tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88766743338782832282024-03-13T04:06:08.730-07:00Muse De Mented - The RantMuse's musings on the pop and corn of cultureMuse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-17734342252417190642017-06-01T16:23:00.001-07:002017-06-01T16:23:22.482-07:00<br />
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I wrote a post during a particularly dark day last week, and I've been debating with myself whether or not to post it. It's not edifying (so maybe don't read it if you're in a bad place yourself); it could be classed as whinging or an attempt to get "You're not like that!" comments, which is the last thing I want. In the end, though, I've decided to post it, because it might help someone understand what a loved one with clinical depression is going through.</div>
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There are strange times you go through with depression where you care about everything and nothing at the same time. Today was one of those days.</div>
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Having to keep your brain focused long enough to get some work done is draining, but then, when you go to relax, frustration kicks in because you just can't enjoy anything or do what you want to do.</div>
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Reading or watching TV or a movie is an impossible chore, and especially difficult if the material is emotionally demanding. I find myself mindlessly scrolling through my social-media feeds again and again, seeing none of them. Incoming emails make me cringe, and then I just can't bring myself to reply.</div>
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The future looks mind-deadeningly blank to me. But it's frightening. </div>
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I've somehow put on another kilo, and that is devastating, but at the same time I don't care anymore. I'll eat something else I shouldn't because it's one of the only joys in life right now.</div>
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I put on a romantic comedy because they're fairly mindless – you know, one of those bad Hallmark-style, holiday-themed ones on Netflix. I want so much what the heroine ends up with, but I have to tell myself off because I'll probably never get married now and shouldn't get my hopes up again. And that physically hurts, even though I thought I'd done my grieving and accepted it. I feel the pain in my fingers. I always do. I don't know why.</div>
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My roots need doing, but I don't have the spare energy, and who cares, anyway? It's not like I have anyone to impress, and even if I did, they'd never notice my middle-aged-librarian-ness over the extra 50 kg I'm carrying around and the dead-fish personality.</div>
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It helps to write these thoughts down. My psychologist tells me I need to challenge them, but they thing is, they're true.</div>
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"OK," she'd say, "they may be true, but are they helpful?"</div>
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I don't know.</div>
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One thing that intrigued me about the movie <i>Inside Out</i> was the acknowledgement that sadness has its place. If I still lived in a delusion where I thought all my dreams were going to come true because I work hard and try always to think of other people ahead of myself and be generous and dedicated and faithful, I'd be disappointed every day. If I look ahead and realise that I may never be able to have my own home, or a job I enjoy that pays me enough to meet my budget, or a group of friends who get me and want to make music with me, or a husband, maybe I can deal with that pain and focus on what I can control.</div>
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But that only works on the days when everything goes well, my eating doesn't blow out of control, I don't get a migraine and my brain behaves itself. And that's not today. On those days, the pain is back, radiating from the centre of my chest to my fingertips.</div>
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What do I do on those days?</div>
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The only thing I can do: I live through them.</div>
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I carry on. Keep moving. Take a bird's-eye view and remember that this bad patch won't last forever. They never do.</div>
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To everything there is a season.</div>
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Turn, turn, turn. . .</div>
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I cling to the hope that one day I'll be useful to someone, not useless; that I'll bring joy to someone instead of sucking the joy out of the room; that people will be pleased to see me and want to hang out with me; that I'll have overcome some of the obstacles in front of me. Let's start with one: today.</div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-76748904791581125322017-05-19T19:25:00.004-07:002017-06-01T16:24:11.779-07:00Chris Cornell, Depression and Prescription Meds<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We lost another music legend this week, and so all the people ride out on their high horses, tsk-ing and shaking their heads at "prescription drugs".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You know what? It wasn't the prescription drugs that killed him. It was the illness that brought him to the point of taking more than the prescribed dose, affecting his behaviour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whenever I look at a Prince, or a Chris Cornell, or even an Amy Winehouse, I can't help but think, "There but for the grace of God go I."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because I'm one of the lucky ones. I've never been tempted to take more than my prescribed dose of meds. I've never been tempted to mix them with alcohol when they're not working well enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My temptation, and my addiction, is food. But, somehow, that's not as frowned upon, is it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Broke up with your boyfriend? Eat a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Boss being a bitch? Here's a packet of Tim Tams. Enjoy your binge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But excess food is just as deadly as excess fentanyl. It just takes a bit longer to kill you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Until there is complete healing, meds and therapy can help a depression/anxiety sufferer to function. I can get out of bed and write this because my meds keep the black cloud at arm's length. My psychologist is helping me deal with my emotional eating. But these are treatments, not necessarily a cure, and so everyone does their best. I'm sure Chris Cornell did his best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I believe I know where my cure will come from, but many people don't share my beliefs, and so they must put their faith in other things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That's where compassion comes in. How many times does the Bible say, "Jesus had compassion on them and healed them"? I can tell you, quite a few.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Instead of shaking our heads and wagging our fingers, we must do the same. We just might save a life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(<a href="http://musedemented.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/update-on-my-previous-post-practical.html" target="_blank">This</a> is a post I wrote on ways to practically help people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or similar illnesses, but most of the points are completely relevant to people with depression and anxiety, too.)</span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-53338002711946575992017-05-16T18:58:00.004-07:002017-06-01T16:24:54.983-07:00The Repurposing<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Wow, it
really has been a while. I think the problem is that my head is so full
of stuff these days, none of my thoughts come out more developed than 140
characters.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">At the same time, I'm at a place in my life where nothing much new
happens, so it's hard to come up with things to be Rant-y about.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">So, in lieu of changing the title of this blog to The Bored,
I've decided to repurpose it as a sort of accountability/life self-coaching
page. Maybe someone out there is in a place very similar to the one I've
found myself in, and needs to know they're not alone. I'd love it if someone
was helped or encouraged in some way by my story.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Let me explain.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;">I battle with three long-term illnesses: clinical
depression, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ("CFS") (or ME) and Joint
Hypermobility Syndrome, which has recently been renamed Hypermobility Spectrum
Disorder ("HSD")</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;">or
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome ("EDS"), depending on how severe you are and
certain genetic factors. All of these cause severe fatigue, pain, and
various other problems that I won't go into right now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The most recent part of my story is that, in February 2016, at the
age of 34, I had to leave my home and community (and my beloved rescue cat,
Lulu) in Chichester, England, where I'd felt almost settled for the first time
in my life, and come back to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, to
live with my parents, because I was so sick I could no longer support myself.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I had finished a university degree (which I absolutely loved
doing) in May of 2015, and was looking for part-time work. It had to be
part time because, at my best </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> my "baseline", to use the clinical
terminology, which means "my normal" </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> I can only work four days a
week. For some reason, probably a hangover from the Credit Crunch (or the
GFC, as it's called in Australia), there was absolutely nothing around, job
wise. I had been working from home part time throughout university, so I
continued to do that, but neither of my jobs paid very well per hour, and so I
began working ridiculous hours to pay the bills </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> 14-hour days, often.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Eventually and inevitably, in about December of 2015, I hit the
wall, and all my long-term illnesses flared up. By February of 2016, it
had become clear that, despite my utter despair at the thought of it and all
the difficulties that were associated with it, I would have to move back to
Australia.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I expected that, after a few months of taking it easy (or at least
easier) and not having to worry about paying the rent, I'd be back on my feet,
back to my baseline, able to get a decent job in Victoria, where I'd prefer to
live, and therefore able to move out and move on. What has happened is
that, although my mental health is now relatively stable again, my physical
health has not improved. If anything, it's gotten worse.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">To be gut-wrenchingly honest, in the last year, I've put on 40 kg,
and that is really adding to my physical problems. It's one of my
priorities at the moment to lose that weight </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> 48 kg in all, to get into my
"healthy" range.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Australia is more expensive to live in than the UK, so I'm
actually in a worse position here, even though I'm not paying rent; the
Sunshine Coast is notorious for its high unemployment rate, which has meant that
I've still not been able to find better-paid, part-time work; and my
"disabilities employment agent" (I use the term loosely, as she
doesn't seem inclined to do much to find me employment) keeps saying I should
apply for a Disability Support Pension, but I and everyone else I've spoken to
knows damn well I'd never get it.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Exercising here is difficult, hence in part the weight gain.
In Chichester, I used to walk everywhere and do aqua aerobics.
Here, I live in the bush, so I can't just go for a walk out my front
door. It's stinking hot, too, so for a good part of the year you can't
walk in the daytime, anyway (or not without giving yourself heatstroke </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> believe me; I've done it), aqua aerobics is too expensive and, although my
parents have a treadmill, I can't use it because the feedback vibrations in my
cervical spine give me migraines. Sometimes the pain in my feet is so bad I can hardly walk. So it's quite a struggle to exercise
four times a week, even when I am feeling well enough.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I'm not telling you all this to get you on my side or garner your
sympathy. I'm not giving you my sob story, because there are people far,
far worse off than me. I'm simply trying to illustrate how, all in all,
my life doesn't look how we think the powerful, faith-filled, "Christian" life
should. (Yes, I'm one of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>those</i>.
Deal with it.) I'm not the superwoman able to balance life and work, the
way all the feminists and the women's conferences and the tampon advertisements tell me I can.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">There are many people out there who would say, and probably do
say, that I'm just not trying hard enough. I don't have enough faith or
there's something I'm doing wrong in my life that's blocking my recovery.
I disagree.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">In fact, a lot of my health problems actually come from trying too
hard, from working my butt off and getting nowhere in life, from constantly
trying to "do the right thing" and live how I'm "supposed"
to live, and from the endless, endless rounds of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>negotiations<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> with myself, with God, with
medical practitioners, with employers, with friends, with family...trying this,
and trying that, and trying this but with that, and trying that but this
way...</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">What I'm actually starting to learn is that I CAN'T DO IT AND
THAT'S OK.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">My amazing pastor has told me that he only really got fixed up
from a major problem in his life when he let go, realised he couldn't do it
himself, and left it up to the grace of God. That is so
counter-intuitive, and goes against everything we're taught in today's culture
of pop-psychology and willpower and self-affirmation, but I think it's right.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The first thing they teach you at Weight Watchers is that
willpower will never be enough. It will fail you. From a Christian
perspective, where in the Bible does it say that we're supposed to strengthen
our wills, anyway? Quite the opposite, in fact.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Indeed, the whole point of Christianity is that WE CAN'T DO IT, so
Jesus did it for us </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> right? Not that you'd know it when you walk into a
Christian bookstore and see "15 Steps To A Great Marriage", "The
Pathway To Financial Freedom", "20 Prayers To Pray In Difficult Times",
"How To Raise Perfect Children While Working Full Time and Running a Cell
Group", How To Win At Everything In Life", "Success, The
Christian Way"...I'm making these up, but it really does go on and on and
on.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">So I've decided to just keep a record here of my experiences as I
live the next season of my life, continually reminding myself that I CAN'T DO IT
AND THAT'S OK. I'm going to take the pressure off myself. Remember that His yoke is
easy and His burden is light. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I'm not always going to get heavy; some of it will be downright
funny, I'm sure </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> like the sight of me in my gym gear as I started a
personalised programme this last week (paid for by my generous father). I don't have a photo but, trust
me, it's a riot.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
I'd love to hear your stories, too. Maybe we can develop a little
community where we can encourage each other as we go through life and discover
again and again that it's just not like we imagined it would be when we were growing up </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">– that $%*! happens, because we live in the world we live in, and it's actually impossible for us to do everything right so that our lives look exactly like we think they should look </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> or like other people say they should look</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-indent: 1cm;">.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
For now, I'm going to get on with my day, tackling the physically exhausting task of doing my weekly food shopping and then having to come home and work, all the while leaning heavily on His grace.</span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-53189188627425220502015-11-13T14:06:00.000-08:002015-11-13T14:51:45.125-08:00WE ARE GROOT: WHEN MEDIA PRODUCERS AND FAN COMMUNITIES ENGAGE IN MUTUAL WORLD-BUILDING [CHAPTER 2]<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Part 2, as promised... (For Chapter 1, click <a href="http://musedemented.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/we-are-groot-when-media-producers-and.html">here</a>.)</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Chapter 2: Extratextual World-Building<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In
November 2004, Albin Johnson’s young daughter, Katie, was diagnosed with cancer
(<i>Figure 7</i>). </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">Johnson is the founder of the 501<sup>st</sup> Legion, a worldwide group of <i>Star Wars</i>
fans who build their own stormtrooper armour and make charity appearances. They are also frequently called in to help at
official <i>Star Wars</i> events. Johnson, reflecting on a scene in <i>Episode II</i> where the droid R2-D2 watches
over Senator Amidala at night <i>(</i></span><i style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Figure 8)</span></i><span style="line-height: 150%;">, wanted Katie to have an R2 unit, too – a pink
one – to watch over her while she was ill.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Johnson’s
wish came to the attention of the R2 Builder’s Club, another group of fans who
build R2-D2 replicas from scratch – a time-consuming project. Member Je</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">rry Greene called for donations of
pa</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">rts to build an R2 unit especially for Katie, but as it was felt that Katie’s
time was limited, another member, Andy Schwartz, repainted his blue R2-D2 unit
pink and shipped it to Katie to have while her own was built.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5gTykVMk6k8/VkZWKnJmz7I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/XYsFUJozAT4/s1600/katiehospital.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5gTykVMk6k8/VkZWKnJmz7I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/XYsFUJozAT4/s1600/katiehospital.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Figure 7: Katie Johnson after her cancer
diagnosis.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fj4ujCnWKTw/VkZWiwmPszI/AAAAAAAAAKY/D1eB_DilBu4/s1600/R2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Fj4ujCnWKTw/VkZWiwmPszI/AAAAAAAAAKY/D1eB_DilBu4/s320/R2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><i style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Figure
8: R2-D2 watches over Senator
Amidala at night.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
501<sup>st</sup> Legion also rallied around Katie; the Japanese garrison even
arranged a ‘get well’ video message from George Lucas and Hayden Christensen
(who played Anakin Skywalker).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Katie
died on 9 August, 2005, and her R2 unit, christened R2-KT, was finished in July
2006 and presented to her family. R2-KT
is used for charity work, paying visits to other sick children <i>(Figure 9)</i>. She is also now an official part of the </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Star Wars</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> world, having made appearances
in </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">The Clone Wars</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> <i>(Figure 10)</i> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 150%;">Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">. She has her own, official action figure that
raises proceeds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ds7D5ReH38I/VkZXdx-lLXI/AAAAAAAAAKk/whD-vEAwyn0/s1600/2013-04-hemby-visit-026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ds7D5ReH38I/VkZXdx-lLXI/AAAAAAAAAKk/whD-vEAwyn0/s320/2013-04-hemby-visit-026.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Figure 9: R2-KT visiting a children’s
hospital in-patient.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JRDHWSvbg2w/VkZXfYSeqmI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Tqd3Ht-MLoA/s1600/500px-R2-KT_meeting.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JRDHWSvbg2w/VkZXfYSeqmI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Tqd3Ht-MLoA/s320/500px-R2-KT_meeting.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<i style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 37.7953px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333px;">Figure 10: R2-D2 and R2-KT finally meet.</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In
this example, the extratextual world of the fan community is connected to the
textual world of <i>Star Wars</i> by the
activities of fans. Fans appropriated an
aspect of the textual world and repurposed it for the benefit of sick
children. Although R2-KT is used for
charity, her appearances and action figure bring attention (free advertising,
effectively) to the textual world.
Additionally, the textual world was expanded by her animated form. R2-KT’s story will likely foster loyalty to
both the textual and extratextual worlds in those who are emotionally affected
by it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fans
help to build the textual world, extend it and advertise it. World-building is a collaborative process
between producers and produsers, and respect for fans and their views is
therefore vital. Hence, the title of
this paper is <i>We Are Groot</i> – a
reference to a moment in <i>Guardians of the
Galaxy</i> where the character Groot affirms that he and the other Guardians
are finally ‘one’ – working as a team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Jenkins
has noted that, historically, media producers were dismissive of fans’
opinions, viewing them as ‘unrepresentative of general public sentiment.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[3]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> However, recent marketing and
advertising manuals, he writes, ‘point to a world where the most valued
customer may be the one who is most passionate, dedicated and actively
engaged.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[4]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Produsage is increasingly viewed as important
to the value of the world as an intellectual property (‘IP’). Grant McCracken, an anthropologist and
marketing consultant, says,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Corporations will allow the public to participate in the construction
and representation of its creations or they will, eventually, compromise the
commercial value of their properties.
The new consumer will help create value or they will refuse it.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[5]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eleanor
Baird Stribling lists four categories of fan activities that ‘contribute
economic value’:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Watching, listening, or attending<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">2.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Purchasing primary and secondary products<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">3.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Endorsing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">4.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sharing
and recommending.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[6]</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Categories
1 and 2 contribute economic value in direct and more readily quantifiable ways
– product or ticket sales, for example.
Categories 3 and 4 give a more
indirect ‘payoff’ to producers, as these types of activities recruit new fans,
‘enhancing both the short- and long-term value, and thus the sustainability, of
their projects.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[7]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">In
many ways, activities in categories 1 and 2 lead directly to activities in
categories 3 and 4. Operating within fan
communities is what Sarah Thornton calls ‘subcultural capital’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[8]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">. Value is placed on ‘being there’ or
‘liveness’ (‘I was there when…’).</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[9]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> ‘Insider’ knowledge of production processes
accords power within the community. Fans
derive pleasure from the participation and enthusiasm of their fellow fans at
group viewings. Therefore, making
production and casting announcements, providing glimpses ‘behind the scenes’,
and exclusively screening film footage at events like Comic-Con in San Diego
serves two purposes. Firstly, it rewards
fans for their loyalty with advanced knowledge; secondly, fans will share
knowledge with other fans and, with increasing frequency due to social media,
non-fans. This advertises the IP on
behalf of producers and increases anticipation for new releases – important to
studios reliant on strong openings at the box office. (Likewise, merchandise gives opportunities to
fans to recreate and extend the world through play while they simultaneously
market the IP, particularly when using objects of conspicuous consumption such
as t-shirts or bumper stickers.) ‘Exciting your fans makes them contagious,’
writes transmedia writer Andrea Phillips.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[10]</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">This
potential was not always recognised by the media industries. In 1976, when marketing director Charley
Lippincott took </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Star Wars</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> to a small
convention called San Diego Comic-Con, he marched into a valuable new
territory. Lippincott’s strategy was to
get the science-fiction and fantasy community talking about </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Star Wars</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> well before its release. Accordingly, he visited conferences and
conventions, speaking about the film and its characters, showing the costumes
and attempting to sell posters. At one
conference, he was heckled for promoting a film. However, he persisted, making deals for
Marvel and science-fiction publisher Ballantine Books to publish comics and a
novel based on the film. The novel,
ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster, was released six months before </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Episode IV</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">, in December 1976. It became a best-seller, was sold out by
February and was serialized in the </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Los
Angeles Times</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[11]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Jenkins, Ford and Green note that, in the
early days of Comic-Con, attendees were asked not to share their exclusive
knowledge.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[12]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Post-Lippincott, Comic-Con is an important
point of call for marketers. ‘It is
widely accepted that the convention’s early adopter audience can make or break
a franchise,’ writes Taylor.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[13]</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The
popularity of social media makes ‘evangelism’ by fans particularly effective. Fans will attend events like early screenings
and post their opinions on platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. These posts have the potential to be seen by
millions, and ‘suddenly the
importance of recommendations from “the average person” have become a renewed
priority, and word of mouth, the original form of marketing, is treated as a
new phenomenon….’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[14]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Of
course, this makes it imperative that producers maintain positive, transparent
relationships with fans, as negative experiences or instances of disrespect for
fans may be spread just as visibly.
Jenkins writes that in December 2005, LucasArts announced that
significant changes were to be made to its massively multiplayer online
role-playing game (‘MMORPG’), </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Star Wars
Galaxies</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">. The game had been designed
by Raph Koster with the involvement of the fan community and it incorporated
extensive user-generated content.
Koster’s view was: ‘It’s not just
a game. It’s a service, it’s a world,
it’s a community.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[15]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> However, when Nancy MacIntyre, senior
director of the game, announced the changes, she was dismissive of fans’ skills
and creative contributions. ‘Thanks to
the social networks that fans have constructed around the game,’ notes Jenkins,
‘soon every gamer on the planet knew that MacIntyre had called her players
idiots in the </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">New York Times</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">, and
many of them departed for other virtual worlds….’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[16]</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Social
media is an effective tool for producers to keep aware of the fan community’s
tastes and demands. Marvel has to date
shown itself adroit at discovering and responding to fans’ wishes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The
power of social media was exemplified when, on 12 May 2014, Sophie Caldecott
blogged about her father Stratford, an MCU fan who was dying of prostate
cancer.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[17]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Stratford had been too ill to see C</span><i style="line-height: 150%;">aptain America: The Winter
Soldier </i><span style="line-height: 150%;">in the cinema. Doctors had
given him only 12 weeks to live, and the DVD release wasn’t until the
August. Sophie wrote that she would like
to contact Marvel to arrange a screening of the film at Stratford’s home, and
hoped to get the stars of the MCU to send messages of support via Twitter. Mark Ruffulo (The Hulk), was the first to
Tweet a message, directing Marvel’s attention to the cause. His colleagues soon followed suit, as did
many fans. Within 48 hours, Marvel had
contacted Sophie Caldecott to arrange the screening.</span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yPYrtJ7snbc/VkZar3q06iI/AAAAAAAAAK4/HNiQrETOKIQ/s1600/capforstrat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yPYrtJ7snbc/VkZar3q06iI/AAAAAAAAAK4/HNiQrETOKIQ/s400/capforstrat.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Differences
of opinion within the fan community make it impossible for producers to meet
every wish and demand, but it is important for them to maintain a dialogue
which demonstrates transparency and respect.
Engaging with fans through social media is one method of realising this.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Producers
are also beginning to utilise the social networks created by gaming for
world-building and promotion, employing user-generated content such as
characters, logos and ship designs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">When
fans share the use of licensed content and add value to an IP through their
labour (which is usually framed as play or competition), Johnson argues that
they are placed in similar positions to professional producers, and they become
stakeholders, albeit ones without economic claim. They are, he claims,
‘enfranchised’.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[18]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> He therefore proposes a new understanding of
franchising: ‘[T]hat which industrially structures, organizes, and
imagines shared, networked use of culture, not in opposition to but inclusive
of produsage and other new creative patterns.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[19]</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">As
previously discussed, the lines between producers and audiences are steadily
being blurred, creating what producer Caitlin Burns calls the ‘final frontier
keeping entertainment lawyers up at night’</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 11.5px;">[20]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">. Jenkins</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[21]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> records an incident
wherein Universal Pictures sent cease-and-desist letters to </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Firefly</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[22]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> fans (‘Browncoats’) who
had successfully lobbied for a feature film and marketed both the series and
the film at a grassroots level.
Universal demanded retroactive licensing fees for images the Browncoats
had reproduced on t-shirts and posters.
Browncoats collaborated to send Universal an invoice for over $2 million
(28,000 ‘billable’ hours), detailing ‘all of the time and labor (not to mention
their own money) put into supporting the film’s release.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[23]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> The Browncoats recognised, even if the studio
did not, the value they had added to the franchise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The
difficulties with trademark laws and the protection of IP appear on both sides
of the equation. Fan-fiction writers
have long feared prosecution for their use of trademarks; now producers are
beginning to use fans’ creative ideas, calling into question these enfranchised
fans’ rights to compensation. For
example, after the season two finale of </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 150%;">Sherlock</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[24]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">, writer Mark Gatiss
looked at fans’ theories as to how Holmes had survived falling from a tall
building. He then wrote characters into
the first episode of season three who presented some of those theories as
possible explanations. The television
series </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Defiance</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[25]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> runs concurrently with
an MMORPG set within the same world but a different city. Gamers create their own characters, which may
be appropriated by the producers and written into the television series. Results of gameplay also affect the direction
of the series.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[26]</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">LucasArts’
policies on produsage have fluctuated between collaboration and prohibition,
enablement and constraint.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[27]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> When the company found it could not shut down
the sharing of fan fiction, it provided space at fan.StarWars.com for fans to
post stories, but imposed strict guidelines regarding content (no slash
fiction, for example). Subsequently, it provided a similar space on www.AtomFilms.com
for fan films, but stated that those films must either ‘parody the existing
Star Wars universe, or be a documentary of the Star Wars fan experience.’</span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[28]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> In other words, any ‘fan-fiction films’ were banned. In both cases, fans who posted their work
signed over any IP rights they may have had to Lucasfilm</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[29]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">, which meant that
Lucasfilm could, if it were so inclined, use fan’s ideas or characters in
future ‘official’ texts, without giving compensation or recognition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Behind
all of these difficulties lurks the issue of ownership. Once an IP enters into popular culture, once
fans are emotionally invested in it or enfranchised, they feel a sense of
ownership that is not reflected by IP law and is often disregarded by
producers. As Brooker states, older </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Star Wars</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> fans feel an ‘unhappy
conflict’ in their loyalties: they
admire Lucas for creating their beloved world but feel betrayed by him for
‘despoiling the myth they grew up with’</span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="line-height: 150%;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[30]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">. Their
distaste for the SEs and the prequels caused them to lose faith in Lucas, to
the point of reducing, in their eyes, his authority over the canon. (Although Brooker claims that works written
by the original creator trump all</span><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 150%;">[31]</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">,
there are fans who would consider the </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Heir
to the Empire</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> trilogy ‘more canon’ than, for example, the elements added to
the SEs.) One questionnaire respondent
wrote, ‘George is like a mean father[.]
I appreciate the work but we’re better off not maintaining a
relationship.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[32]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of
course, there are also fans who consider that, as the creator of the world,
Lucas was entitled to do what he liked with it, regardless of fans’ feelings or
wishes.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tPIbyOqmp5I/VkZcOmqL1iI/AAAAAAAAALE/nf-jyRFyUWw/s1600/gl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tPIbyOqmp5I/VkZcOmqL1iI/AAAAAAAAALE/nf-jyRFyUWw/s320/gl.jpg" width="228" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 4.0pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Figure 12: older
fans’ loyalties are challenged by their dislike of the changes Lucas has made.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
positions of the author and the <i>auteur</i>
carry weight. Just as each fan will make
a different meaning from his or her own reading of a text, an author/<i>auteur</i> can also be ‘read’ in different
ways and may affect a fan’s reading of a text.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A
label of genre attached to a text communicates information about the context
and tone of that text. Likewise, the
name of an author/<i>auteur</i> ‘work[s] as
a shorthand, a tag, an abstract, and a primer for any item of media.’<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[33]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span> Joss Whedon’s name attached to a text, for
example, communicates to potential audiences or readers that the text will have
a feminist slant and will therefore contain ‘strong’ female characters. It will also contain humour and intertextual
references.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Fans
will be drawn to a text by their favourite author/</span><i style="line-height: 150%;">auteur</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> simply because it is written/directed by him or her. Hence, for media with cult potential, the
author’s/</span><i style="line-height: 150%;">auteur’s</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> name will be made
prominent in the marketing campaign, particularly if he or she has already
gained a loyal fanbase through previous work.
Hills writes of the </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">auteur’s</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">
‘extratextual “presence”’, which is partly produced by the fans themselves, but
initiated by the creation of this extratextual narrative in marketing.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[34]</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
notion of the author/<i>auteur</i> also
connotes quality and ‘authenticity’, as opposed to ‘unauthored’ and ‘formulaic’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[35]</span> works perceived as ‘corporate
hackery written by committee just to make a fast buck’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[36]</span>. In a media industry that now relies on
franchising, there is always a risk that works not directly created by the
author/<i>auteur</i> will be rejected by
fans, or will be ranked lower in their ‘personal canon’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Despite
this, many <i>Star Wars</i> fans feel that
the problems associated with the SEs and the prequels were rooted in the level
of control granted to Lucas as <i>auteur</i>,
and that his best works (<i>Episode V</i> is
a common example given) were made through collaboration with other
creatives. During the filming of <i>Episodes IV-VI</i>, dialogue scripted by
Lucas (never the strongest point of his writing) was often changed by the main
actors, particularly Harrison Ford (Han Solo).
By the time of the prequels, however, any instances of ad-libbing or
creative collaboration were extinguished by Lucas’s complete creative control,
made possible by the latest technology and his position of power. ‘“Now he’s so exalted,” Mark Hamill [Luke
Skywalker] lamented in 2005, “that no one tells him anything.”’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[37]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Nevertheless,
Jenkins writes, Marvel has successfully employed a narrative of ‘centralized
control and authorship against the multiple authorship of franchising’</span><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 150%;">[38]</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">, and this narrative
is often merged with what may be termed a ‘fanboy creator’</span><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 150%;">[39]</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> rhetoric. Marvel executives have claimed quality and
‘authenticity’ for their productions by aligning themselves with the comic-book
fan community.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 150%;">[40]</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> That community, Johnson points out, is only a
small part of Marvel’s audience, but the fanboy-creator rhetoric gives them a
niche identity among film producers.</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[41]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Accordingly,
Marvel has also brought in creatives, particularly directors, who identify
themselves as members of the fan community.
Joss Whedon is perhaps the most prolific example, having directed <i>The Avengers</i> and <i>Age of Ultron</i><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[42]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span>. He has long professed his own fandom in
interviews, and his run of X-Men comics for Marvel was generally well
received. An obvious advantage of hiring
a writer/director like Whedon is that he had a faithful fanbase of his own,
many of whom presumably ‘followed’ him to the MCU. However, fans also have a greater level of
trust in fanboy creators to ‘get it right’ because they feel they are ‘one of
us’ and therefore will understand what fans desire. There is also, of course, an element of ‘that
could be me’ fantasy in fans’ appreciation of fanboy creators.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Notably,
for the new <i>Star Wars</i> films in
production, Lucasfilm has followed Marvel’s example and hired directors J.J.
Abrams and Gareth Edwards, both of whom have historically used the fanboy-creator
rhetoric, particularly in relation to <i>Star
Wars</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For
producers, collaborating with produsers and hiring fanboy creators can simply
make good financial sense. Taylor gives
one such example: upon meeting Lucas at
a convention, when he was given a tour of their display, members of the R2
Builders Club informed him that each R2 unit built cost $10,000. Lucas was reportedly shocked, as ILM had
charged $80,000. He and producer Rick
McCallum joked that they were hired for the next film, if it were ever
made. In 2013, Kathleen Kennedy, the
current president of Lucasfilm, was given a similar tour and immediately hired
two British members of the Club to work on </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Episode
VII</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[43]</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bringing
together various studies on participatory fan cultures, convergence, transmedia
storytelling, world-building and franchising, this paper has explored how certain
world-building techniques engage fans, and the ways in which producers and fan
communities work together to build mutually beneficial worlds. There are, however, additional important
techniques that have had to be omitted – utilising branding and nostalgia, for
example.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Effective
collaboration between producers and fans is advantageous and achievable, despite
difficulties that may hinder the process, such as attaining a balance between
supplying new stories and bringing the world to a saturation point; appropriately
apportioning ownership and control; reconciling differing creative visions; negotiating
complications in relation to licensing, distribution and fans’ use of
trademarks; and resolving any conflicting interests of producers and fan
communities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This
paper has shown the importance of produsage to the continuation, extension (or
evolution) and long-term financial and creative success of franchises. It is therefore increasingly important for the
media industries to work to encourage produsage, engage with fans through
platforms such as social media, remain transparent about their intentions and
strategies, and consider the opinions of the fan community when making
decisions about world-building.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However,
discerning and catering to a majority of the fan’s wishes can be problematic,
as fan communities may be splintered due to the variety of ways in which each
fan makes his or her initial emotional investment in a world. It is therefore advantageous to work to
prevent community splits such as the division between lovers and detractors of <i>Star Wars Episodes I-III</i>. This goal is facilitated when producers
endeavour to recognise which elements of a world are important to its existing fans
and in which they are emotionally invested, and attempt to maintain consistency
in relation to those elements.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Research
conducted for this dissertation indicates that the aesthetic, the canon and the
characters are particularly important in this respect; however, further
research is required into the aspects of transmedia worlds that engender the
deepest fan engagement, attachment and loyalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It
would also be advantageous to examine worlds in an effort to understand where
their ‘saturation points’ may be, at which point fan engagement and produsage are
shut down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Other
areas for research include examining ways to manage licensing and distribution
problems (for example, the difficulty of securing simultaneous world-wide
releases, to combat piracy and meet fans’ demands); addressing legal problems
arising from producers use of fans’ produsage; and finding ways to effectively
and meaningfully enfranchise fans, to the benefit of both producers and
produsers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(C) Danica Issell, 2015</span></span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[1]</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(The Cartoon Network, 2013).</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[2]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Many thanks to Chris Taylor for
drawing the author’s attention to this story in his book<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>How Star Wars Conquered the
Universe</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New York: Basic
Books, 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[3]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Textual Poachers</i>, op. cit., p.
279.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[4]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence Culture</i>, op. cit.,
p. 73.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[5]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Grant McCracken cited in Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence Culture</i>, ibid., p.
163.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[6]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Eleanor Baird Stribling, ‘Valuing
Fans’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Spreadable Media: Web
Exclusive Essays</i>, http://spreadablemedia.org/essays/stribling/#.VFaE3fnkcqc
(accessed 14 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[7]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[8]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Sarah Thornton cited by Hills in Ian
Conrich (ed.),<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Horror Zone</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New York and London: I. B. Tauris
& Co, Ltd., 2010). See also Fiske in Lisa A. Lewis (ed.),<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The Adoring Audience</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(London and New York: Routledge,
1992), pp. 30-49.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[9]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Hills in Conrich, ibid., pp. 87, 92.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[10]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Andrea Phillips,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia
Storytelling</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New York:
McGraw Hill, 2012), p. 112.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[11]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Taylor, op. cit., pp. 169-162.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[12]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Jenkins, Ford and Green, op. cit., pp.
145-6.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[13]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Taylor, op. cit., p. 161.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[14]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Jenkins, Ford and Green, op. cit., p.
75.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[15]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Raph Koster cited in Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence Culture</i>, op. cit.,
p. 164.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[16]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence Culture</i>, op. cit.,
p. 172.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[17]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Sophie Caldecott, ‘Avengers
Assemble!‘,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Something for a
Rainy<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>Day,
https://sophiecaldecott.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/avengers-assemble/ (accessed 3
January 2015).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[18]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Johnson,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Media Franchising</i>, op. cit.,
pp. 199-201, 230.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[19]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Ibid., p. 230.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[20]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Caitlin Burns cited in Phillips, op.
cit., p. 116.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[21]</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Henry Jenkins,
‘Joss Whedon, The Browncoats, and Dr. Horrible’,</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Spreadable Media: Web Exclusive
Essays</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, http://spreadablemedia.org/essays/jenkins1/ (accessed 14 October
2014).</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[22] <i>Firefly</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Fox Film Corporation, 2002-2003).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[23] Henry Jenkins,
‘Joss Whedon, The Browncoats, and Dr. Horrible’, op. cit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[24] <i>Sherlock</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(BBC, 2010—).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[25] <i>Defiance</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Syfy, 2013—).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[26] Wolf cited in
Henry Jenkins, ‘Building Imaginary Worlds: An Interview with Mark J. P. Wolf
(Part Four)’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Confessions of
an Aca-Fan</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(9 September
2013), http://henryjenkins.org/ (accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[27] Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence Culture</i>, op. cit.,
p. 138.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[29] www.AtomFilms.com
cited in Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence
Culture</i>, op. cit., p. 159.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[29] Brooker,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Using the Force</i>, op. cit., p.
169; and<br />
Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence
Culture</i>, op. cit., p. 157.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[30] Brooker,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Using the Force</i>, op. cit., p.
xvi.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[31] Brooker
in Annette Kuhn (ed.),<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Alien
Zone II: The Spaces of Science Fiction</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(London
and New York: Verso, 1999), p. 53.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[32] Questionnaire,
Respondent 1.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[33] Jonathan
Gray, ‘The Use Value of Authors’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Spreadable
Media: Web Exclusive Essays</i>,
http://spreadablemedia.org/essays/gray/#.VFaEd_nkcqc (accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[34] Hills,
op. cit., p. 133.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[35] Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[36] Gray,
op. cit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[37] Taylor,
op. cit., p. 321.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[38] Henry
Jenkins, ‘Rethinking the Value of Entertainment Franchises: An Interview with
Derek Johnson (Part Two)’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Confessions
of an Aca-Fan</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(16 January
2014), http://henryjenkins.org/ (accessed 30 September 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[39] Jennifer
Stoy cited in Roz Kaveney,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Superheroes!
Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York and London: I. B. Tauris & Co, Ltd., 2008), p. 202.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[40] Johnson,
‘Cinematic Destiny’, op. cit., p. 19.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[41] Ibid.,
p. 20.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[42] <i>Avengers:
Age of Ultron</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Joss
Whedon, 2015).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[43] Taylor,
op. cit., p. 354.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Figure 7: Katie Johnson </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(2006). Available at: http://www.r2kt.com/. Accessed 25 January 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Figure 8: Star Wars: Episode II –
Attack of the Clones</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> (George Lucas, 2002) screenshot (2015).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Figure 9: R2-KT’s</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <i>visit to the
Hemby Children's Hospital in Charlotte, NC</i> (April 2013). Available at: http://www.r2t.com/.
Accessed 25 January 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Figure 10: </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Star Wars,<i> R2-DT and R2-KT in the </i>Clone
Wars<i> feature film </i>(2014). Available
at: http://www.starwars.com/news/the-power-of-the-pink-side. Accessed 25
January 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Figure 11: #CapForStrat – various images</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> (2014). Available at: //twitter.com/search?q=capforstrat&src=typd.
Accessed 31 March 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Figure 12:</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Artist unknown (2012). Available
at: http://mattgoldammer.com/2012/11/07/</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-indent: -20.7pt;">disney-made-star-wars-might-not-be-the-worst-thing-ever/.
Accessed 27 January 2015.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-43479055159753097882015-11-11T07:03:00.000-08:002015-11-14T06:17:29.386-08:00WE ARE GROOT: WHEN MEDIA PRODUCERS AND FAN COMMUNITIES ENGAGE IN MUTUAL WORLD-BUILDING [CHAPTER 1]<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>I wrote a paper on my favourite subjects: world-building, fan
culture, </i>Star Wars<i> and Marvel movies. I
had intended to get it properly published, but film studies journals don’t publish
quickly enough or often enough – much of this may go out of date once</i> The Force
Awakens <i>arrives in cinemas on December 17</i><sup style="font-style: italic;">th</sup><i> – so I decided to
publish it here, for your enjoyment or mystification….</i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; padding: 1pt 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 24px; padding: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-family: "baskerville old face" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 32px;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Legend
has it that in 1893, when Sherlock Holmes was apparently thrown over the
Reichenbach Falls by his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span>, young men wore black arm
bands in London’s streets to mourn his passing.
While the veracity of this has been hotly disputed<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span>, the public did actively
engage with Holmes’ fantastic world in a ground-breaking way. Historian Michael Saler notes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 26.1pt 12pt 1cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">[A]dults
no less than children pretended that his world was real, inhabiting it in a
communal fashion for prolonged periods of time.
Holmes fandom was the template for subsequent fan subcultures dedicated
to fictional worlds and characters.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">[3]</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In his essay <i>On Stories</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[4]</span>,
C. S. Lewis noted the different pleasures afforded to him and one of his pupils
by their childhood readings about cowboys and Native Americans. While his pupil preferred the danger and
suspense of the plot, Lewis was interested in ‘that whole world to which it
belonged – the snow and the snow-shoes, beavers and canoes, warpaths and
wigwams, and Hiawatha names.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[5]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Fascination with other worlds is
clearly not a new phenomenon, but as physically, sensually and conceptually
immersive media<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[6]</span> technologies develop, they provide more readily-available tools for
world-building, and fan practices that were once considered ‘cult’ (for
example, role-playing games) have become more mainstream. The media industries are recognising the
power of other worlds to engage fans, and shifting their approaches
accordingly. An article on
cult-media news website <i>Den of Geek</i>
asks, ‘Why is Hollywood building so many cinematic universes?’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[7]</span> In an interview with Henry Jenkins, MIT
professor Ian Condry recounts his experience meeting with the producers of a
Japanese anime series: the producers
spent an hour describing the series’ characters and its world without a mention
of the story, which in fact hadn’t even been written.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[8]</span> When writer/director siblings Lana and Andy
Wachowski auditioned actors for roles in <i>Jupiter
Ascending</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[9]</span>,
they gave out a 300-page ‘“Bible” detailing the societal rules and regulations
and all the technical whatnots of their latest “verse”.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[10]</span> In a review of the Wachowski’s <i>Matrix</i> franchise, critic Louis Kennedy
notes, ‘[W]e should not fall into the trap of calling them bad
storytellers. They aren’t storytellers
at all. They are worldmakers.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[11]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In his book <i>Convergence Culture, </i>Henry Jenkins writes that ‘storytelling has
become the art of world building’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[12]</span>. He implies that fans’ engagement with a world
often results in productive activities that can become as much a part of that
world as ‘official’ or ‘authorised’ ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Conversely, fan communities may
themselves be viewed as ‘worlds’ with which media producers, increasingly, must
engage to extend the range or value of their intellectual property. This has become especially important in the
present digital or ‘Media 2.0’ age, when fans’ opinions may be highly visible across
digital platforms (social media, for example) and are potentially, therefore,
extremely influential. We might consider
these two worlds – the created world and the world of the fan community – as
‘intratextual’ and ‘extratextual’ worlds.
Each world sustains the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In
the mid-1970s, <i>Star Wars</i> creator
George Lucas wrote one long screenplay – too long for one film – telling the
adventures of Annikin Starkiller. He
also wrote outlines for several more films set in the same galaxy. As, according to standard industry practice
at the time, only one film had been initially greenlit, he was forced to choose
one section of the story<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[13]</span>, which eventually
became <i>Star Wars</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[14]</span>. Although a couple of novels were released
around the same time as the original film trilogy, they did not significantly
expand the <i>Star Wars</i> galaxy, and
little thought was given as to whether they harmonised with or contradicted the
developing film canon. In February 1987,
with new stories to hold its members’ interest, the <i>Star Wars</i> fan club shut down.
However, with the release of Timothy Zhan’s popular <i>Heir to the Empire</i> novel trilogy in 1991, the Expanded Universe
(the ‘EU’), as it became known, was birthed, and grew at a rate unanticipated
by industry professionals<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[15]</span>. In 1997 alone, 22 EU novels were released.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[16]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In contrast, when Marvel Studios
released <i>Iron Man</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[17]</span> and <i>The Incredible Hulk</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[18]</span> in 2008, those two
films were the beginning of an entire ‘phase’ of new film franchises, already
planned, and all revolving around different characters living in the same
filmic ‘universe’, known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the ‘MCU’). (Marvel Comics takes this same approach – all
its superheroes’ stories exist within the same ‘multiverse’.) The stories and characters in this first
phase would converge in 2012’s <i>The
Avengers</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[19]</span>,
which for a period was the third-highest-grossing film of all time<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[20]</span>. Subsequently, <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[21]</span><i> </i>was the beginning of a separate franchise which also shares and
extends the MCU. Other studios have
taken note of Marvel’s successful strategy and are following its lead in
creating new franchises within existing ‘universes’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The
<i>Star Wars</i> and Marvel worlds, two of
the largest transmedia franchises, and the fan communities connected with them,
are useful case studies. This paper uses
them to examines certain methods of world-building that serve to engage fan
communities and garner their loyalty, discuss the mutual benefits to media
producers and fan communities of engagement and collaborative world-building,
and consider some of the problematic issues that arise from producer-fan
collaboration, world-building and transmedia storytelling. It draws on the work of Henry Jenkins in
relation to media fans and production, as well as Umberto Eco’s discussion of
cult media, Derek Johnson’s theory of enfranchisement, Will Brooker’s arguments
about canonicity and authorship, and Mark J. P. Wolf’s writing on
world-building. It also refers to the
results of two qualitative questionnaires which were completed by 80 anonymous,
self-identifying <i>Star Wars</i> and Marvel
fans, contacted via postings on the website Reddit<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[22]</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">As
much of this body of academic work relates to fans of cult media, it is
necessary to define ‘cult’ and, indeed, ‘fans’, which are both slippery terms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The Cult Film Reader</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">’s definition of a cult film is too
detailed to discuss in full here, but it may be summarised as follows: a cult film is one that may cross boundaries
(moral/technical/aesthetic); inspire a community of fans who are committed to
publicly celebrating it and who appropriate its themes to build identity; have
‘legends’ or disasters associated with its production; make use of allegory,
counterculture, ideology and/or mythology; and have continuing relevance and
value.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[23]</span> A cult film is therefore defined by the
community activity that surrounds it as well as the characteristics of its
production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">As
the following discussions will demonstrate, both <i>Star Wars</i> and the MCU fit this definition. They are technically, industrially and
sometimes aesthetically innovative; they have ardent, active fans who
appropriate their themes and incorporate them into their speech, beliefs and
lifestyles; they have creators who are held up as inspirational to the extent
of having a legendary status (additionally, the set of <i>Episode IV</i> was beset by environmental disasters, and Marvel’s
future was threatened by bankruptcy prior to the release of <i>Iron Man</i>); they draw on elements of
mythology, make use of archetypes and ideology; and they have maintained market
and cultural values over significant periods of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The
pervasiveness of these franchises would seem to contradict the common
application of ‘cult’ to media or fan practices that are not mainstream. John Fiske provides useful definitions of
‘mass culture’ and ‘popular culture’:
mass culture is ‘mass produced and distributed’; popular culture is a
text which has ‘been meaningfully integrated into people’s lives’, regardless
of its production and distribution methods.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[24]</span> The two terms are not mutually
exclusive. This definition aligns
popular culture with the above definition of cult media (if popular culture
were set on a sliding scale of meaningful integration, we would find cult media
at the more extreme end), which demonstrates how both franchises, while being
part of ‘mass culture’, can simultaneously be considered cult.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The
problem of defining ‘fans’ is tied up with common arguments in the literature
about which fan activities can be classed as productive, and whether fans are
‘producers’ or ‘consumers’ who are ‘engaged’ or ‘exploited’ (or varying degrees
of both). Fiske writes, ‘Every act of
consumption is an act of cultural production, for consumption is always the
production of meaning.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[25]</span> Matt Hills, however, claims that, in order to
cast fans as ‘good’ producers rather than ‘bad’ consumers, Fiske and his
protégé Jenkins push the meaning of ‘production’ too far – that by their
definitions, all fans are being productive merely by consuming media, and
everyone who consumes media is therefore a fan.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[26]</span> Jenkins and co-authors Sam Ford and Joshua
Green later state that while they ‘respect’ Hills’s objection, they wish to
lower ‘the barriers to entry to cultural production’.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[27]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In
a discussion on gender and fan culture wherein Anne Kustritz and Derek Johnson debate
contradictory ideas of how to define ‘fans’, they conclude that ‘the scholarly
enterprise of studying fans should strive for contextualization and
multiplicity, rather than some unifying theory of fandom.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[28]</span> Hills, too, takes the position that ‘rigorous
definitions’ and ‘clearly definable entities’ are impossible within fan
studies, and that definitions should remain fluid and contextual.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[29]</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">For
the purposes of this paper, it is perhaps best to define the type of fans under
discussion as ‘produsers’. ‘Produsage’
is a term coined by Axel Bruns<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[30]</span>. It is a combination of ‘production’ and
‘usage’, and it is helpful for a discussion of collaborative engagement between
producers and audiences, as it removes any ‘moral’ divides between production
and consumption and blurs the lines between producers and fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">There
is a related debate in the literature over whether or not fans are exploited
when producers collaborate with them in world-building activities. Jenkins, Ford and Green argue that audiences
should be considered ‘“engaged” rather than “exploited”’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[31]</span>, as ‘engagement’
comprehends mutual benefit to producers and fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Hills
notes that one cannot ‘expect an argumentative position to operate entirely
without contradiction.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[32]</span> With this in mind, many of the discussions in
this paper may include contradictory arguments.
Therefore, the author takes a postmodern-relativist position that an
attempt to resolve these cannot or should not be attempted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "baskerville old face" , "serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Chapter 1: Intratextual and Intertextual
World-Building<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Writing
or production techniques used in building worlds that effectively and, indeed,
affectively engage fans may be ‘intratextual’, in that they work within a text,
or they may be ‘intertextual’, in that they work by referencing <i>other</i> texts. This chapter looks at how various techniques
work to engage fans and garner their loyalty to the created world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Every
creative writing student is taught what Mark J. P. Wolf calls ‘one of the
cardinal rules’ of writing to engage your audience: eliminate anything that doesn’t ‘actively
advance the story’.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[33]</span> Building a valuable world with a dedicated
fan-base, however, requires the inclusion of additional elements that inspire
produsage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Umberto
Eco states that a cult text ‘must provide a completely furnished world….’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[34]</span> Matt Hills refers to this ‘furnishing’ as
‘hyperdiegesis’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[35]</span> – providing small details that stimulate the audience to imagine something much
larger going on ‘off screen’.
Hyperdiegesis creates an immersive world that audiences can believe (to
quote Will Brooker) ‘was alive before we arrived, carries on in the background
while we focus on the main characters, and continues after we leave.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[36]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Hyperdiegesis
creates ‘gaps’ in the text that encourage on-going speculation by audiences.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[37]</span> This speculation results in produsage and,
importantly for the media industry, repeated viewings (or readings).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">One
of these ‘gaps’ appears in <i>The Avengers</i>. During a battle, Black Widow comments, ‘It’s
like Budapest all over again’, to which Hawkeye replies, ‘You and I remember
Budapest very differently.’ The history
is never explained, leaving fans to speculate about what happened in Budapest (<i>Figure 1</i>).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S6LjGLciv8U/VkNPa-8nPzI/AAAAAAAAAJU/xh2QASFtvhA/s1600/Budapest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S6LjGLciv8U/VkNPa-8nPzI/AAAAAAAAAJU/xh2QASFtvhA/s320/Budapest.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Figure 1: a fan-produced poster for an imaginary film
about the mysterious events in Budapest.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Eco
calls this type of text ‘ramshackle, rickety, unhinged’, and adds that ‘only an
unhinged movie survives as a disconnected series of images, of peaks, of visual
icebergs.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[38]</span> These ‘visual icebergs’ are often the
elements that are echoed in popular culture, as they encourage parody and
play. They are examples of what Jenkins,
Ford and Green have labelled ‘spreadable content’ – media content, usually
digital, that is easily appropriated, recreated or repurposed, then shared by
fans.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[39]</span> Spreadable content reflects a shared fantasy
(often nostalgic), or contains humour, parody, intertextual references,
mystery, timely controversy or rumour.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[40]</span> For example, at the end of <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i>, there is a short,
comedic scene where a character, who became known as ‘Baby Groot’, dances
joyfully to The Jackson Five’s <i>I Want You
Back</i> (1969) (<i>Figure 2</i>). Audiences considered it
a highlight of the film, and a social media ‘buzz’ grew around it soon after
the film’s release. Marvel, recognising
this, quickly uploaded the scene to the internet in an easily-sharable video format<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[41]</span>. (It also added a ‘Dancing Groot’ to its toy
range.) Jenkins, Ford and Green call
this type of video a ‘quote’ which is ‘grabbable’ (made ‘easily portable and
sharable’ by the producer).<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[42]</span> Producers who create content with
‘spreadability’ are ‘generating audiences through heightening popular
awareness’ and ‘sustaining audiences through fuelling ongoing conversations.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[43]</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uhCC0p7Nkmw/VkNP6j6QxDI/AAAAAAAAAJc/LNf_hwbhMCw/s1600/baby%2Bgroot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uhCC0p7Nkmw/VkNP6j6QxDI/AAAAAAAAAJc/LNf_hwbhMCw/s320/baby%2Bgroot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Figure 2: Baby Groot’s joyful dance proved extremely spreadable.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Star Wars</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> is a benchmark for all of these
aspects of world-building. Although <i>Star Wars</i> contains many ‘icebergs’, both
visual and aural (fans can and do utilise anything vaguely tubular to recreate
lightsaber battles), its textual ‘gaps’ are what has really granted it
longevity. When <i>Episode IV </i>was released, fans were left pondering mentions of
‘Jabba’, ‘the Clone Wars’ and ‘the Kessel Run’.
The near-extinction of the Jedi went unexplained. The Force was an elusive, largely undefined
power that could be shaped to fit comfortably with almost any community’s belief
system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The
EU rushed to fill these gaps. As
previously mentioned, the <i>Star Wars</i>
fan club shut down in 1987, due to a lack of new stories, but interest was
reignited in 1991 with the birth of the EU.
Since then, the supply of new stories (in novels, the prequel films,
three animated television series, and various comic books and games), and fans’
produsage in response, have been relentless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 150%;">If
new ‘official’ stories are not provided, fans will likely lose interest over
time, and the world will lose its value as an intellectual property. This can create other problems. Derek Johnson notes, for example, that in
2003, games publisher Activision sued Viacom, the owners and licensors of </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Star Trek</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">, for devaluing their exclusive
games licence by ‘failing and refusing to continue to exploit and support the </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Star Trek</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> franchise’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[44]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">New
stories or, as Jenkins calls them, the ‘raw materials for playful re-workings’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[45]</span> keep fans interested,
but there is a catch – they also fill the gaps that allow for fan engagement, eventually
bringing the world to a ‘saturation’ or ‘breaking’ point. Jenkins writes, ‘There has to be a breaking
point beyond which franchises cannot be stretched…We just don’t know where it
is yet.’<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[46]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Brooker,
writing in 2009, suggested that <i>Star Wars</i>
had reached this point.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[47]</span> Lucasfilm apparently agreed. Following its purchase by Disney in 2012, the
company announced that the EU (in other words, everything except <i>Episodes I-VI</i> and two of the animated
series<a href="file:///C:/Users/Danica/Documents/UNIVERSITY%20ASSESSMENTS/DISSERTATION/PAPER%20FOR%20SCREEN.docx#_edn48" name="_ednref48" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[48]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>) would no longer be
considered canon, and would be relabelled <i>Star
Wars Legends</i>.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[49]</span> This reopened the gaps and gave Lucasfilm
more freedom when planning new films. An
alternative to ‘de-canonisation’ for worlds that have reached a saturation
point is to ‘reboot’ them, as was done with <i>Star
Trek</i><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[50]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span> in 2009. Either option, no matter how carefully done,
will likely divide fans’ opinions and loyalties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Brooker</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[51]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> and Jenkins</span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="font-size: xx-small;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[52]</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> both use the character
Boba Fett as an example of how new material can shut down engagement. Fett is first seen in </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Episode V</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">, receiving a stern warning from Darth Vader against
disintegrating main characters. We are
told nothing about him other than that he is a particularly ruthless bounty
hunter. His armour completely covers his
body and face, and his voice, when briefly heard, is distorted by his
helmet. The mystery surrounding Fett
caught fans’ imaginations and provided plentiful opportunities for speculation,
invention and play. His popularity led
Lucas to feature him as a boy in </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">Episodes
I-III</i><span style="line-height: 150%;">, but by doing so, Jenkins points out, Lucas ‘closed down those
possibilities, pre-empting important lines of fan speculation even as he added
information that might sustain new franchises.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[53]</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">There
is another difficulty associated with the provision of new material: to meet the current demand for transmedia
storytelling, the world’s creator must relinquish a certain level of control to
other producers, whose products may be significantly different in tone, or of poorer
quality (several questionnaire respondents were pleased that the
de-canonisation of the EU would remove ‘the bad stuff’ from the canon).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In
any discussion of world-building, transmedia storytelling cannot be
ignored. There are pros and cons to a
transmedial approach. Jenkins says, ‘[T]ransmedial
extensions are designed to serve one of three tasks: explore the world, expand the timeline, or
flesh out secondary characters.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[54]</span> They provide multiple entry points for
engagement, catering to different interests.
They provide a deeper level of immersion as fans hunt for and share new
information, building communities in the process. The more details that fans know, the more
they are rewarded by their recognition of ‘Easter eggs’, in-jokes and intertextual
references (these are discussed below).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Not
every fan will be interested in every aspect of transmedia storytelling. However, director Ed Sanchez notes, ‘The
people who do explore and take advantage of the whole world will forever be
your fans, will give you an energy you can’t buy through advertising.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[55]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The
publication of what historian Michael Saler calls ‘paratexts’ – ‘making of’
documentaries, maps, technology guides – helps fans to visualise the world and
render it, he says, ‘not only more “real” but more “alive” or virtual.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[56]</span> There have long been jokes about ardent
Trekkies (or Trekkers, if you prefer) investigating the location of the
bathrooms on the <i>Enterprise</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Different
texts also engage different age groups. <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i>, an adaptation
from Marvel’s comic book series, has in turn its own Lego comic book, which
would appeal to much younger fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 150%;">However,
the market will be smaller for a transmedia world that demands a heavy
investment of time and energy to be understood.
Neil Young, a digital arts executive, suggests that audiences need to be
eased into a ‘deep love of the story’, which means ‘you might need to express it sequentially…rather than
trying to put it all out there at once.’</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[57]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The release or viewing order of individual
texts can affect fans’ experiences of the world. Someone viewing the <i>Star Wars</i> films in chronological order (<i>Episodes I-VI</i>) will experience the world very differently to
someone who views them in release order (<i>Episodes
IV-VI</i> followed by <i>Episodes I-III</i>). The former viewer may find the special
effects in <i>Episodes IV-VI</i> ‘clunky’
after the slick CGI of <i>Episodes I-III</i>;
conversely, the latter viewer may find the CGI in <i>Episodes I-III</i> objectionable and feel that it is not as ‘real’ or
‘substantial’. The former viewer misses
the surprise when the Skywalker family connections are revealed in <i>Episodes V</i> and <i>VI</i>, as it is spoiled by <i>Episode
III</i>. But fans will also experience
the world differently depending on which <i>type</i>
of media forms their entry point to the world.
A young child playing a <i>Star Wars</i>
Lego video game will know essential plot elements of the films before they see
them.</span><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Another difficulty is distribution
timings. In 2014, Marvel set a precedent
by linking its <i>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[58]</span> television series with the film <i>Captain
America: The Winter Soldier</i><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[59]</span></span></span>. In the USA, episodes of the series that
fitted narratively before and after the film were scheduled to air a week
either side of the film’s release date.
However, simultaneous world-wide releases are not always possible,
despite a growing need for them in order to combat piracy and the appearance of
‘spoilers’ online, and to meet the demands of fans and transmedia storytelling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Finally, licensing agreements can cause
headaches for transmedia producers wishing to create a cohesive world. Two of Marvel’s most valuable properties,
Spider-Man and The X-Men, exist in the same Marvel Universe as the
Avengers. However, licencing agreements
made with Sony and Fox when Marvel was facing bankruptcy meant that they could
not co-exist in the MCU (<i>see Figure 3 for a fan's commentary on the situation</i>).<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[60]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gnn_K_-lHAo/VkNRXuZQdmI/AAAAAAAAAJo/XXcwBZnZ_Ws/s1600/poor_spidey_by_mauricioabril-d7j6oe9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gnn_K_-lHAo/VkNRXuZQdmI/AAAAAAAAAJo/XXcwBZnZ_Ws/s320/poor_spidey_by_mauricioabril-d7j6oe9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 4pt 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Figure 3:
licensing can stymie world-building – Spider-Man is part of the Marvel
Universe, but he has not, until recently, been allowed to ‘play’ with the
Avengers in the MCU, as he is licensed to Sony.</span></i><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Even producers who resolve these issues
cannot eliminate all of the potential problems associated with providing new
stories. There is always a risk that
fans will react negatively to new ideas, as they did when Lucas wrote mentions
of ‘midi-chlorians’ into <i>Episode I</i>. <i>Star
Wars</i> chronicler Chris Taylor notes that ‘long-time fans revolted’ against
the introduction of a ‘rational, scientific component’ to the mystical Force.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[61]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">One way for producers to avoid negative reactions
is to recognise from the beginning which aspects fans are emotionally invested
in, and make efforts to maintain consistency in those areas. Jenkins explains that a fan’s ‘closeness’ to
a world ‘can only be sustained as long as the imagined world maintains both
credibility and coherence, and hence the importance the fans place on even the
most seemingly trivial detail.’</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[62]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">When inconsistencies are introduced, fans
often feel a sense of betrayal. A
similar ‘betrayal’ occurs when stories are poorly adapted from one medium to
another (novel to film, for example), or when stories are ‘retconned’. ‘Retcon’ stands for ‘retroactive continuity’,
and applies when changes are made to a work after (sometimes long after) its
release, usually to <i>increase</i> a world’s
continuity, but occasionally for other reasons.
Wolf notes, ‘If a work is embedded in cultural memory, retconning can
damage the relationship that an audience has with a work….’<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[63],[64]</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Midi-chlorians are not the only problem that <i>Star Wars</i> fans have had with new
material. In 1997, Lucas released what
he called the ‘Special Editions’ of <i>Episodes
IV-VI</i> (the ‘SEs’), which were heavily retconned versions – digitally
enhanced and re-edited. He has since
made several sets of further changes, and repeatedly refused fans’ requests for
the original theatrical-release versions (the ‘TRVs’) to be remastered for DVD
and Blu-Ray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In the fan community, opinions are sharply
divided in relation to the SEs. The
prequel trilogy was also poorly received by many fans. The author’s interactions with fans suggest
that this division is largely to do with the site and time of a fan’s original,
emotional investment in the world. Fans
whose first experience of <i>Star Wars</i>
was through the prequels or the SEs, or fans who first viewed them at a young
age, are more readily accepting of them.
Many older fans, however, simply refuse to watch the SEs, resorting to
grainy VHS copies of the TRVs or the poor-quality versions that Lucas
grudgingly included with the 2005 DVD release.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Intriguingly, Lucas gave a testimony in
Congress in 1988 against the colourisation of classic films such as John
Huston’s <i>The Maltese Falcon</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[65]</span>. He said, ‘People who alter or destroy works
of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are
barbarians.’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[66]</span> Taylor concludes that Lucas would not have
objected if Huston had made the changes himself.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[67]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> This raises the issue of ownership, which
will be discussed in Part 2.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">There are three areas where maintaining
consistency is vital: the look and
‘feel’ of the world, which we will here call its ‘aesthetic’; the canon; and
the characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Discussing his intentions for <i>Episode IV</i> in 1975, Lucas said, ‘I’m
trying to make a film that looks very real, with a nitty-gritty feel….’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[68]</span> This aesthetic is often referred to as the
‘used’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[69]</span> or ‘lived in’<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[70]</span> universe and was identified by several questionnaire respondents as an element
that attracted them to <i>Star Wars</i>. The overt, heavy use of CGI is one of the
most common objections fans have to the SEs and the prequels. Producer Gary Kurtz felt that Lucas’s digital
retcons in the SEs did not ‘fit in with the mechanical style of the original
film.’</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[71]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Significantly, J. J. Abrams, a long-time <i>Star Wars</i> fan and now director of the
upcoming <i>Episode VII</i><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[72]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span>,
in an effort to secure fans’ support for the new film, has made conspicuous
(through images released during filming) his use of physical sets and practical
effects to echo the TRVs’ ‘used universe’ aesthetic (<i>Figure 4</i>).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HjCZJ9j0PLw/VkNSSGRlCiI/AAAAAAAAAJw/XVVFi5HUb_g/s1600/Star_Wars_Episode_VII_66830%2B-%2Bpractical%2Beffects.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HjCZJ9j0PLw/VkNSSGRlCiI/AAAAAAAAAJw/XVVFi5HUb_g/s320/Star_Wars_Episode_VII_66830%2B-%2Bpractical%2Beffects.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Figure 4: </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Episode VII<i>
director J. J. Abrams on set, filming a video for the charity Force for Change.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Maintaining aesthetic consistency also
applies when a book or comic is translated to film. Fans’ conceptions of Middle-Earth (the world
of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> novels) had
long been influenced by illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe. When Peter Jackson adapted the novels to
film, he brought Lee and Howe in to help with the production design, in order
to ‘get it right’ for the fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A consistent canon is enormously important to
fans. Debates rage all over the internet
about the canonicity of different texts, along with attempts to explain away
problems (such as Han Solo’s boast that the <i>Millennium
Falcon</i> ‘made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs’, a parsec being a unit
of distance, not time). Improbable
explanations given by producers to explain canonical changes are also
problematic. Jenkins quotes one
frustrated <i>Star Trek</i> fan: ‘[Eventually,] the fans will refuse to keep
on “buying it” and will “check out” instead….’<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[73]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Despite the debates, an examination of the
questionnaire responses suggests that each fan ultimately establishes his or her
own ‘personal canon’, to use one fan’s phrase<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[74]</span>,
examining the ‘truth’ of each text by weighing it against various factors,
particularly its authorship, its quality and conformity to the existing canon<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[75]</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, its
age<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[76]</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, and
the consensus of the fan community.
Unfortunately, this does tend to splinter fan communities, making it
harder for producers of new texts to please a majority of the fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The most infamous debate over a retcon has
made its way into the zeitgeist as ‘Han shot first’ (<i>Figure 5</i>). Brooker explains,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 26.1pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In...<i>A New Hope</i>, Han slides his gun from its
holster while cornered by the bounty hunter Greedo, shooting his antagonist
dead with a shot under the table. In the
<i>Special Edition</i>, Greedo fires first
by a split second and misses, justifying Han’s retaliation.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[77]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The problem with this retcon was that it
altered Han’s character arc. Han
progresses from selfish, wily smuggler and ‘scoundrel’ – exactly the type of
man to shoot before he is shot at – to self-sacrificing, team-playing
general. To ‘justify’ one of his more
roguish actions is to flatten his character arc, not to mention make him look
rather inept.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[78]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-TlFsZp_o8/VkNS-lb74qI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/og6pc306HOI/s1600/2011-08-22_454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-TlFsZp_o8/VkNS-lb74qI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/og6pc306HOI/s320/2011-08-22_454.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i style="text-indent: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Figure 5: changes made to the canon of a world,
including retcons, can splinter fan communities, as each individual fan will
tend to adopt his or her own ‘personal canon’.</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Marvel fans who responded to the
questionnaire overwhelmingly placed importance on character consistency for a
good comic-to-film adaptation. Comments
from <i>Star Wars</i> fans</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> in relation to the de-canonisation of
the EU also show the importance of the characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 26.1pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">If
they want to toss away the events that’s fine….
But, please, some of the characters have been bigger fan favourites than
some of the movie characters. Adapt some
of the characters to the movies and I’ll be happy (Mara, Han and Leia’s kids),
because they’ve felt like canon for the last 20 years.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[79]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Many
fans feel that future diversions from the EU (now <i>Legends</i>) stories are acceptable, as long as their favourite
characters appear. The ‘Mara’ referred
to above is Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke Skywalker’s wife, a character created by
Timothy Zahn. Many fans have read about Mara for so long
that she is as established in their personal canon as Luke. Other EU characters, such as the Skywalkers’
son, Ben; Han and Leia’s children; and Grand Admiral Thrawn, who led the Empire
after the Emperor’s death, are spoken of by fans in a similar way but, to date,
indications are that none of them will be written into <i>Episode VII</i>. This may
present a stumbling block to fans’ engagement with the new direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">One final technique important to fan
engagement is the inclusion of intertextual references. ‘[M]edia fans take pleasure in making
intertextual connections across a broad range of media texts,’ writes Jenkins.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[80]</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Intertextual references heighten or maintain
the visibility in popular culture of the texts referenced. As Wolf notes, H. P. Lovecraft encouraged
other authors to use the ‘gods’ he invented, to create verisimilitude.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[81]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> The presence of an Alien skull (from the </span></span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Alien</i><span class="MsoEndnoteReference" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">franchise)
in a trophy case in </span></span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">Predator 2</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[82]</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> was responsible for years of speculation among fans of both franchises – which
they now knew existed in the same world – about a ‘crossover’ film. This extended the value of both franchises
when, due to the demand, two crossover films were made after the viability of
the individual franchises had waned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Each
MCU film refers to the already-existing world, but with successive releases, audiences
became aware that MCU films also had ‘stingers’ – additional short scenes
during and after their credits rolls – that gave hints of a future film’s
storyline (<i>Figure 6</i>). Johnson writes, ‘Dangling
scenes and quick character teases in Marvel’s films foster not just narrative
expansion but also an audience participation that extends the commercial
viability of the films….’<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;">[83]</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7hGu_7KkjfI/VkNTqp2wrnI/AAAAAAAAAKA/QuhVVOpWwBI/s1600/simply.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7hGu_7KkjfI/VkNTqp2wrnI/AAAAAAAAAKA/QuhVVOpWwBI/s320/simply.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i style="text-indent: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Figure 6: a </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: 1cm;">Lord of the Rings<i> meme, appropriated by fans to comment on Marvel’s use of ‘stingers’</i></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The MCU films, especially when in the hands of
writer/director Joss Whedon, are full of intertextual references, and they come
in many forms besides stingers, including in-jokes, cameos and ‘Easter
eggs’. Tony Stark makes frequent
pop-culture references. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Stan Lee, creator of many popular
Marvel characters, has an amusing cameo in every MCU film. Whedon’s fans will recognise several actors
who have worked with him on other projects in cameos or guest roles in </span><i style="line-height: 150%;">The Avengers</i><span style="line-height: 150%;"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 150%;">Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[84]</span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">. Easter eggs – partially-hidden details that
will appear significant only to viewers familiar with the comics – are included
as a way of saying to comic-book fans, ‘We haven’t forgotten you.’ In-jokes bring pleasure to the select few who
‘get it’. Sharing and discussing these
types of intertextual references helps to build and strengthen the sense of
community among fans.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="line-height: 150%;">{<a href="http://musedemented.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/we-are-groot-when-media-producers-and_13.html">Click here for Chapter 2: Extratextual World-Building</a>}</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(C) Danica Issell, 2015</span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[1]</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Arthur Conan Doyle,
‘The Final Problem’,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(1894; London: CRW
Publishing Limited, 2005), pp. 277-300.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[2]</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Peter Calamai, ‘A
Reader Challenge and Prize’,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Baker Street Journal</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,
http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/armbands.html (accessed 8 November 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[3] Michael
Saler cited in Henry Jenkins, ‘“From Imaginary to Virtual Worlds”: An Interview
with Historian Michael Saler (Part One)’,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Confessions of An
Aca-Fan</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(11 December 2013), http://henryjenkins.org/ (accessed
27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[4] C.
S. Lewis, ‘On Stories’ (extract from</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of Other Worlds</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">),
http://campus.huntington.edu/dma/leeper/dm101/readings/@word/on%20stories.rtf
(accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[5]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[6]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Mark
J. P. Wolf,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Building
Imaginary Worlds</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York & Oxon: Routledge, 2012), p. 48.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[7] Mark
Harrison, ‘Why is Hollywood building so many cinematic universes?’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Den
of Geek</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(13
October 2014),
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/cinematic-universes/32452/why-is-hollywood-building-so-many-cinematic-universes
(accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[8]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Ian
Condry cited in Henry Jenkins, ‘“Media Mix is Anime’s Life Support System”: A
Conversation with Ian Condry and Marc Steinberg (Part One),<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Confessions
of An Aca-Fan</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(8
November 2013), http://henryjenkins.org/ (accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[9] <i>Jupiter
Ascending</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(The
Wachowskis, 2015).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[10]<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Ian
Nathan, ‘The World Is Not Enough’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Empire</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>302
(August 2014), p. 89..<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[11] Louis
Kennedy cited in Wolf, op. cit., p. 13.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[12] Henry
Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence
Culture</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York & London: New York University Press, 2006), p. 116.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[13] George
Lucas cited in American Film Institute,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>George Lucas on How STAR WARS Got
Made</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(30
October 2009), http://youtu.be/mztK3s63_OM (accessed 16 November 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[14] <i>Star
Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(George Lucas, 1977). The
individual<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star
Wars</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>films
(<i>Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(George
Lucas, 1999);<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star
Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(George Lucas, 2002);<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star
Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(George Lucas, 2005);<i>Star Wars:
Episode IV – A New Hope</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(George Lucas, 1977);<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star
Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Irvin Kershner, 1980); and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star
Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Richard Marquand, 1983)) are hereafter
referred to by their episode number; for example,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Episode
IV</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[15] Chris
Taylor,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>How
Star Wars Conquered the Universe</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New York: Basic Books, 2014), p. 289.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[16] Ibid.,
p. 290.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[17] <i>Iron
Man</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Jon
Favreau, 2008).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[18] <i>The
Incredible Hulk</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Louis
Leterrier, 2008).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[19]<i>The
Avengers</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(UK
title:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Avengers
Assemble</i>) (Joss Whedon, 2012).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[20] <i>The
Numbers</i>, ‘All Time Highest Grossing Movies Worldwide’ (2015),
http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/records/All-Time-Worldwide-Box-Office
(accessed 16 November 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[21] <i>Guardians
of the Galaxy</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(James
Gunn, 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[22] ‘/r/Marvel’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>reddit</i>,
http://www.reddit.com/r/marvel (accessed October 2014); and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
‘Star Wars’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>reddit</i>,
http://www.reddit.com/r/starwars (accessed October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[23] Ernest
Mathijs and Xavier Mendik (eds.),<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The Cult Film Reader</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Berkshire:
Open University Press, 2008), pp. 1-11.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[24] John
Fiske cited in Henry Jenkins and Sam Ford and Joshua Green,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Spreadable
Media</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York & London: New York University Press, 2013), p. 200.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[25] John</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fiske,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Understanding
Popular Culture</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York and London: Routledge, 1989), 35.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[26] Matt
Hills,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Fan
Cultures</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(London:
Routledge, 2002), p. 30.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[27] Henry
Jenkins, Sam Ford and Joshua Green,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Spreadable Media</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York and London: New York University Press, 2013), pp. 154-155.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[28] Derek
Johnson cited in Henry Jenkins, ‘Gender and Fan Culture (Round Thirteen, Part
One): Anne Kustritz and Derek Johnson,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Confessions of An Aca-Fan</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(30
August 2007), http://henryjenkins.org/ (accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[29] Hills,
op. cit., pp. ix-xv.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[30] Jenkins,
Ford and Green, op. cit., p. 183.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[31] Ibid.,
p. 60.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[32] Hills,
op. cit., p. xii.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[33] Wolf,
op. cit., p. 29.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[34] Umberto
Eco, ‘Casablanca: Cult Movies and Intertextual Collage’ in Mathijs and Mendik
(eds.), op. cit., pp. 67-75, 68<i>.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[35] Hills,
op. cit., p. 137.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[36] Will
Brooker,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>BFI
Film Classics: Star Wars</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), p.
30.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[37] Wolf,
op. cit., p. 60<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[38] Eco,
op. cit., p. 68.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[39] Jenkins,
Ford and Green, op. cit., p. 3.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[40] Ibid.,
pp. 202-204.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[41] <i>Yahoo!
Screen</i>, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Clip: Baby Groot’ (2014)
https://screen.yahoo.com/ guardians-galaxy-clip-baby-groot-234613832.html
(accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[42] Jenkins,
Ford and Green, op. cit., p. 188.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[43] Ibid.,
p. 188.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[44] Legal
complaint cited in Derek Johnson,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Media Franchising</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York and London: New York University Press, 2013), p. 44.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[45] Henry
Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Textual
Poachers</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(London:
Routledge, 1992), p. 75.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[46] Jenkins,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Convergence Culture</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, op. cit., p. 131.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[47] Will
Brooker,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>BFI
Film Classics: Star Wars</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) pp.
32-33.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[48] <i>Star
Wars:</i> <i>The Clone Wars<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(Lucasfilm, 2008-2014); and <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star
Wars Rebels</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Lucasfilm,
2014—).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[49] Graeme
McMillan, ‘Lucasfilm Unveils New Plans for “Star Wars” Expanded Universe’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The
Hollywood Reporter<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(25
April 2014),
https://movies.yahoo.com/news/lucasfilm-unveils-plans-star-wars-expanded-universe-050000805.html
(accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[50] <i>Star
Trek</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(J.
J. Abrams, 2009).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[51] Will
Brooker,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Using
the Force</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(New
York and London: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002), p. 18.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[52] Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence
Culture</i>, op. cit., p. 117.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[53] Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[54] Henry
Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>‘Building
Imaginary Worlds: An Interview with Mark J. P. Wolf (Part Three)’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Confessions
of an Aca-Fan</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(6
September 2013), http://henryjenkins.org/ (accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[55] Ed
Sanchez cited in Jenkins,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Convergence Culture</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, op. cit., p. 105.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[56] Michael
Saler cited in Henry Jenkins, ‘“From Imaginary to Virtual Worlds”: An Interview
with Historian Michael Saler (Part Two)’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Confessions of an Aca-Fan</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(13
December 2013), http://henryjenkins.org/ (accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[57] Neil
Young cited in Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Convergence Culture</i>, op. cit.,
p. 130.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[58] <i>Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(ABC
Studios, 2013—).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[59] <i>Captain
America: The Winter Soldier</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[60] Following
several box-office disappointments, however, Sony recently reached an agreement
with Marvel to allow Spider-Man to appear in future Avengers films.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[61] Taylor,
op. cit., p. 58.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[62] Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Textual
Poachers</i>, op. cit., p. 115.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[63] Wolf,
op. cit., p. 213.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[64] See
Hills, op. cit., pp. 131-143 for a discussion of the psychology behind this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[65] <i>The
Maltese Falcon</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(John
Huston, 1941).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[66] Lucas
cited in Taylor, op. cit., p. 315.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[67] Taylor,
op. cit., p. 315.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[68] Lucas
cited in Brooker,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>BFI</i>,
op. cit., p. 43.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[69] Brooker,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BFI</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, op. cit., p. 33.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[70] Wolf,
op. cit., pp. 43, 135 .<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[71] Gary
Kurtz cited in Taylor, op. cit., p. 312.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[72] <i>Star
Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(J. J. Abrams, 2015).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[73] Jenkins,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Textual
Poachers</i>, op. cit., p. 103.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[74] Questionnaire,
Respondent 18.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[75] Wolf,
op. cit., p. 266.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[76] Ibid.,
p. 273.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[77] Brooker,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Using
the Force</i>, op. cit., p. 75.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[78] Ibid.,
p. 76.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[79] soulblade64,
‘What parts of the EU do you think will survive Episode VII?’,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">reddit</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,
http://www.reddit.com/r/starwars/comments/1wh2fl/what_parts_of_the_eu_do_you_think_will_survive/
(accessed 27 October 2014).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">[80] Jenkins,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Textual Poachers</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, op. cit., p. 36.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[81] Wolf,
op. cit., p. 190.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[82] <i>Predator
2<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(Stephen
Hopkins, 1990).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[83] Derek
Johnson, ‘Cinematic Destiny: Marvel Studios and the Trade Stories of Industrial
Convergence’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Society
for Cinema and Media Studies</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>52, 1 (2012), http://filmadaptation.<br />
qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2012/11/52.1.johnson.pdf (accessed 27 October 2014),
p. 5.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[84] </span><i style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(ABC
Studios, 2013—).</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="edn84">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Figure 1: </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Artist<i> </i><span class="MsoHyperlink">unknown (2014). Available at: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/hawkeye-and-black-widow/images/31881226/title/clint-natasha-fanart.
Accessed 13 October 2014.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="text-indent: -2cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Figure 2: Guardians of the Galaxy</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-indent: -2cm;"> (James Gunn, 2014) screenshot (2015).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="text-indent: -2cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Figure 3: </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-indent: -2cm;">Mauricio Abril, <i>Poor Spidey</i> (2014). Available at: http://geektyrant.com/news/poor-spider-man-doesnt-get-to-play-with-the-avengers-fan-art.
Accessed 13 October 2014.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="text-indent: -2cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Figure 4: Star Wars: Force for Change
- A Message from J.J. Abrams</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-indent: -2cm;">
(2014) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-indent: -2cm;">screenshot (2015). Available at: https://youtu.be/XfNiC9iKM0Q.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="text-indent: -2cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Figure 5:</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-indent: -2cm;"> Sean
McLean, ‘Who Shot First?’, <i>Underwhelmed
Comics</i> (2011). Available at: www.underwhelmedcomic.com. Accessed 25 January
2015.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 2cm; text-indent: -2cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="text-indent: -2cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Figure 6: </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; text-indent: -2cm;">Artist
unknown. Available at: http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3u4wph. Accessed 13
October 2014.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 2cm; text-align: left; text-indent: -2cm;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-49573579269615122842014-10-23T12:48:00.001-07:002014-10-23T12:50:38.075-07:00Reflections on the Age of Ultron Teaser Trailer<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />So, who else has watched the trailer five times today and freeze-framed it, looking for clues? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yeah - no, of course I haven't, either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What we know:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We'll be flashing back at some point to Romanoff's ballerina past.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Andy Serkis is playing an actual character, not just doing mo-cap for Ultron.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ultron looks badass and James Spader is a perfect piece of voice-casting.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've got a (budding?) romance between Romanoff and Banner (poor Hawkeye).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cap cannot open doors like a normal person.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We may see the un-worthy-ing of Thor (who needs a hair trim).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Hulkbuster-armour fight is going to be epic.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's a mysterious new woman in town, probably played by Kim Soo-hyun, but Pepper and Jane appear to be no-shows (boo).</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Here it is, for the three fans out there who haven't yet seen it:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tmeOjFno6Do" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-68745035271457702302014-09-08T12:21:00.000-07:002014-09-08T12:21:36.560-07:00"To read makes our speaking English good."<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To commemorate the start of my third year as a mature student at university, here's a summary of what I have learned so far:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You're completely out of touch when you're the only person in the room who's never heard of Angela Carter.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nobody under the age of 21 knows how to spell or put a grammatically correct sentence together. A lot of people over the age of 21 don't know, either - especially lecturers.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You're really old if you DON'T think Jane Eyre caved in to patriarchal norms and abandoned her 'goal' of attaining some version of feminist independence when she married Rochester.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's a hell of a lot more sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll in C18th-19th poetry than high school English lessons led me to believe.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Advertising is pretty cool.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Advertising is the spawn of Satan.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sorry, somebody has already written about that.<br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some people actually think that Roger Moore is the best Bond.<br /></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the immortal words of Xander Harris, 'Guess I'm done with the book learning!'</span>Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-32837232820463892222014-08-28T03:26:00.002-07:002014-08-28T03:29:10.535-07:00Gamers, Feminists, Misogynists...oh, my!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've said it before: there are certain feminist issues and viewpoints that I support, but nobody who knows me would label me a feminist. Anyway, these days, the term brings with it a truckload of cultural baggage that means different things to people. I am a woman with some very traditional views on things and some very radical ones. (Many would call me 'right wing', but I have an intense hatred for that sort of boxing in. There are things I both agree with and disagree with on the right and on the left.) However, I am a woman who loves traditionally 'boyish' things. I am a woman who loves traditionally 'geekish' things. Comic book movies. <i>Star Wars</i>. Spock. <i>Die Hard</i>. Jim Cameron sequels. I know well that special look people get on their faces when they find out these things about me. I don't believe that a love for these things, any more than for gaming, should belong to one or the other sex.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week's...I'm not sure what to call it. War? Brouhaha? Eruption? Scandal? Let's go with brouhaha...in the gaming world has had plenty of coverage, so I won't set it all out again here, but I will say that it has affected me, and not in a way you might think from the above paragraph. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I cannot and will not deny that sexism has been rife in the gaming world. I cannot and will not deny that certain women misuse women's rights issues as a platform to further their careers. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Women in the industry have done stupid and horrible things, and have been the victims of stupid and horrible things. Men in the industry have done stupid and horrible things, and have been the victims of stupid and horrible things. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For me, the real horror in all this is not corruption or misogyny. The real horror is the way that people - <i>people</i>, not men or women - treat each other. My horror is at the language and the abuse people throw at each other online. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />'Welcome to the internet,' I hear you say. 'Where have you been the last 30 years, you naive ****?' But that's exactly my point. Being online seems to give people a licence to say things they would never say to someone face to face. Or would they? I don't know anymore. In the name of free speech and moral crusading, people lower their own moral standing (completely collapse it, in my opinion) by resorting to this kind of abusive and, frankly, downright disgusting behaviour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you dislike someone's actions or opinions, how about not supporting or buying their next product? And yes, you do have the right to say <i>why</i> you are not supporting them. BUT you can do that without using the names I've seen spat out in the last couple of days and in other, similar situations in the past. You can pull your support from someone without putting their personal information online - which is illegal, I needlessly add. 'Oh, but it's about getting the truth out there about what they've done. They deserve it.' How about what <i>you've</i> just done? How about taking care of your own immoral or hurtful behaviour first and foremost? How about being</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> kind to one another, no matter who the other person is or what they've done, as we can never know everything about them and their situation? How about not lowering yourself to 'their level', whatever that may be?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's a very, very old-fashioned notion (thanks, Nick Fury), but if we all took ten seconds to monitor our actions by thinking 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' or, if you prefer, Wil Wheaton's modern translation: 'Don't be a dick', the world would be a completely different place for men, for women, for gamers, for </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">people</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. And that would be the kind of revolution I could truly support.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />END RANT</span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-26383155851200329112014-04-30T13:01:00.002-07:002014-04-30T13:22:50.655-07:00The Importance of a Good Movie Villain, or, What Marvel Has Done Right and Sony Keeps Forgetting<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've had over a week now to process <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</i>, and my initial thoughts have stuck with me. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Admittedly, they're not very deep thoughts - it is exam time, so you'll have to excuse me. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Firstly, the CGI was a hell of a lot better in this one. There were no clunky lizards this time, thank goodness. The first one left me wondering, if guys like Neill Blomkamp can make convincing-looking Prawns on his home computer with a budget of bugger-all, why can't Sony with all its millions do at least as well?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly, the main cast is top-notch. Andrew Garfield really does do beautifully that mix of gangling teenager and graceful superhero, and his interactions with Emma Stone and Sally Field continue to sparkle.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is, without question, a better movie than the last. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are two main problems, though, and they are big enough to damage the fabric of the whole thing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The story itself is a mess. I mean, it's like someone took a fruit crumble and put it in the washing machine. No - that's a bad analogy, but I'm pleading temporary insanity due to assessment-time brain failure. Now I'm craving fruit crumble.... You catch my drift. It's all over the place. No real through-line. Deep revelations and bits of dramatic and action-packed things happening here, there and everywhere but by the end you've still no idea what Electro was actually trying to <i>do.</i> Something about taking back a power grid. Does he want to destroy it? Live in it? Keep all the power for himself? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hold a rock concert?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That leads me to the other problem, which you've already guessed if you've read the title of this post. Star Wars has Darth Vader and the Emperor. Star Trek has Khan and the Klingons and the Romulans and Q and the Borg. The Avengers have Loki. Batman has The Joker. Spidey has...um.... In theory, the Green Goblin should be a great villain. He's Spidey's former best friend, after all. The character of Harry here is good, but the Green Goblin still just doesn't cut it, and Electro is very forgettable. I can't put my finger on why. It's a problem I'd like to explore in detail sometime: what makes a good movie villain?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've got any theories, put them in the comments.</span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-14685403212540914072014-04-29T15:40:00.004-07:002014-04-29T16:04:41.607-07:00We didn't have to wait long - Star Wars VII cast announced<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I must have had some kind of premonition when I wrote the previous post this morning, but we didn't have to wait until Sunday. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The official announcement of the Episode VII cast was made during the day over at www.StarWars.com. There are some familiar names in there (I have to wonder just how <i>many</i> characters Andy Serkis will be playing) and some new ones (I hope you're prepared for this, Daisy Ridley).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No Zac Efron, but definitely Oscar Isaac; also Domhnall Gleeson, whom I really like (that's Bill Weasley, to Potter fans), so I'm pleased about him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other newbies are John Boyega (from <i>Attack the Block</i>), Adam Driver (from <i>Girls</i>) and Max Von Sydow (from...well, pretty much everything)</span><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mind you, they still haven't told us much, but I suppose that's not likely to change. So we wait, anticipating 18 December 2015....</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-87738913146728920612014-04-29T01:29:00.000-07:002014-05-02T02:03:54.807-07:00Right about now, in a city not too far away…<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s that time of year when every
Star Wars fan gets little butterflies of nostalgic excitement in his or her
stomach and cracks out the original trilogy discs (theatrical versions only, of
course) in preparation for May the Fourth.
But we fans have a greater reason to be excited this year, because we’re
all half-expecting some long-awaited announcements from Disney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Details. We want details.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">J.J. Abrams, the master of
keeping secrets every man and his tribble already knows (“Khan? Who’s Khan?”), has actually managed to keep us
in the dark this time. The might of the
Mouse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So what do we know? We know the new trilogy won’t follow the
Thrawn/Heir to the Empire/Timothy Zahn novels.
That really was a given, although I’m certain that many a fanboy/girl
has mournfully stopped and thought, every once in a while, how cool it would
have been to see Mara Jade Skywalker on screen.
Can everyone who lives/works near Pinewood please keep an eye out for
beautiful 40-to-50-something actresses with red hair? Maybe she’ll pop up with Luke anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We know that Harrison Ford, Mark
Hamill and Carrie Fisher (and presumably Peter Mayhew) are currently up in
London, Hamill looking rather dashing in a mighty fine beard. I’ve been trying not to get my hopes up,
positive that they’ll all just have short cameos, but the latest rumour is that
Han may have quite a chunk of screen time.
I wouldn’t complain – any additional Harrison Ford is a bonus, in my
opinion, so long as there are no dodgy-looking fridges or monkeys involved. (Aliens, in this case, are perfectly
acceptable.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We know that Zac Efron may or may
not have been cast. I’m thinking there’s
got to be a role for a singing Jedi with great abs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We know that Oscar Isaac has
probably definitely maybe been cast. He
can grow a good Jedi beard. He sings, too
– I’m sensing a theme here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Will the kidlets – Anakin, Ben
and the twins – turn up? NOBODY
KNOWS. We keep hearing that these films
won’t be following the existing canon, but one assumes they’d still want to
appease the loyal fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We know that J.J. has promised
less CGI and more real sets. Couldn’t be
happier about that. If the sets are as
gorgeous as the Enterprise bridge, even better.
How cool would it be to see the Falcon again? Well, she has been spotted in concept art on
a wall at the back of a production meeting photo, so I’m crossing my fingers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve got to go and wash my </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Han Shot First</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> t-shirt now.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See you all again on Sunday.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-5941505423332979492014-04-04T12:46:00.000-07:002014-04-04T12:48:29.921-07:00Cap is Back<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've just been to see <i>Captain America: The Winter Solider</i> (again) and (again) I loved it, but please, <i>please</i>,<i> </i>directors, can we quit with the tight 'n' shaky action sequences? When I come to watch Cap knocking bad guys' heads together, I want to be able to <i>see</i> Cap knocking bad guys' heads together. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's a dance; let us see the choreography. Take Fred Astaire's tried and tested advice that dances should be shot full-bodied (especially when it's a certain superhero's full body - wink, wink, nudge, nudge). If you hide all the stunts, it makes me think that you don't know what you're doing and so you need to do it off-screen or blurry. As lovely as Chris Evans' kneecaps and elbows are, I'd like to see a little more than that when he's fighting...um...let's just call him The Winter Soldier.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That said, go see it. It's good. And stay for (at least) the mid-credits stinger, which is a nice little lead-in to Age of Ultron.</span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-50613212736176091402014-04-03T06:24:00.001-07:002014-04-03T06:24:36.989-07:00UPDATE on my previous post - practical things you can do to help<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->Following on from my earlier post, here are some practical things you can do to
help people with JHS (or similar), CFS and/or depression:
<br />
<ul>
<li> If they’re sick, do some food shopping for them.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Help them to carry heavy loads.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Be aware of noise levels when they’re trying to sleep.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Offer them a lift in your car.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Offer to go for short walks with them.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Don’t stop inviting them to things because they can’t come once
or twice (but don’t pressure them into coming, either).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Think about going around to their place for a movie night –
it’s easier for them than going out.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Help them with cooking (chopping vegetables can be incredibly
difficult), changing bedding and vacuuming.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Think of things to do that don’t involve too much social or physical
effort.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>If you’re out at a restaurant, pay attention to whether they’re
having trouble cutting their food – offer to give them a hand if so.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Don’t try to offer ‘helpful’ suggestions when they just want
to vent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, there is no solution
and they already know it.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Talk things through with them to help them get clarity or
stop a negative-thought spiral.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Give them plenty of notice about events, and make sure there’s
appropriate seating available at the venue.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Don’t pressure them for a phone call – use email, so they
can reply in their own time.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Understand that they’re more angry at, frustrated with or
disappointed in themselves and their situation than they are you.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Give them space first thing in the morning and don’t expect
a cheery greeting.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Recognise that they may need you to repeat instructions – it
doesn’t mean they weren’t listening the first time.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Realise that simple tasks can take major effort.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Understand that every day is different – because something’s
easy one day (or even one moment) doesn’t mean it will be so the next.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Ask them what their individual needs are.</li>
</ul>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-65074052516448674982014-04-03T05:10:00.002-07:002014-04-05T01:09:31.218-07:00Life With Long-Term Invisible Illnesses<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This post is a difficult one for
me. I would never have written it but
for two things:</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">reading <a href="http://www.annewheaton.com/the-other-side-of-depression/" target="_blank">this post</a> from Anne
Wheaton and seeing the response to it; and</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">having to write a ‘realist’
story for university (I’m lost when I can’t include at least one ghost or
spaceship) and my flatmate (also a writer) suggesting I write about my illness.</span></span> </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When I was a kid and a teenager,
it felt like I had something wrong with me all the time – infections, growing
pains, injuries – you name it. I
wondered whether I was a hypochondriac or had a lower pain threshold than other
people. Ballet classes were a constant
struggle. I never could hold up my arms
or legs as long as the other girls, despite the fact that I had twice as much
muscle. When I was about 15 I had a
meltdown in Drama class at school. I’d
never had a problem with school and couldn’t understand why it was suddenly
getting to me, especially in one of my favourite subjects. I was sleeping a lot, but everyone said
that’s what teenagers did, so I didn’t question it. Then I was diagnosed with mild Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome. That explained the
exhaustion, but not the other things – it was just another problem to add to
the list.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Throughout my 20s, continued CFS,
disappointed dreams and a boring office job weighed me down physically and
mentally. I knew I was depressed, but it
went officially undiagnosed. Eventually,
I moved countries, looking for a fresh start and hoping to break away from it
all.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My new employers soon realised I
was struggling and sent me to the doctor.
I was diagnosed with Clinical Depression and, after much reluctance, research
and deliberation on my part, I was put on anti-depressants.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One thing I’d never done was
break a bone (although I did once get hairline fractures in the tips of my toes
from pointe work – oops!) I had multiple
back and joint problems, though, including regular migraines and some old
injuries that felt like they’d never properly healed, and I often saw a
physiotherapist. One day, she asked me
to lie on my side and I obliged. She
gave me a funny look and said, ‘Is that how you normally lie when you lie on
your side?’ I said yes, and she made an appointment
for me to see her manager. At that
appointment, her manager asked me to do some strange things, then asked me to
lie on my back, put my arms straight up in front of me and move them up and
down. I obliged; she made a funny noise
and said, ‘One of your cervical vertebrae moves when you do that. I’m pretty sure you have Joint Hypermobility
Syndrome.’ I said, ‘I have
what-whatety-what-now?’ I’d never heard
of it. So off I went to see the
rheumatologist at the hospital and he confirmed it: I had Joint Hypermobility Syndrome. ‘So,’ I asked him, ‘does that mean I’ve been
misdiagnosed all these years, and I <i>don’t</i>
have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?’ He said,
‘No. In my opinion, you’re unlucky
enough to have both.’ Joy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The reason I’d never broken a
bone was that people with JHS (also abbreviated HMS) don’t tend to break; we
bend. We bend <i>way</i> too much. Sounds
pathetically minor or potentially awesome, right? Compared to what some people go through, yes,
but what it means is that our muscles have to work twice as hard, all the time,
just to keep our joints in the right place (which also means it takes twice the
effort to do things, including just sitting still). Our joints subluxate
very easily, and it’s not just our joints that are uber-flexible; it’s all our
connective tissues. That means it
affects our internal organs, as well, causing things like IBS. The foremost researcher on JHS is a professor
in London who has recently retired, but he believes JHS is actually a slightly
lower grade of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. I
have to say, I attended an eight-week pain management course with both JHS and
EDS patients, and our symptoms were pretty much identical: pain, exhaustion, injuries caused by stupid
things like brushing hair or opening drawers, IBS, clumsiness/spatial awareness problems,
sensitivity to cold/heat/noise, inability to stand <i>or</i> sit for long periods,
depression, migraines…. Additionally,
local anaesthetics don’t work very well on JHS/EDS patients, so to that idiot
doctor who cauterised my warts when I was a little kid and wouldn’t believe me
when I told him it was excruciatingly painful:</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O66LYueyLrA/Uz1JvvRCTrI/AAAAAAAAAFE/W4zXHbdhD4o/s1600/snoopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O66LYueyLrA/Uz1JvvRCTrI/AAAAAAAAAFE/W4zXHbdhD4o/s1600/snoopy.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So that diagnosis explained
everything. I hadn’t had multiple
problems; I’d had multiple symptoms from one illness (later two). And I didn’t have a lower pain threshold; if
anything, it’s probably higher than normal, but I’m genuinely in pain 99.9% of
the time.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Of course, what all three
illnesses – CFS, JHS and depression – are is invisible, and this is the biggest
problem: people forget we have them. But just because they’re invisible doesn’t
mean they don’t affect us in visible ways.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The greatest effect has probably been
to my career. I would have loved to
pursue music or musical theatre, but I simply didn’t have the energy or the
support I needed to pursue it. So I
spent 14 years, which is longer than you get for murder, these days, in a
line of work I had no interest in, and that sucked all my energy and left me
with none for the things I enjoyed. I
was bored out of my brain, and since one of my depression triggers is
boredom…well, you can see the problem right there. My psychologist said he believes I have a
form of PTSD – not from any one trauma, but from having to spend every day in
an environment that so completely clashed with my personality. First World Problems, I know, but you’d be
amazed how all the little negative effects add up. Still, I’m the kind of person that does
things 100%, even if I don’t enjoy them, but I soon discovered that even that
wasn’t good enough. In a corporate
environment, it’s all about the mask you put on (which is one of the reasons I
don’t get on with it – I like it when people are ‘what you see is what you
get’). At appraisals I’d be told I
needed to ‘put on a face’ to hide my exhaustion. What they could never seem to understand was
that I was already putting on a face.
What they were seeing was the spillage.
All three illnesses affect concentration, and make it difficult to shift
your focus from one task to another. I
was frequently told that I looked annoyed when my bosses gave me work. As far as I was concerned, I was there <i>to be given</i> work, and I wasn’t the least
bit annoyed, so why was I being told I was feeling something that I
wasn’t? Eventually, I worked out that
the effort it took to refocus <i>from</i>
the task that was interrupted <i>to</i>
listening and understanding what the interrupter was saying to me was showing
on my face, and they were reading it as annoyance. (I have since found another friend who says their
‘efficient concentration face’ also gets read as ‘**** off!’, so I’m not alone
in that.) In hindsight, the effort it
took to constantly justify myself and prove that I was working to get better
had the opposite effect on me. Never
once was I told my work was at fault – in fact, it was often praised; only the
way that I looked. When a new manager
called me into her office and all but told me she wanted me to quit, not
because my work was bad, but because of my illness, that was the final straw. Doing the work and doing it well was clearly not
enough. I made the decision to leave, even though it made me feel like </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">she</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">’</span></span></span></span>d </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘</span></span></span></span>won</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">’,</span></span> and
go to university. Still, I got a lot of
very helpful medical treatment during that time, so I guess that good can come
out of all things. (I want to add that that manager was an exception - most people there were fantastic and a joy to work with; the main problem was the nature of the corporate world.)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I suppose the second greatest
effect has been on my social life.
Depression has odd effects, like I can get blindly angry at the
smallest, stupidest things (although <i>very</i>
rarely at my friends, I have to say – usually just at <i>things</i>), and I have occasional memory-recall problems and anxiety
issues, all of which affect friendships.
Invisible illnesses are difficult because you never know how you’re
going to wake up. You could be walkin’
on sunshine or drowning in the rain. You
could be full of energy or in so much pain you can’t move. And, as I said, people forget. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve
been invited to something by someone, been unable to go at the last minute
because of illness, and never been invited out by that person again. I quite like being spontaneous, but I can’t
be. It takes days to prepare both
physically and mentally for going out, especially if it’s somewhere noisy
and/or without chairs, like a club. When
I lived in London, I wanted desperately to go out with my friends and
flatmates, but rarely could because I never knew until the last minute what
they were doing. When you have an
invisible illness, you are painfully aware that you are a wet blanket. Sometimes, you need to feed off other
people’s energy just to survive. The
weight doesn’t help, either. I don’t
care how many times people tell you that looks don’t matter to them; they
do. People started treating me
differently when I got above a certain weight.
But when you need to exercise to lose weight but are not allowed to (and
aren’t even capable of it)…what can you do but hide in the back of photos and
shop at the old-lady shops?</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All of this caused a gradual
stripping away of my personality and my confidence. I guess years of doing the best you can and knowing
it’s still not good enough will have that effect, but it’s not only that. I can no longer trust my body. I can no longer trust my mind or my emotions. I used to enjoy driving – I found it relaxing
– but now I’m terrified to get behind the wheel because I may not see something
or react in time, or I may misjudge a distance due to the spatial awareness
problem. I have no faith that people
actually like to have me around – I’ve been a wet blanket for so long that I’m
sure they’re just being charitable. I
make a joke and beat myself up for the rest of the day about the stupidity of
it. I constantly think of myself as an
inconvenience to people, and feel the need to make myself as small and as blank
and as invisible as possible so as not to inconvenience or irritate them
further. (Although I’m not going to lay
full responsibility for that one on the illnesses – some people I’ve known have
had a knack for <i>making</i> me feel that
way.) I love fashion, but look like a
librarian. You can imagine how the
downward spiral of depression operates in these circumstances. I’m anxious about the future – how do I go
back into a full-time job? What if I end
up back in my old line of work? Tackling
new things is terrifying. Even speaking
on the telephone is an effort in anxiety-control, because it involves thinking
on my feet and having to remember things or solve problems on the fly. There have been so many times when I just
wanted it all to stop; wanted the world to go away. I’ve not had suicidal thoughts since I was a
teenager, but I can tell you there have been several moments when, standing on
the edge of the road, I’ve thought, ‘If I was just hit by a car, I could go to
hospital and then I wouldn’t have to go to work or look after myself or make
the effort to keep up appearances. It
would be the best holiday ever.’</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I didn’t want this post to be all
negative; my intention was to help people understand what it is like to live
with an invisible illness (or three), so they can understand when someone they
know is in that position. The good news
is, things have improved for me since I left the office environment. University has been tough physically and
mentally, but I’m so much better off without the boredom. You learn, over time, to deal with the pain,
take each day as it comes, and ask for help when you need it (as hard as that
can be). But it means living by
adjusting and readjusting and compensating and even missing out on things, and
that has ripple effects. I may not get
to do what I want to or go where I want to; I may react strangely to things; I
don’t have the life I want, by any stretch of the imagination. But I do believe it is possible to have an
enjoyable life and to do something with it that’s worthwhile, and I do believe there
are people out there who genuinely care.
For a long time, I didn’t believe those things. I still don’t know what my future will be
like, but I have learned and am still learning coping strategies that I know will
make it better than the last 15 or so years have been.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lastly, I just want to say that
if you are depressed or struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm,
please, please ask for help. It’s nothing
to be ashamed of. Mental illness is no
different from any other physical illness, and it’s treatable.<i> </i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>T</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>hings never to say to someone with CFS, JHS/EDS or depression:</i></span></span>
</div>
<ul></ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘If you’re extra flexible, why are you so stiff?’<br />(Answer: Because my muscles are working too hard and/or are injured.)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘Why do you talk to yourself?’<br />(Answer: Sometimes it’s the only way I can concentrate.)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul></ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘You always get sick.’<br />(Answer:
Yes. I have a LONG-TERM illness.)</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘Didn’t you just have a nap?’<br />(Answer:
Didn’t you just have a drink?)</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘We’re going out to a club in
15 minutes. Do you want to come?’<br />(Answer:
If you’d told me a week ago so that I could get my head and my body
prepared, I would have been there with bells on.)</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘You could always get a job in
a bar.’<br />(Answer: Right, ’cause getting a job where I’m carrying
glassware and standing on my feet for hours on end is a great idea.)</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘You don’t seem very
enthusiastic.’<br />(Answer: If I managed to get here, I’m
enthusiastic.)</span></span>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘Cheer up.’<br />(Answer:
Do you need a slap?)</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">‘So you’re better now?’<br />(Answer:
Arggh!!) </span></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You know you have Joint Hypermobility Syndrome when...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c2OOYvDvH0I/Uz1NIk1W4mI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/MwcUw0oKElI/s1600/HMS03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c2OOYvDvH0I/Uz1NIk1W4mI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/MwcUw0oKElI/s1600/HMS03.png" height="320" width="242" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(Cartoon from 'You Know You Have Joint Hypermobility Syndrome When': Hannah Ensor, Stickman Communications - <a href="http://www.stickmancommunications.co.uk/">www.stickmancommunications.co.uk</a>)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">UPDATE:</span><br /><a href="http://musedemented.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/update-on-my-previous-post-practical.html" style="text-align: start;">Practical things you can do to help a friend/family member with an invisible illness</a></div>
<br />
<br />Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-36634029221720390022014-03-25T08:27:00.001-07:002014-03-25T17:22:22.121-07:00A Simile is Like…<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There’s a strange thing I’ve discovered
in the last couple of years about myself as a writer:
I can’t do similes or metaphors.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I mean that I can’t come up with new
ones. Something in my brain can’t make
those kind of out-of-the box connections between the characteristics of two completely
separate things.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">THE MOON SHONE LIKE SOMETHING…um…SHINY? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">…GLITTER GLUE?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">…A ROUND, SILVER THING?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">…A HUBCAP? Gee, that’s romantic.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Of course, one of the big no-nos
of writing is ‘avoid clichés like the plague’, and if I try to think of one, every 19<sup>th</sup>-century
poet I’ve ever read comes flooding back to me like something that floods things:
‘eyes like pools’, ‘black as night’, ‘rivers
of blood’, ‘white as a sheet’, ‘rosebud lips’, ‘sharp as a tack’, ‘dumb as a
post’, ‘he sped out of there like a bullet’, ‘he sat up like he’d been shot’, ‘he
came charging in like a freight train’.
A significant chunk of my editing time is spent deleting the poor, tired
things that flew in under my radar on the first pass.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I don’t know why I’m this way
(apparently I can’t read myself like a book), but I’ve come to accept the fact
that my writing will have to be metaphor- and simile-free for the most part. Hopefully that doesn’t make it as dull as ditchwater.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I did once hear of an author who
wrote a whole book without a metaphor or a simile, but I’m blowed if I can
remember who it was. If you know the
name, please remind me.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I think one of my favourite
similes is ‘sweating like Pavarotti on a treadmill’. What’s your (clever or funny) favourite? Tell me in the comments.</span></span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-52104131033682019302014-03-21T08:43:00.000-07:002014-03-21T09:45:43.744-07:00FAME! I’m gonna blog forever…or at least until someone discovers my innate talent and gives me lots of money, at which point I’ll pay someone to do it for me<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This weekend’s task is to write up a substantial
essay for university (so, of course, I’m blogging about it instead). The subject is how new media (e.g. social
networking sites, blogs) has affected the marketing of celebrities and the
interaction between celebs and their fans.
Specifically, I’m looking at how Wil Wheaton’s career was revived
through his writing (mainly on his blog, WIL WHEATON dot NET).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Things are changing, but in the past,
academics have taken the view that everything about a celebrity’s image is
manufactured and fake. Our (the fans) relationships
with them are therefore fake, and any emotional connection we may feel is
therefore nothing short of pathological.
We’re an inch away from going full John Hinckley Jr.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you’ve ever read this blog you’ll have gathered
that I don’t completely share that view, but it makes for an interesting
discussion. In fact, yesterday we had a formal
debate in class about whether or not celebrities are the ‘ultimate construction
of false value’. Leaving aside my hatred
for debates (I enjoy public speaking, but DO NOT make me think on my feet or
speak without time for written preparation.
<u>DO NOT.</u> And get that
telephone away from me), it was interesting to see how passionate people
became about the subject (and about One Direction).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One question continually asked in the literature
about celebrities is, ‘Why we are still fascinated by them if we believe that their
images are manufactured? What’s the
appeal?</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">’</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> The answer seems like a
no-brainer for me, but not one out of the stack of books I’ve read for this essay
mentions it, so maybe I’m wrong.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Leaving aside the question of whether or
not they are <i>all</i> ‘manufactured’
(highly unlikely), it seems to me that celebrity culture works the same way as
a TV show or a movie franchise. We pick
our favourite character – one who is funny, or who we see something of
ourselves in, or who we want to be like – and we follow their story. We tune in to find out what happens
next. Does the former child star get
hooked on drugs and run his car into a tree?
Can he get unhooked and go on to win an Oscar? Does the squeaky-clean girl decide to do the movie
with the nude scenes? Can America’s
sweetheart get the husband and the kids she’s always wanted? Will the cheater’s new love manage to reform
him, or does he prove to be the leopard that can’t change its spots?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Just like our favourite TV characters, we also
like to know personal things about them.
Does Kate Moss eat chocolate or does she exist on carrots? Does Justin Bieber ever wear clothes properly? How many reps does Chris Hemsworth need to do
to get those guns? Does Jennifer
Lawrence trip over <i>every</i> day, or only
at awards ceremonies?</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> We want to go through the Stargate
and find out about the planet on the other side.*</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The one thing that does get mentioned a lot
in the literature is the desire to see celebs as ‘normal’, ‘down-to-earth’ and ‘ordinary
underneath’. We want to think they’re really just like us,
because that would mean that <i>we</i> can
be like <i>them</i>. Of <i>course</i>
people want to be famous. We don’t want
to be </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">sitting at home alone on a Saturday night or </span></span>pen-pushing (mouse-pushing?) or grave-digging or burger-flipping or dealing
with difficult bosses or trying to help clients when we don’t know what we’re doing
or wearing uncomfortable polyester work shirts with name tags on them or writing
stupid self-appraisals when our job’s so boring we could do it in our sleep. We want to be relaxing on a yacht, reading
our next script, or pottering around a log cabin overlooking a lake and writing
our next best-seller, or eating pizza in Abbey Road Studios with a bunch of fascinating
people who are playing on our next album.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Or…is that just me? Am <i>I</i>
normal? Maybe if I find out that that highly
successful, rich, intelligent celebrity also burns his toast and can't get a date, I’ll know that I’m going
to be OK.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>*Spoiler: it probably looks like Canada.</i></span></span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-34105831009844521162014-03-13T08:58:00.000-07:002014-03-13T09:03:13.783-07:00The Big Gender Theory (a.k.a. My Big Bang Beef)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I love <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>, but I have one beef.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Of the three main female characters (if we ignore Cinnamon Koothrappali and the voice of Mrs Wolowitz Snr.), two are scientists and one is an actress, yet none of them seem to like or know anything about any form of science-fiction or fantasy. They consistently get <i>Star Wars </i>and <i>Star Trek </i>mixed up, like they're so interchangeable, and despite being roughly the appropriate age for its original TV run, none of them had even seen <i>Buffy</i>. I find this implausible and just a little insulting, if I'm brutally honest.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm not daft. I realise that this is an important artifice in the show's construction - binary opposites provide tensions and tensions provide both comedy and drama. It's a big bang-ing together of genders and cultures. Fanboys against normal girls (although that definition of 'normal' is debatable, perhaps!) I'm also aware that there have been a couple of fangirl characters on the show, but none of them have stuck around.</span> It just makes me wonder what is so threatening about fangirls that we can't have them on TV, and have them be intelligent, or at least functioning, adults. It seems to me that fangirls can only been shown if they're slightly psychopathic or groupies. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Oddly enough, academic
work on fan culture frequently highlights the fact that much of it revolves around women, and I don't just mean <i>Twi-hard </i>mums with cheap tattoos of Robert Pattinson on their backs. </span>Granted, before <i>Big Bang</i> we hadn't had a hit, prime-time show led by geeks at all (no, Urkel doesn't count), so maybe further change will come.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I should also say at this juncture that I'm not really a feminist; just a girl who loves her <i>Star Wars </i>and hates the fact that these kind of misconceptions may mean 'non-fan' women continue to avoid SF and fantasy and therefore miss out on all the fun. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Having said all this, my favourite episode has got to be the one where the girls try to figure out what is so engrossing about comic books, and end up in a heated argument over who is able to lift Thor's hammer. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(For the record, out of the [movie] Avengers, only Captain America is worthy.)</span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-78249398469940151222014-03-11T15:18:00.000-07:002014-04-04T13:04:30.898-07:00Kumbaya and Filk With Me<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Something
we don't often do these days is communal singing. I've noticed that in
recent movies it's either done by spaced-out hippies, African-American
churchgoers or drunk and incoherent football fans. But if you go back a
few decades, people often used to sing together in social situations. I
think it's sad that we've become too self-conscious, too isolated, too cynical or too
'sophisticated' for that sort of thing.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I
grew up in a church where singing and playing music together was considered
really important. It solidifies communities, encourages people and
re-affirms beliefs and ideals. (Plus, you can always have a laugh about
that one exuberant guy up the back who sings particularly loudly and off
key.) Personally, I've found there's nothing that builds friendships as
quickly as rehearsing with a band or even singing some songs around a bonfire. (It’s always Oasis, for some reason. Followed by <i>Free Fallin’</i>.)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One
of the best memories from my gig-going history was a moment at a Kings of Leon
concert where the crowd was singing louder than the band. The elation in
the arena was palpable. I don't think I'll ever forget it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This
week, I read an early essay from one of my favourite theorists, Henry
Jenkins. He was talking about a practice of sci-fi and fantasy fans which
I wasn't familiar with. (Shocking, I know. Minus 15 geek
points.) It's called filking (i.e. ‘to play filk music’ – a misprint of
'folk' in a title which was appropriated by fans). It mostly happens at
cons. A bunch of fans get together in a room and sing songs about - well, anything, really, from
second breakfasts to the Shat’s toup</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><i>é</i></span>e. Presumably
there are quite a few love songs to Spock in there, too (<i>Have You Ever Really Loved A Vulcan?</i>) People are encouraged to bring anything. It could be a half-finished song that needs
suggestions from the crowd for a second verse, or an old favourite that’s been
passed around from con to con. If it’s
the latter, people are free to join in and the whole thing becomes a
communal sing-along. Most of the songs use
old folk melodies, so if you can’t play an instrument, chances are somebody
there that does will know it and can accompany you. At this point I can hear you saying, ‘These
nerds are bonkers.’ You may be right,
but what I like about it is the safe environment that’s provided for people to
be a part of something and be creative. I
think that’s why Facebook and Twitter have become so important in our lives –
we’re missing a sense of community, of being part of something greater that
doesn’t involve annual performance reviews and budget spreadsheets and ‘networking’;
something that we find exciting, fascinating, emotionally satisfying and
freeing.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So,
I say, kumbaya and filk with me.</span></span></div>
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<![endif]-->Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-63426435804245999682014-03-07T04:20:00.000-08:002014-03-07T04:43:41.866-08:00The Old Fart on Campus<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Going to university after the age
of 30 has sent me on a huge learning curve, and not just in relation to
academia. There are days when I feel
very old.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had a naïve understanding that
university seminars (especially for a Bachelor of Arts) would be deep and
varied discussions with like-minded people or, if not like-minded, then at
least like-interested. I would meet fascinating
people who shared my passions and I would talk with them about all those things
no-one else ever wanted to talk with me about.
We’d play music and watch movies together. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, boy, was I wrong.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not only do I often feel a
gazillion years old, sitting with a bunch of people in their late teens (and
some who are, I swear, about twelve), but I also feel like a member of an alien
species.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have come to realise over the
years that my school was an exceptional one in many ways. Kids didn’t pull you down if you did well –
quite the opposite, most of the time. We
frequently had lively discussions in class (especially with one teacher, who
was very easy to sidetrack with questions about aliens). Talking while a teacher was talking was a
no-no, and you would never have gotten away with irritating the people around you
by disrespectfully talking through an entire lecture. Students
had at least a basic understanding of what I’ve realised in this country are tricky
subjects – spelling and grammar. We
could all, at least, string a grammatically correct sentence together. Not so with many of my fellow undergraduates.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I realise I sound like a typical member
of the older generation lamenting the habits of the younger, but (a) I’m not
all that old; and (b) I’m sure there really is something odd going on here.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Where’s the enthusiasm? At first I thought people were shy to speak
up in seminars and workshops, but after a year and half, they still aren’t
talking. Tutors’ questions are, 99% of
the time, answered by crickets. After a
fortnight, I got sick of the sound of my own voice answering out of pity. The thing that strikes me over and over again is that these students don’t
seem particularly interested in their subject. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brits are difficult to get excited at the
best of times (unless it’s about soccer – er, pardon me – <i>football</i> or <i>Coronation Street</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></i>), but this is ridiculous.
</span></span>Why are you wasting thousands of pounds half-heartedly studying
something you’re not very interested in, I ask?
Are other universities’ students the same way?</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Is this a cultural difference? A generational difference? A class difference?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I got overly excited this week
when I noticed a student was wearing a <i>Star
Wars</i> t-shirt. You would think this
kind of thing would be common on campus, but I assure you it isn’t – not even
among my fellow Media students (this girl was an English student). It’s rare to even see an unusual haircut or
colour. Perhaps living in London warped
my expectations in this regard. I need
to head back to Camden to feel mildly normal.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I love being a student and having
a whole library to get lost in, and I’ve made a small group of great friends
(people that actually, you know, <i>read</i>),
but I confess I am absolutely bewildered by the culture...or lack of it. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tell me in the comments below
what your school/university experiences were or are. I’d love to know if I’m alone in this.</span></span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-25218719044414188602014-03-03T12:54:00.001-08:002014-03-03T15:04:48.915-08:00It's About Time<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's time to revive The Rant.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Health problems have prevented me from writing for a long time, but I've made a decision, for my own benefit, to write something every day, and some of it will make it up here. I'm not expecting to be nominated for Blog of the Year, but if you do happen to be reading this, leave me a comment on what you'd like to read about.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You'll get movies, guaranteed, a bit of a pop culture here and there, some short stories and poems, possibly some of what I'm studying (don't worry, I'll leave out the boring Freudian stuff) and, I'm sure, a number of proper Rants. The aim is to write more frequent, smaller posts, but if you know me at all, one thing I'm never short on is words.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Right now I've got to get back to Leatherface and his chainsaw, ready for a Horror lecture tomorrow (that's the name of the module, not a reflection on my lecturer). Let's see how many other stupid things this group of twenty-somethings can do before the end of the movie....</span></span></div>
Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-32535265336634215032012-03-11T11:29:00.011-07:002012-03-19T16:29:40.991-07:00Issue 17 - My Totally Incomplete and Completely Useless Guide to This Summer's Blockbusters<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">It's no secret that I'm a BLOCKBUSTER ADVENTURE!! kinda gal. I was raised on <i>Star Wars </i>(the proper versions) and <i>Indiana Jones</i> (the ones without the bloody inter-dimensional alie– sorry, George, inter-dimensional <i>beings</i><span style="font-style: normal">) with healthy doses thrown in of </span><i>Star Trek</i><span style="font-style: normal"> and Arnold Schwarzenegger blasting stuff to Kingdom Come.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">I like big guns and fast cars and cool spaceships. I like it when the hero gets his princess. I like it when the good guys win.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">I'm almost giddy at the thought of this summer's line-up of blockbusters. I'm like Michael Bay at a military hardware exhibition.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">It's a real mish-mash: two interpretations of </span><i>Snow White and the Any-Number-But-Seven Dwarfs </i><span style="font-style: normal">(Disney owns the rights to the seven dwarfs), a British Spiderman, Hemsworths popping up all over the place, </span><i>Men in Black III</i><span style="font-style: normal"> seeking to Flashy-Thingy our memories of </span><i>Men in Black II</i><span style="font-style: normal">, Chuck Norris, Lenny Kravitz and more Jeremy Renner than you can poke an arrow at. And let's not forget the Batman.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">It's gonna be glorious.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">The jury's still out on whether the world needed a Spiderman reboot so soon. Although it's been several lifetimes in the technological world, it's actually only 10 years since Toby Maguire first donned the Spandex and brought us cinema's most original smooch.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">How often can you reboot something before the audience gets bored, or the fanboys start to panic about the state of their superhero's cannon?</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Still, with a solid cast including </span><i>Never Let Me Go</i><span style="font-style: normal">'s Andrew Garfield and the oh-so-watchable Emma Stone, and with </span><i>500 Days of Summer</i><span style="font-style: normal">'s Marc Webb (no, seriously, that's his name) calling the shots, it'll be an entirely different experience, and undoubtedly include the humour that was missing from the second and third Raimi instalments.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Here's hoping Garfield's American accent holds up to scrutiny, unlike the star of...</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>WRATH OF THE TITANS</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">I love Sam Worthington. I really do. But he's the first to admit that he finds the American accent a bit of a challenge. That's why it was</span><i> so</i><span style="font-style: normal"> refreshing to watch 2010's </span><i>Clash of the Titans</i><span style="font-style: normal"> – dreadful post-shoot 3D conversion and all – and hear him “talk normal”. </span><i>(Sidebar Rant: </i><span style="font-style: normal">I've never understood the need for actors to put on fake accents when doing pieces set in different times or places. If it's set in ancient or future times, we've no idea what their accents would sound like, anyway, and if it's set in a different country – well, if the character isn't actually </span><i>speaking</i><span style="font-style: normal"> English with a Russian accent, there's no need for the dodgy Russian accent.) </span></span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Clash</i><span style="font-style: normal"> didn't take itself too seriously, and neither will </span><i>Wrath</i><span style="font-style: normal">. We're inexplicably missing Io, and Andromeda's gotten into the bleach and too much </span><i>Xena: Warrior Princess</i><span style="font-style: normal">, but we've got twice the number of monsters and the grand-daddy of all the gods, Kronos.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Epically ridiculous fun.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">From Worthington's Perseus to Ridley Scott's secrecy-shrouded...</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>PROMETHEUS</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">If you're like me and watched all the Alien/Aliens sequels with horror – and not the good kind of horror – you might welcome the idea of Ridley Scott returning to steer the franchise back on course. Except that this won't. Because it's a prequel. And, although it's set in Ripley's universe, it doesn't really have anything to do with </span><i>those</i><span style="font-style: normal"> aliens. Maybe. But it might explain the history of the so-called “Space Jockey” – the giant pilot whose ship became the xenomorphs' nest and the origin of poor John Hurt's chest-bursting doom. Or it might not.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">At least, with an all-star cast of quality actors (including Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce), it'll be a bit harder to tell in which order the characters are going to die. If they do.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Speaking of all-star casts, get a load of this one for...</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>THE EXPENDABLES 2</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Sylvester Stallone<br />Arnold Schwarzenegger<br />Jean-Claude Van Damme<br />Chuck Norris<br />Bruce Willis<br />Jason Statham<span style="font-style: normal"><br />Jet Li<br />Novak Djokovic (I assure you that's not a misprint)</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">...and Liam Hemsworth</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Never heard of Liam Hemsworth? Chances are, if you ever come in contact with any teenage girls, you soon will. Aussie hunk (we Aussies are everywhere this year), long-term boyfriend of Miley Cyrus; he was almost Thor, but lost out by mere inches to his older brother Chris. Instead, he's landed the peachy role of Gale in </span><i>The Hunger Games</i><span style="font-style: normal"> – but more on that later.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Staying with testosterone-fuelled action for the moment, it doesn't get much better than Bourne.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>THE BOURNE LEGACY</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">While our beloved Matt Damon was off buying a zoo, someone decided it would be a good idea to make a new movie about some other dude's experiences in the wake of Jason Bourne's terminal re-assignment of the CIA's assassination squads.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Potentially awful? Milking the name of Bourne for all its worth? Well, yes, but considering that most of the original Bourne team is on board, and that they've had the good sense to cast Jeremy Renner, things may not be as dire as they at first seem.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Renner is coming off the back of an Oscar-nominated performance in <i>The Hurt Locker </i>and a highly-acclaimed performance in <i>The Town</i>. Most recently – and perhaps most significantly – he proved that he could hold his share of the screen against Tom Cruise in <i>Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol</i>, and gave us a wise-cracking cameo as bow-and-arrow supremo Hawkeye in <i>Thor</i>, in anticipation of his greater role in <span style="font-style: italic;">Avengers Assemble</span>.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">I have high hopes.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">In the comedy-action line, we've got a sequel to a classic and a new kid on the block. Well, sort of, considering the new kid is actually a kind of remake but not really... </span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Let me explain:</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>21 JUMP STREET</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">If the Twitterverse and the response of amateur critics so far is anything to go by (and I'm not saying it is), this could be the surprise hit of the season. Starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as the delinquent cops assigned to go undercover as school students, it's a fair assumption this won't be quite the same as the original Johnny Depp TV series, but it seems to be hitting all the right notes with those lucky enough to score preview tickets. By all accounts it's genuinely funny and manages to avoid the usual “adults returning to school” clich<span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">é</span>s. Jonah Hill's recent Oscar nomination has undoubtedly given it an edge of legitimacy with the critics. So far, so good. </span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Then <i>Empire</i> magazine gave it 4 stars. Not too shabby at all. </span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">So, you see, the fact that it's got Channing Tatum in it is in no way influencing my determination to go and see it. Nope. Not at all.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>MEN IN BLACK III</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">It's been a while since we've seen Will Smith in full comedic flight, so we'll forgive </span><i>Men in Black II</i><span style="font-style: normal">'s misdemeanours and welcome Agents J and K back with open arms. This time it's actually K</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal">2</span></sup><span style="font-style: normal">, as a convoluted-sounding time-travel story involving </span><i>Flight of the Conchords</i><span style="font-style: normal">' Jemaine Clement takes Agent J back in time to save the life of Agent K (Josh Brolin as the younger version of Tommy Lee Jones).</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Expect lots of jokes about 60s-era personalities being aliens in disguise and, hopefully, a catchy new song from Mr Smith.</span></span></span></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Now, from men in black to snow white women.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>MIRROR MIRROR</i><span style="font-style: normal"> and </span><i>SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">An unfortunate timing clash, perhaps, but two very different movies. </span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Mirror Mirror </i>features Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, a dreadful trailer and some very tired “girl power” amendments to the story so that Snow White can kick some butt. It looks pretty luscious – the costumes will be a win – and amusing in places, but also terribly pretentious. Still, who knows? One should never judge a movie by its trailer.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Snow White and the Huntsman</i><span style="font-style: normal"> has a similar “girl power” theme, made easier to swallow by the fact that little innocent Snow (Kristen Stewart) is actually trained up first in the art of war, by the huntsman originally sent to kill her (Chris Hemsworth). The evil queen is played by Charlize Theron and Nick Frost is a dwarf. That'll be fun. </span></span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">The story pinches ideas from </span><i>Stardust</i><span style="font-style: normal">, as the queen seeks to eat Snow White's heart, thereby making herself immortal, and the director (Rupert Sanders) is an unknown factor, but you get the feeling this one's more in keeping with a Grimm fairytale than a Disney cartoon, which bodes well.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">And now:</span></span></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="CENTER"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">THE BIG THREE FOR ME</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>3. THE HUNGER GAMES</i></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">With <i>Twilight </i>fading – even the most die-hard Twi-hards have always said that the story of the fourth book cannot possibly translate well to film (we'll find out this summer what director Bill Condon has managed to do with it, as <i>Breaking Dawn Part 2</i> hits theatres) – and Harry Potter enjoying retirement from horcrux-hunting, there was a significant gap in the world of teen-aged money-sucking franchises.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Enter the best-selling trilogy by Suzanne Collins, <i>The Hunger Games</i>.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">And it's not what you think. When Stephen King calls your novel (as he did in his </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Entertainment Weekly </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">review of the first book) “a violent, jarring speed-rap of a novel that generates nearly constant suspense and may also generate a fair amount of controversy”, you know you're on to something.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Set in a post-apocalyptic America, Katniss Everdeen and her best friend, Gale, risk execution every day to hunt illegally in the woods – just to keep their families alive in their poorest-of-the-poor mining district, known as District 12. Meanwhile, in the Capitol, which is also the capital city of excess, people are so bored they spend hours dyeing their hair in the latest colour trends and getting gold tattoos above their eyebrows. And each year, to remind the beaten-down District residents that any sort of uprising would be extremely inadvisable, they take a young boy and girl from each of the Districts (1 through 12) and force them to fight to the death for a reality TV show called </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>The Hunger Games</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">. Of course, Katniss' younger sister is chosen for the Games and, of course, Katniss volunteers to go in her place. Fortunately, she's good with a bow and arrow. Not so much the boy chosen from District 12, Peeta. He's good with words and cake-decorating, and he's strong, but that's about all he's got going for him. Apparently, his odds of survival aren't great, but if nothing else, he is determined that the Games won't take away his humanity.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">It remains to be seen whether the necessary dulling-down of the violence for ratings purposes also dulls the story, but they've certainly got the casting right. Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss. Lawrence became the critics' darling after her turn in the hard-hitting </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Winter's Bone</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">, and should be more than capable of making Katniss the gutsy, somewhat conflicted character that she is in the novels. The aforementioned Liam Hemsworth is Gale, whose role will increase in the second and third movies. It's a fairly easy ride for him – he's got the right physicality for Gale, and if he's anything like his older brother, he won't find the role particularly challenging. It's Josh Hutcherson, as Peeta, who is the unknown factor. To date, Hutcherson's biggest movie has been </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Adventure 2 The Mysterious Island</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">, but we won't hold that against him. Peeta is one of the most original heroes around – but it could all go to pot in the wrong hands. He's a speaker, not a fighter, with the ability to manipulate an audience, but he's an honest soul; he's a baker, a cake-decorator and painter, and he spends half the movie being looked after by Katniss, but he's as brave as they come; he's the moral backbone, but he'll stop at nothing to keep Katniss alive. If Hutcherson pulls this one off, he'll deserve a huge round of applause.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">The cast member I'm most excited about? Lenny Kravitz as Katniss' costume designer for the Games (and secret sympathiser), Cinna. Absolutely perfect casting. I hope he wears his wings.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">2. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES</span></span></i></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">WHAT?! Only number 2?! </span></span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Yes, indeedy. Batman has always been my most-beloved superhero (mostly because he is not, in fact, super), but I'm being completely truthful when I say there's still one movie I'm more excited about.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Every man and his guinea pig loved </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The Dark Knight</span></span></i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">, and I was no exception. I'm going to risk the wrath of all the internet-dwellers, though, by saying I enjoyed </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Batman Begins </span></span></i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">more. So I'm interested to see where this one sits in relation to the other two. </span></span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">It's safe to say that it's the most-anticipated movie since </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Return of the Jedi</span></span></i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">, which immediately makes you wonder whether it will live up to expectations, but then...it's Christopher Nolan. And Christian Bale. And Gary Oldman. And Tom Hardy. And you can't say that's not awesome.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal">Will Nolan kill off Batman? Bruce has at </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">least</span></span></i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-style: normal"> two formidable opponents this time – Bane (Hardy) and Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) – so he may well do. We will have to wait until July 20 to really know for sure.</span></span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">1. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE</span></span></i></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">I. Can't. Wait.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">I was already over-excited about the idea of an Avengers movie, where Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo – hell yes, Mark Ruffalo!!), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and various other Marvel characters team up to save the world from some evil genius – in this case, Thor's own brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). </span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">But then they announced that Joss Whedon would be writing and directing, and I nearly went into some kind of nerd-sugar coma.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Despite the inevitable jokes about this being the only Marvel movie to be canned half-way through filming (two of Whedon's TV series, </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Firefly </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">and </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Dollhouse</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">, were canned prematurely, only to become massive post-mortem hits; although in contrast, </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"> ran for seven seasons), Whedon is definitely a safe choice here. His sharp pen and sensitive camera are exactly what this movie needs. The wrong tone could turn this kind of concept into a disaster of epic proportions, but Whedon's scripts don't pander to the audience – they are witty, intelligent and moving. So it's about darn time someone gave him something to work with. (Incidentally, Whedon has written another interesting-looking movie that's out this summer – </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>The Cabin in the Woods</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">...starring Chris Hemsworth. I told you the Hemsworths were everywhere, didn't I?)</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Representing the female of the species, we've got good old Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Natalie Portman's character, Jane, is still kicking about somewhere, but we'll have to wait until </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><i>Thor 2 </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">to see her again. Presumably, Thor can't make love and war at the same time.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">We can expect some fun exchanges as giant egos clash and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) – and let's not forget Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson – has to control all those superpowers together in one room.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">There are many unanswered questions: who gets on well with each other? who gets it on with Black Widow? who wants to kill who? who kills Loki? does the Hulk go mad and kill them all? who knows? All we do know is that Thor's contractually obliged to come back for two more movies...but that doesn't necessarily stop Whedon killing him off. He's tricky like that.</span></span></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">So there you have it </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">–</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"> my totally incomplete and completely useless guide to this summer's (or winter's, if you're Down Under) blockbusters. </span></span> </p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"> <span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Enjoy.</span></span></p>Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-47448842760416355012011-10-11T08:21:00.000-07:002011-10-11T14:25:05.384-07:00Issue 16 - Confessions of a Hugaholic<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Hello, my name is Muse, and I'm a hugaholic.</span></p><div face="verdana" style="text-align: justify; "> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I'm not sure if there's a twelve-step programme for this, or whether I'd even want to go through it, if one existed. I absolutely, unashamedly LOVE hugs.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I'll never understand people who don't like them. A hug is a powerful thing. A good hug releases endorphins and gives you energy. It can communicate so many things without words: joy, sorrow, empathy, security, respect, pain, comfort...the list goes on. It can say, “I'm so happy to see you”, “I'm sorry for your loss”, “I understand”, “Congratulations”, or, “You're a legend and I'm really glad you're my friend.” Amazing, really.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Of course, there are different types of hugs, and not all of them satisfactory. Churches, schools and music/dance/theatre groups are brilliant research environments for hugging. Over the years I have become a keen student of the subject.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;">T<span style="font-size:100%;">echnique is extremely important and can even change the meaning of a hug, conveying a completely different message to the hugee than was intended. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Here are some examples I've compiled:</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> </span> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Wimpy</b></i><br />They're not sure if they really want to hug you so they'll just give you the hug-equivalent of a limp handshake. Arms are held up at half-mast and bent at the elbows and wrists, to resemble a t-rex or a kangaroo. Lots of arm patting is involved.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>Mind The Gap</b></i><br />They'll willingly hug you, but they'll keep an all-important 3-inch gap between your bodies. Don't breach it, whatever you do.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Drama Queen</b></i><br />This is not so much a hug as a staged <i>lean</i>, accompanied by air kisses in the direction of both cheeks. Usually performed by teenage girls who can't stand each other.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Youth Pastor</b></i><br />If you're a youth pastor, you apparently can't come at someone full-frontal, especially someone of the opposite sex, so you perform a manoeuvre that is otherwise known as the “side hug”. It's one-armed, awkward and, quite frankly, a bit silly.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Tub-Thumper</b></i><br />This is performed by guys who feel they must footnote an all-male hug with three thumps on the back that quite clearly state “I'm. Not. Gay.”</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Bake 'n' Shake</b></i><br />This occurs when one hugger is taller or bigger than the other. It involves exuberantly pinning the smaller party's arms to their sides, picking them up and rocking backwards and forwards several times while their feet are still off the floor. May be used in lieu of The Tub-Thumper.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Choker</b></i><br />Sometimes accompanied by squealing; given by bubbly girls who have haven't seen you for– oh, at least three hours.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Footballer</b></i><br />Found only on a sports field, where all the usual rules of male bonding go out the window. Incorporates elements of The Bake 'n' Shake. Usually followed by hair-ruffling. May involve butt-slapping. Variation: <i><b>The Chest Bump</b></i>.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The 4-bit</b></i><br />*hugs*</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><b>The Teddy Bear</b></i><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal"><br />My personal favourite. It's the kind of hug that occurs between true friends and is suitable for almost any occasion (although, truthfully, it's best given by guys who consider themselves your mates and aren't afraid to show it). It's both gentle and strong. It's the kind of hug that makes you feel safe and loved and happy. In a nutshell, it says, “You're my friend, and you're all right.”</span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: normal"><b>PRO-TIP: </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Whatever type of hug you give, make sure it's sincere. The Wimpy must be eradicated.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal"><br /></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">Special thanks to O.R. and L.C. for their valuable contributions to this issue.</span></i></span></p>Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-28940348230758128222011-07-10T03:19:00.000-07:002011-07-10T03:33:42.341-07:00Issue 15 - I Do, Do I?<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">I've never really understood weddings. I always say to friends, “Screw the wedding crap; I'm going to Vegas.” They think I'm joking. I'm not.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">It could be hereditary – my parents didn't have a “normal” wedding – or it could be my disposition to buck tradition at every opportunity. More likely it's that I've become jaded. To be clear, I don't mean jaded by the idea of </span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>marriage</i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal"> – that, I love; I mean jaded by the idea of the white wedding: the bouquets, the tuxedos, the bridal showers, the matching dresses, the rehearsal dinners, the music, the invitation lists, the seating plans, the unwanted guests, the tension, the competitiveness...</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">I can hear you now: “Oh, she's just bitter – three times the bridesmaid, never the bride. Wait 'til her turn comes around; she'll think differently.”</span></p><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Maybe.</span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">But probably not.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal">I grew up in a large church. Most of my friends are married. I have seen hundreds of weddings, and the more I see, the less it all appeals.</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">There are certain elements, of course: the dress; the fulfilment of every girl's fantasy to be stunningly beautiful, the princess, the centre of attention, if only for one day; publicly marking and celebrating the transition to a new phase of life; that particular sort of magic as the bride walks down the aisle to meet her beloved – I get these. I do. But what, in the name of common sense, do sugar-coated almonds in lilac drawstring bags, ridiculously overpriced stationery, rice enough to feed a third-world country and oodles of glazed marzipan have to do with anything? I mean, at least ice the cake with something that people can appreciably palate. And don't go for that disgusting fruit cake that looks as though it's been sitting at the bottom of a rum barrel for twenty years. If you're going to make us sit through four hours of speeches consisting of meaningless reminisces and inside jokes, have the decency to give us a large slice of chocolate mud cake with proper frosting.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">Another thing: why </span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>do</i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal"> all the bridesmaids have to wear exactly the same gowns? Isn't that the first crime of fashion – wearing the same thing as someone else? I was a ballerina. As far as I'm concerned, matching costumes are for the corps de ballet. Whenever I see a line of bridesmaids all dressed exactly the same (despite the fact that one has the figure of a wooden spoon, and another, the figure of a teapot), I expect them to launch into the <span style="font-style: italic;">Dance of the Cygnets </span>from </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Swan Lake</i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal">. And why are there so </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>many</i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal"> bridesmaids and groomsmen? I've attended weddings where there are more people in the bridal party than there are in the seats. At most, you need two bridesmaids – one to witness the register, maybe another to help with the dress when the bride needs to pee – and a best man to look after the rings and hold the groom upright when nerves or booze kick in. The rest are superfluous, are they not?</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">Did you know that the average wedding in 2010 cost £21,000? That's enough for a deposit on a house!</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">Two tickets to Vegas and a dress – that's £2,000, tops. Throw in Celine Dion tickets and an overnight trip to the Grand Canyon, and there's your honeymoon sorted, too.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Twenty-one thousand pounds</i></span><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal">. Seriously. None of that expense even guarantees a good meal. Really, the best way is to make the reception pot luck and be sure to invite some Italians.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">Even more bewildering to me, though, are those couples who have lived together for three (or ten) years, have a dog, two cats and a dwarf hamster, but claim they're “not ready to get married yet”. What is there to be “ready” for? Are you waiting for a lightning bolt from the gods to show you that this is The One? Sorry to break it to you, honey, but you're already married. A signed piece of paper and a joint bank account won't change much.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">This line of thought could open a whole can of worms: what is marriage? what did it mean throughout history? lawfully? traditionally? Biblically? I won't bore you with any of that right now – let's leave that for a more philosophical Rant.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">Sugared almond, anyone?</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm" align="JUSTIFY"><i><span style="font-family:Verdana, sans-serif;">P.S.: After an eight-month Rant hiatus, it's nice to be back.</span></i></p>Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-48908431075145007492010-11-20T14:50:00.000-08:002010-11-20T16:30:17.631-08:00Issue 14 - I Want To Believe<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >So many people mistake scepticism and cynicism for intelligence. </span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >From the dawn of time, human beings have searched for truth, reality, knowledge—or have we? </span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >We're a nosey bunch. There's no doubting that. Still, the general population will only explore as far as the wall of its comfort zone. Beyond that, scepticism is rife. </span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >I've found that the vast majority of people will simply believe whatever they've been fed in the greatest quantity, without ever looking too deeply into it. "Because <i>everybody </i><span style="font-style: normal;">knows that! David Attenborough said so on </span><i>Blue Planet</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, so it must be a proven fact scientifically proven by science." And so the media and the internet trolls become the ultimate authorities on truth, while w</span>e spend our mental energy being sceptical of the things we're told to be sceptical of, instead of being sceptical of what we're being told. </span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">So many times, belief becomes a Pick 'n' Mix. We take whatever bits of truth and lies we fancy and leave the rest for those weird people that eat Licorice All-Sorts. Actually, it's our </span><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">tendency</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> to take the stance that is most comfortable for us, the most accepted by popular opinion, where we don't have to be accountable to anyone or held responsible for anything. For example, these days it's OK to have “faith”, so long as we don't specify Who or What our faith is in—which, when you think about it, is the definition of stupidity.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">We like to think that, in Western culture, we're accepting and tolerant of others' beliefs – so long as they don't hurt anyone – but go online and give, for example, the merest </span><i>hint</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> that you support the theory of creation over the theory of evolution and watch for the abuse that's hurled in your direction. Because belief in a creator God is </span><i>unacceptable</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> in "intelligent society". You'll be treated like Harry Potter, trying to convince people that Voldemort has come back from the dead: "It can't be true, because that would interrupt our cushy lives and mean we'd have to do something about it; therefore, you are an idiot." </span></span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"> </p><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">It's partly an issue of pride. We'd hate to be seen as stupid and ignorant, or as a Muggle version of Luna Lovegood, wandering around looking for Nargles. </span><i>[I'm seeing how many Harry Potter analogies I can fit into one Rant.]</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> The more we criticise people who hold a belief in the supernatural, the more secure we feel in our belief that the Darwinian interpretation of scientific fact is the bottom line.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >So, it seems we can't believe in an all-powerful God. Well, what about extra-terrestrial life? Stephen Hawking says They're Out There, so that's all right then, because he's, like, freaky-brainy and stuff. So we're justified in spending billions of dollars looking for intelligent life on other planets, instead of using that money to feed, clothe and educate the intelligent life on this one.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >All too often, our death-grip on accepted scientific opinion lets plain old common sense slip through our fingers. What I mean is, we're perfectly willing to believe that little grey men with big eyes and anal probes are out there, somewhere, performing embarrassing exploratory surgery on unfortunate loners, but we don't wonder why an alien race that is sufficiently advanced to overcome the problem of infinite mass hasn't yet invented MRI.</span> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"> <span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">(The funny thing is, ideas about alien life aren't exclusive to today's culture. Sure, it's now an acceptable proposition that super-advanced, powerful beings from another place – like us, but not like us – could interfere with our planet, probably with malicious intent, and change the course of the human race, but long ago the ancient Greeks and Romans believed the same thing. Only </span></span><span lang="en-GB"><i>they</i></span><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;"> called them the gods. </span></span></span> </p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">But that's getting a bit too </span></span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Stargate</i></span><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;"> for this post.)</span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" lang="en-GB"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >It's not just UFOlogists who Pick 'n' Mix. The religious – man, that's become an ugly word lately – and/or spiritualists do it too. Your average Muslim will take the early teachings of the Koran about love and understanding and ignore (thankfully) the bits about killing the infidels to gain their heavenly rewards. The New Ager (and Church of Oprah member) will take the most lovey-dovey bits of every world religion and glue them together, ignoring the contradictions at their cores. Christians these days have a tendency to focus on Jesus meeting their needs and forget all the uncomfortable bits like, “You will be persecuted and killed because of Me.” Darwinists conveniently forget that natural selection and evolution are two very different beasts—the former observable and re-creatable in a laboratory; the latter unobserved and un-re-created. </span> </p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >So it would seem that the intelligent way to look at <i>everything</i> is to believe in the directly observable, and treat everything else with a heaping helping of scepticism, right? </span> </p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p face="verdana" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >Actually, that would be the most blinded, misinformed and ultimately destructive way to live. </span> </p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p face="verdana" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >And it's just about impossible to do. </span> </p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >To quote John Mayer (not something that should be done on a regular basis), “Everyone believes.” Whether you're an atheist or an agnostic, a Hari Krishna or a Hindu, a Muslim or a Mormon, a Jesus Freak or a Jedi, a member of the Church of Scientology or a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you believe in something.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >Why?</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >Well, the simple answer is “because we want to”, or, more accurately, “because we need to”. We're built that way. We're wired up to think creatively, beyond the bounds of what we see, hear, taste, smell and touch. To attempt to deny this is to put common sense in the grave (something our society is already in danger of doing). </span> </p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" >Ever have that feeling you're being watched, and turn around to find that you are? (Usually by your cat.) Ever look at someone you've never met and just <i>know</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> they're dodgy, five seconds before they start following you down the road? Ever have that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach that says, “Don't sign that contract,” or, “Don't lend that person money,” or, “He's lying to you”? Soldiers will tell you that they rely on this sixth sense in combat. Musicians experience a similar thing when a song “writes itself”. You can talk to me all you want about the brain making inferences and calculations at an extraordinary rate based on training, past experiences, a reading of body language and the “evolutionary instinct for survival”, but ultimately there are things in life that you just can't attribute to spending too much time at Hogwarts.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">Why do we believe what we believe? Is it because that's what we've been taught? Is it because our beliefs best line up with the evidence? Is it because we've seen it for ourselves? Is it because everybody with an ounce of intelligence knows that it's true? Or is it because we're afraid of the repercussions if we're wrong?</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p face="verdana" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">Yes, we should question things—not for the sake of being cynical, or proving our superior intelligence over someone else, but so that we can truly SEE. So that we don't operate out of ignorance and blindness.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p face="verdana" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">To all you snotty internet commentators out there: isn't it time to stop regurgitating those so-called scientific facts you've been taught, lay down your sense of superiority and have an honest think about things? Try directing your cynicism down a different path and see what it comes up with. You might be surprised.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"> </div><p face="verdana" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: normal;">To those of us who <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> believe in a world beyond human explanation: please remember to keep off the Dirigible Plums.</span></span></p>Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8876674333878283228.post-44331666610006816852010-03-22T16:54:00.000-07:002010-03-23T16:49:40.884-07:00Issue 13 – The 10 Types of Annoying Bus Passengers<div align="justify">If you've ever taken public transport, you'll know them: they are the mosquitoes in the great bedroom of life, buzzing around at the back of your consciousness when you just want the world to be quiet and let you read for a bit.</div><div align="justify"><br />They thrive in every city on the planet, living mostly on bus networks, and their numbers multiply exponentially from year to year:</div><div align="center"><br />ANNOYING PEOPLE</div><div align="justify"><br />To me, Annoying People are even more frustrating on the bus than they are in the cinema. At the movies, they manifest themselves as Chip-Packet Cracklers and Seat Kickers but at least, in the dark, they never see where that well-aimed Jaffa came from. <em>[Disclaimer: this blog in no way advocates the throwing of hard candy at people's heads...unless they were talking over the top of An Important Bit, in which case, it is permissible.]</em></div><em><div align="justify"><br /></em>Without further rambling, and in no particular order, here are the ten types of annoying people you find on buses:</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><em><div align="justify"><br />1. "Everybody luvs my choons, don't it?"</em><br /><em><strong>The Gangsta Rapper (A.K.A. Lil Wayne In Training)</strong></em></div><strong><em></em></strong><div align="justify"><br />They're always there when you're feeling particularly irritable; sitting at the back of the top deck, blaring crappy rap music from their phones (sometimes rapping along), completely ignorant of the death stares they're receiving from the passengers who do know how to pull up their pants.</div><div align="justify"><br />These people make me want to play Taylor Swift at top volume on my phone and see how they like it…If I <em>had</em> Taylor Swift on my phone, that is…<br /></div><div align="justify"></div><em><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><br />2. "It's OK – I ate a mint."<br /><strong>The Ash Tray</strong></em> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Well, good for you. You still stink. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />When will lovers of the cancer stick realise that the smoke doesn't just go into their black lungs, it also covers their clothes and hair? This is especially true if they've stubbed out their cigarette (on the ground, of course), seconds before getting on board. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />As they step through the bus door, they bring with them a cloud of carcinogenic fumes that overwhelms even the smell of the half-eaten curry that someone left under your seat.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />For some reason, men in army-green coats are the worst culprits. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><em><div align="justify"><br /><br />3. "You will be judged for your consumerist society and fried chicken."<br /><strong>The Crazy Preacher</strong></em> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />There's one on every bus route. Every Crazy Preacher I've come across has had questionable dress sense and questionable personal hygiene and loved to sit at the back of the bus, loudly banging on about Iraq, Nazis and/or Starbucks. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />I'm not so sure that Jesus is really all that interested in the great <em>Starbucks Monopoly -v- Independent Coffee Shops</em> debate. I'm absolutely positive, though, that most Crazy Preacher sermons are the result of a brain fried by too many chemical substances, of which a skinny-decaf-caramel-cappu-mocha-frappu-laté-cino-with-a-shot-of-espresso is the least harmful. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><em><div align="justify"><br /><br />4. "I just wanna be close to you."<br /><strong>The Obnoxious Seating-Code Breaker </strong></em></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Yes, there is a code on the bus, and the most sacred – THE MOST SACRED – part of this is "Never sit beside someone when there is an unoccupied double seat available". </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Seriously, people: don't do it. I don't care how lazy you're feeling or how strongly you believe you have the right to bother me with your presence; go and sit in a window seat. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><em><div align="justify"><br /><br />5. "I can't play properly without the sound."<br /><strong>The Public Gamer </strong></em></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Contrary to popular thought, these guys aren't geeks. Oh, no. Geeks stay at home to play their games in private; there, via that magical entity known as "the web", they can pit their skills against Russia's or Kazakhstan's finest, and make the best use of their time by simultaneously writing a programme to trawl eBay for Generation One Transformers. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Public Gamers are merely commuters in suits who have been suckered into spending ridiculous amounts of cash on the latest plastic gadget. No serious geek would be caught dead with a Nintendo DS. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />This would all be fine (to each his own), except that Nintendo obviously feel they must commission their programmers to find the loudest, most annoying sound effects, and the most repetitive music, possible. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br /><br />6. "I have to press it…just in case."<br /><strong>The OCBP (Obsessive-Compulsive Button Pusher)</strong></em> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />These people really know how to push my buttons, in more ways than one. I mean, come on, how hard it is to look and see if the "STOPPING" sign is already lit up? You don't even have to be literate to do that. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />And then we have the Double Clickers, who obviously think the "STOP" button is some sort of mouse button and requires an extra tap. A note to these people: it doesn't make the bus stop any quicker, nor does the resultant "chingching!" make you look cool. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br /><br />7. "I'm on my way to KFC for breakfast."<br /><strong>The Double Wide</strong></em> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Now, I don't claim to be anything but overweight, but at least I don't take up one seat per butt cheek. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Honestly, though, the fact that I <em>am</em> a little chubby makes it even <em>more</em> of a mystery why overly-large people always choose to sit next to me, squashing my outer thigh beneath their hip and crushing my shoulder up against the window. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to sit next to the skinny person behind me, thereby distributing the weight a little more evenly? </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br /><br />8. "I don't believe in tissues."<br /><strong>The Perpetual Sniffer</strong></em> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Just when you're hoping to catch a nice little nap, along comes one of these, instead – and they're unstoppable. No matter how many times you pointedly turn up the volume on your iPod, they don't take the hint. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />I'll never understand why some people find it so hard to blow their nose. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />The worst of these are the snorters. This is the point where merely irritating becomes completely disgusting. At least, if it's just an habitual, fairly dry sniff, it's not so bad so long as they do it in time to whatever music I'm listening to, but I do not want to hear them choking and hacking on the entire contents of their sinuses. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />This is the very definition of "gross". </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br /><br />9. "Oh my days, like, the whole world wants to know about, like, my whole life, innit!!"<br /><strong>The Motor Mouth Drama Queen</strong></em><strong> </strong></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />These people are usually chavvy teenage girls with basketball hoops for earrings and "da thickess Lundun accen' yooseva hurd", spouting out their latest tawdry gossip and he said/she saids, none of which you have the slightest desire to hear. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />However, they could also be Chinese women of a certain age who seem to enjoy yelling at top decibel down the phone, or English businessmen of a certain age who want everyone to know that they are Doing A Very Important Deal. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />Every single one of them, I can guarantee, will sit right behind you, and will continue their one-sided conversation throughout the entire journey. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br /><br />10. "What's the problem? I took a shower last week."<br /><strong>The Noxious Fumigator</strong></em> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />This group is separated into two sub-species: <em>Royalus Odorus Offensicus</em> (The B.O. King) and <em>Royalus Colognus Offensicus</em> (The Deodorant King). You will usually encounter the males of the species; the females do, of course, exist, but are far more rare. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br />Royalus Odorus Offensicus </em>frequently cross-breed with Ash Trays. They come in all shapes and sizes, but can easily be recognised by the distinctive pattern down the spine and under the arms of their grey-and-yellow-tinted business shirts. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br />Royalus Colognus Offensicus </em>are distinguished by their unusual and highly ineffectual mating practices. Somewhat dim-witted, they hold the belief that baptising themselves in one particularly offensive and, unfortunately, very prevalent brand of deodorant* will attract the female of the species. However, the females are, in general, highly repulsed by the scent. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />It is thought that, in time, natural selection will cause a decline in Noxious Fumigator's population and instead favour that of a species known as the Metrosexual.<em><span style="font-size:78%;">[CITATION NEEDED] </span></em></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><br />*[I used to work on defamation claims; therefore, the product in question shall remain nameless, but can be found in the possession of most teenage boys.]</em></div>Muse De Mentedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04911431253559089251noreply@blogger.com0