I'm one of those weird people who starts anticipating things MORE once I know bits about character arcs. And because I'm there for the emotional impact of that, I don't mind getting plot details beforehand. I had to be spoiled for a lot of season three of "Farscape" before my brain went "Oh, I want to seeeeee this." You know, after I tried watching the pilot TWICE and not being into it.
I'm...about 7ish episodes in "Fringe?" And finding my brain sort of wandering because Peter has no personality, Walter annoys me, and Olivia's emotional arc is still revolving around the refrigerated guy (the refrigeration, I do appreciate, I'm ashamed to admit.) and the show is directing my focus to Peter/Walter, which I find tediously boring. Now, admittedly, I'm someone who takes a looooooog time to get into shows and sometimes, I have to watch entire seasons before my brain engages with the story. I've been told that the focus shifts to be more clearly on Olivia about mid-season, so I'm anxiously waiting for that.
But I'm intrigued by the parallel world mythology you're describing, and I think I can, at the very least, invest in the plot of that? Because that sounds like creepy fun, which is usually right up my alley.
I'm also relieved to know that there's no loss of self with the two Olivias arc, but possibly still worried about the baby plot between "Angel" and "Farscape." But I suspect that this arc will have resolved itself one way or the other before I ever get to season three, so there will be time to disengage/detach depending on how it unfolds.
To be honest, the Peter/Olivia romance felt HELLA CONTRIVED to me because Peter is an object, not a character, (that said, I do ship Olivia/Furniture more than I ship Olivia/Peter)
*dies* Heh. I have to admit that Peter's character occasionally causes me second-hand embarrassment just by existing. But the show's weird attempts to make me acknowledge his existence by having him say something that's supposed to be witty are kind of...well, embarrassing. And it mostly makes me go, "Yes, but why does he exist in the first place?!"
But, yes, Peter's two-fathers, two-worlds thing is right out of mythic heroic narratives, and I'm sad to know that they haven't done anything with it? I mean, one of the few things that will make me like a male character is Classical heroic narratives, so yeah.
But...they never show anything from Peter's POV, like almost ever. And occasionally they panic about the fact he essentially exists in the traditional female role of "quest object" for both Walter and Olivia and try to make him narratively significant. Like by introducing some universe destroying doomsday device that is genetically tied to him for some mysterious reason and then setting up BUT OMGS, WHICH WOMAN AND THUS UNIVERSE WILL HE CHOOOOOOSE?
I don't think the first bit is necessarily a bad thing? I mean, I think TSCC does this intentionally a bit with John and does it very well. But if they're doing it accidentally and actually want him to have a POV/subject position to some degree, then yeah, they're really failing at it. Like, at this point in the narrative, I'm almost half-amused by his uselessness? But that's not going to last.
What's worrying me about the Olivia/Peter/Olivia triangle is that when fiction does f/m/f triangles, it tends to have one of the women die for their ship. Which means that Alternate!Olivia is doomed, which I just know is going to make me over-invest in her.
I think what makes Man Pain interesting in women is that it ends up being somewhat of a subversion? Because the female narrative equivalent of Man Pain is to suffer in silence and solitude and use their pain to be PRODUCTIVE. So I think with female characters, Man Pain mixes with that a bit and actually ends up being...something useful instead of this constant "Woe is me" drama? Anyway! I'm looking forward to Olivia's Manpain. <3
Also, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my question with so much detail and information. I really appreciate it! I have a much better idea of what to brace myself for and what to look forward to, which helps a lot.
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Date: 2011-02-17 01:05 pm (UTC)I'm...about 7ish episodes in "Fringe?" And finding my brain sort of wandering because Peter has no personality, Walter annoys me, and Olivia's emotional arc is still revolving around the refrigerated guy (the refrigeration, I do appreciate, I'm ashamed to admit.) and the show is directing my focus to Peter/Walter, which I find tediously boring. Now, admittedly, I'm someone who takes a looooooog time to get into shows and sometimes, I have to watch entire seasons before my brain engages with the story. I've been told that the focus shifts to be more clearly on Olivia about mid-season, so I'm anxiously waiting for that.
But I'm intrigued by the parallel world mythology you're describing, and I think I can, at the very least, invest in the plot of that? Because that sounds like creepy fun, which is usually right up my alley.
I'm also relieved to know that there's no loss of self with the two Olivias arc, but possibly still worried about the baby plot between "Angel" and "Farscape." But I suspect that this arc will have resolved itself one way or the other before I ever get to season three, so there will be time to disengage/detach depending on how it unfolds.
To be honest, the Peter/Olivia romance felt HELLA CONTRIVED to me because Peter is an object, not a character, (that said, I do ship Olivia/Furniture more than I ship Olivia/Peter)
*dies* Heh. I have to admit that Peter's character occasionally causes me second-hand embarrassment just by existing. But the show's weird attempts to make me acknowledge his existence by having him say something that's supposed to be witty are kind of...well, embarrassing. And it mostly makes me go, "Yes, but why does he exist in the first place?!"
But, yes, Peter's two-fathers, two-worlds thing is right out of mythic heroic narratives, and I'm sad to know that they haven't done anything with it? I mean, one of the few things that will make me like a male character is Classical heroic narratives, so yeah.
But...they never show anything from Peter's POV, like almost ever. And occasionally they panic about the fact he essentially exists in the traditional female role of "quest object" for both Walter and Olivia and try to make him narratively significant. Like by introducing some universe destroying doomsday device that is genetically tied to him for some mysterious reason and then setting up BUT OMGS, WHICH WOMAN AND THUS UNIVERSE WILL HE CHOOOOOOSE?
I don't think the first bit is necessarily a bad thing? I mean, I think TSCC does this intentionally a bit with John and does it very well. But if they're doing it accidentally and actually want him to have a POV/subject position to some degree, then yeah, they're really failing at it. Like, at this point in the narrative, I'm almost half-amused by his uselessness? But that's not going to last.
What's worrying me about the Olivia/Peter/Olivia triangle is that when fiction does f/m/f triangles, it tends to have one of the women die for their ship. Which means that Alternate!Olivia is doomed, which I just know is going to make me over-invest in her.
I think what makes Man Pain interesting in women is that it ends up being somewhat of a subversion? Because the female narrative equivalent of Man Pain is to suffer in silence and solitude and use their pain to be PRODUCTIVE. So I think with female characters, Man Pain mixes with that a bit and actually ends up being...something useful instead of this constant "Woe is me" drama? Anyway! I'm looking forward to Olivia's Manpain. <3
Also, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my question with so much detail and information. I really appreciate it! I have a much better idea of what to brace myself for and what to look forward to, which helps a lot.