big screw you to the audience one that I’m sure it was unintentional on the part of Bioware (I do not wish to cast any aspersions on the many fine people who created the game) but that’s what it must have felt like to the people playing it.

For a good breakdown of why the ending doesn’t work and is not in keeping with the spirit of the series check out this video from another rising star of videogame critique Angry Joe.

It must be frustrating as hell to have this series that was 99.9% awesome not stick the landing in such an awkward and unsatisfying way. At least that’s what it must feel like for players I believe that’s the reason for all the complain it’s not because they’re angry or bitter they just expect better from a company that’s given them so much joy – but let me just be clear here if there were any people out there that were sending out threats or intimidating letter and Emails to any of the Bioware staff I wish nothing more for you all to GO FUCK YOURSELVES SERIOSLY FUCK RIGHT OFF.

However should the ending be changed? Honestly I don’t know, yet Bioware have announced that this is indeed what they are doing and I honestly see no reason why we shouldn’t support their decision and I personally don’t see it as them “caving to fan pressure” as Bioware are rich and successful enough to ignore such fan complaints however logical or illogical they may be. I choose to believe that what we are seeing with the announcement is a company full of creative and talented people who in the cold unforgiving aftermath of hindsight have seen that really they haven’t performed up to the standard they have set for themselves. So want to go back and have a second chance to make good on delivering a satisfying climax and they have the technology and talent to do that and really I don’t see why they shouldn’t everyone at some point deserves a second chance and it’s not like they haven’t earned it.