:)
"Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Regaling me....oohh my :)
Martin wrote:
>
> I believe that it's a moderate derogatory toward genre fans. At least
> that's how *I* look at it. Never been called it. If so, I'd be busy
> making licence plates instead of regaling you...
>
> "Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <mailto:tdlists%40multiculturaladvantage.com>> wrote: I have heard the
> term "fanboys" but I don't know what it means. Can
> somebody clarify?
>
> Thanks
>
> tracey
>
> Martin wrote:
> >
> > Whenever I do, it seems as though they're trying to be the online
> > version of Starlog. Apologies for any shocks to the system I may have
> > caused. THey seem to bemore fanboys than fans, and I abhor fanboys. To
> > them, it's not SF, it's reality they just can't experience first-hand.
> >
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:KeithBJohnson%40comcast.net>
> <mailto:KeithBJohnson%40comcast.net> wrote:
> > Why do you say that? I've never read their site much.
> >
> > -------------- Original message --------------
> > From: Martin
> > Remember at all times, keith- this is someone from SyFy talking. Their
> > acquaintance with the genre is passing at best, IMO.
> >
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:KeithBJohnson%40comcast.net>
> <mailto:KeithBJohnson%40comcast.net> wrote:
> > Some comments on her comments:
> >
> > One, I'd take Whedon's work anyday over many others, but I was
> > concerned he was going to do another "Buffy" treatment on Wonder
> > Woman. I think I'd read that he planned to make Diana younger than is
> > typically portrayed in comics--probably more like 19 or 20, as opposed
> > to Diana's apparent age of mid- to late-twenties. Whedon loves very
> > young women, but I really wasn't looking forward to another young
> > waiflike girl dealing with pain and heartache. Thats one reason I
> > didnt' like Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane: she looked and acted too young
> > for my tastes. I'd rather deal with the more mature warrior than the
> > little girl lost in Patriarch's World. Someone like Charisma
> Carpenter! :)
> >
> > Having Wonder Woman in WWII is not necessarily a bad thing, if done
> > well. If we could get the guys behind "Hellboy" or "V: For Vendetta"
> > to do it, WWII could be a fantastic backdrop for a superhero battle.
> > Often some of the coolest scifi is set in the time period of rougly
> > from the 1890s to the 1940s. Something about the old tech--vacuum
> > tubes, Iron Giant looking robots, etc.--is often really cool in scifi
> > themes. The only issue they seem to have overlooked is that Wonder
> > Woman in WWII has been retconned by DC to be Queen Hippolyta, Diana's
> > mother. Diana was thus the second woman to wear the mantle of Wonder
> > Woman, and did it in modern times.
> >
> > I disagree with her that "Sin City" was a snoozefest (it was great),
> > that "Hellboy" was only passable (it was awesome), and so was
> > "Fantastic Four" (it sucked).
> >
> > -------------- Original message --------------
> > From: "Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)"
> > Action Or Angst? What Do We Want In Our Superheroes?
> > COMMENTARY: Can 'Wonder Woman' succeed purely as action hero?
> >
> > By ROBIN BROWNFIELD
> > Source: SyFy Portal
> > Feb-04-2007
> >
> > When Joss Whedon announced almost two years after signing on to write
> > and direct a "Wonder Woman" movie that he was no longer attached to the
> > project, the air of shock around the Internet was almost palpable.
> >
> > Around the same time, David S. Goyer, who wrote the story and co-wrote
> > the screenplay for "Batman Begins," was told his vision for the movie
> > "The Flash" was not what Warner Bros. producers wanted, and the movie
> > has been shelved for now.
> >
> > The story behind the "Wonder Woman" movie, it seems, is that Warner
> > Bros. has purchased a speculative script from newcomers Matthew Jennison
> > and Brent Strickland, and is ready to bring them on board to replace
> > Whedon.
> >
> > All this leads to the question, "What do people want out of a superhero
> > movie? An escapist action romp or fully fleshed-out characters facing
> > the most painful decisions of their lives?"
> >
> > While it is uncertain what Whedon has done with "Wonder Woman," it seems
> > Joel Silver and company want an action-oriented story set against the
> > backdrop of World War II -- the time period when Wonder Woman comics
> > debuted. Whedon's vision places Princess Diana in the present day. Based
> > on his previous works ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Firefly,"
> > "Serenity"), one can safely assume that his Wonder Woman would be a
> > fully fleshed out character, complete with goddess-like strength, and
> > human foibles. She would most likely be surrounded by fully developed
> > supporting characters, and the story that unwinds would largely grow out
> > from and be advanced by the characters themselves.
> >
> > We could also count on sharp, engaging dialogue where every word is
> > measured and infused with meaning.
> >
> > A synopsis of the Jennison/Strickland script has been posted on the
> > Internet. It is filled with highly charged action, it appears to move
> > quickly, and is balanced with sharp contrasts between scenes. It looks
> > like it could be exciting, but because there is no dialogue, and the
> > focus is strictly on the action in the movie, it makes me fear that
> > there will be little in the way of actual character development. There
> > also is no indicator as to whether the two can write dialogue well. It's
> > possible that they can, but in the end, what I read is the basis for a
> > largely formulaic movie with lots of loud sounds, flashy visuals and
> > action. I donâââ‰â¢t see the groundwork laid for creating
> characters people
> > in the audience can identify with.
> >
> > People need to be able to identify with the characters in a movie. They
> > have to be able to feel with the characters and understand why it is
> > they do what they do. The X-Men and Spider-Man movies have been the best
> > of any in the genre. X-Men movies have been analogous to the struggles
> > with racism and homophobia. In both X-Men and Spider-Man, people can
> > identify with the characters' perpetually feeling like outsiders. Each
> > has unique qualities that allow them to do amazing things, and yet,
> > people in general and/or in their immediate surroundings, rarely, if
> > ever, recognize and appreciate this.
> >
> > Most real people can identify with this scenario. How many of us have
> > proven time and time again that we are unique, intelligent and superbly
> > talented people whose accomplishments go largely unnoticed by many or
> > most of the people around us? It is the same kind of scenario that makes
> > "Buffy" so popular. We now see the same happening with characters in the
> > TV show "Heroes."
> >
> > It was Peter Parker's angst that drew me to Spider-Man comics as a kid.
> > I often skipped over the action parts of the stories just to catch what
> > was happening in Peter's world. I still remember Duo Damsel heartbroken
> > because she was in love with Superboy, but knew he was destined to end
> > up with someone else. Things like that got to me as a child, and they
> > still get to me as an adult.
> >
> > Wonder Woman often struggled with being a powerful woman who was rarely
> > appreciated for it in a man's world. Angst is what makes these heroes
> > accessible to an audience. Going through the human experience even if
> > one is not quite human, or is super-human, endears these characters
> to us.
> >
> > While it's possible to have a hero who doesn't feel like an outsider or
> > a freak, how that translates into their personality can be problematic.
> > If they are always self-sacrificing, righteous and true, they can end up
> > being downright boring. Then again, someone who doesn't suffer rarely
> > understands the plight of others who are suffering, and usually isn't
> > heroic. Someone like that is likely to come off as arrogant and/or
> > self-obsessed, and uses their power for personal gain. I'm not sure I
> > want to know people who are drawn to this kind of "hero." I might end up
> > being the next person they get all self-righteous and true on.
> >
> > People simply can't identify with an action figure. An action figure may
> > present an amusing visual and aural experience, but so does a musical
> > mobile hanging over a crib. Both are forgettable once they're out of
> > sight. A fully realized human being makes for much longer-lasting
> > "relationship" between the character and the audience than Action
> > Jackson ever can. How many people talk as passionately -- and for years
> > on end -- about Lara Croft as they do about Buffy or River Tam?
> >
> > Then there is the issue of the setting for the movies. Wonder Woman has
> > gone through many eras. She hasn't always been stuck in WWII, as
> > Superman hasn't always been stuck in the 1930s. In the early 1970s,
> > Wonder Woman had been revamped to fit the times. Steve Trevor was
> > killed, she lost her powers, traded in her bathing suit for a
> > mini-dress, and learned martial arts from some old guy named I-ching.
> > While that probably wasnâââ‰â¢t the best version of Wonder
> > Woman,
> it kept
> > her
> > in the present.
> >
> > Since then, WW has been reinvented several more times, keeping her in
> > the present. All the Superman and Batman movies are in the present (or
> > future). Why must Wonder Woman be stuck back in WWII?
> >
> > My favorite DC-based movie last year was "V for Vendetta," which while
> > it wasn't a superhero movie, was the kind of movie I prefer to shell out
> > money to see. I donâââ‰â¢t make a whole lot, and I have a lot
> > of
> kids to
> > feed, so I can't often waste money on something that is a purely
> > escapist formula movie. Most of the superhero/graphic novel movies -
> > regardless of their origins - are lackluster at best. "Daredevil,"
> > "Electra," "Catwoman," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," and "Sin
> > City" were all substitutes for Sominex.
> >
> > Unfortunately, superhero movie producers have grandiose expectations,
> > but usually resort to mediocre stories and big special effects or
> > âââ¬Ã
âartfulâââ¬Ã facades to pass their production off
> > as
> marketable.
> > âââ¬Ã
âSuperman
> > Returns,âââ¬Ã while somewhat better than previously mentioned
> movies, still
> > suffered the fate of presenting a formulaic plot with some bad casting
> > choices (that was NOT Lois Lane), and uneven acting. Hell, Brandon Routh
> > barely got to do anything beyond his Christopher Reeve-as-Clark Kent
> > impression. While Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris tried
> > to infuse some humanity and allusions to Supes being Christ-like into
> > the story, the actual plot was simply a rehash of old plots with Lex
> > Luthor abusing different pieces of real estate.
> >
> > There are passably good comic book hero movies out there ("Hellboy," and
> > even "Fantastic Four" to some extent) that take the action formula and
> > make it interesting and entertaining. For far too many, though, the
> > formula starts to become rancid after too long. I had been looking
> > forward to something fresh and different in Joss Whedon's "Wonder
> > Woman." I had hoped it would be the one movie about a female superhero
> > that wasn't abysmal. I can still hope for this. Jennison and Strickland
> > may turn out to be great writers. Still, Iâââ‰â¢m not going to
> > put
> much
> > faith
> > in the judgment of movie studio moguls. They have been wrong many times
> > before.
> >
> > Robin Brownfield is a staff writer for SyFy Portal, writing out of New
> > Jersey. She can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <mailto:rbrownfield%40syfyportal.com>
> > <mailto:rbrownfield%40syfyportal.com>.
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> > "There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will
> > get organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man
> > Without A Country"
> >
> > ---------------------------------
> > Have a burning question? Go to Yahoo! Answers and get answers from
> > real people who know.
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> > "There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will
> > get organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man
> > Without A Country"
> >
> > ---------------------------------
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> > Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV.
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
> "There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will
> get organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man
> Without A Country"
>
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"There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will get
organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without A
Country"
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