beccatoria: (Default)
beccatoria ([personal profile] beccatoria) wrote2007-10-06 07:27 pm
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SJAdventures!

I haven't felt moved to write about Heroes this week, though I did enjoy it. Instead I'm going to tackle the few episodes of the Sarah Jane Adventures I've seen. Mild spoilers through the third episode follow!

I was SHOCKED by how much scarier and better villains the Slitheen make in a kids' show. Which isn't to say that Doctor Who in general isn't a kids' show - it is. But the acknowledgement that it's not something parents will put their children down in front of and then leave them with, but watch with them, is implicit and it affects the writing and handling of plots, I think. Specifically it makes the Slitheen look like watered down stupid villains rather than, actually quite terrifying. Perhaps the problem is with me and the way I watch the different shows. Still, MUCH better villains this time around.

I'm also becoming more and more convinced that my problem with NewWho is three parts RTD's attitude towards the franchise and seven parts David Tennant which I hate because I like David Tennant but just not. as. the. Doctor. Even when he's being inoffensive he just doesn't engage me. I think Rose kept me watching through S2 but...DT irritated me before I could really enjoy Martha. I do like her in what I've seen of her though. I'm looking forward to her run on Torchwood.

Dear god, see what I did there? I just said I was looking forward to Torchwood. Save me. Which, I think, highlights my point. I can put up with dodgy RTD-Vision in nearly ANY other context. I bitch about it, sure. But remove DT from the equation and it's appointment TV. With DT? I just. don't. care. Or when I do, it's because of the context - the beauty of the story and OTHER characters, like Martha and Jack and FREAKING DAVID JACOBI BEFORE THEY DESTROYED EVERYTHING I EVER BLOODY WANTED!

Ugh, see? The rage, she burns us precioussss... Which is a shame because the ideas in that episode were so beautiful. *weeps*

But back to RTDworld. It works better in the SJ Adventures which I'm happily enjoying.

I like Sarah's pragmatic approach to the young people. Friendship with adults is something that's really...taboo I think, for kids. Especially in this society's "predator" oriented moral panic. Which is a shame because while peer friendships are important, so are friendships with adults and so is being treated well by them - and by adults beyond your immediate family/authority figures like teachers. So while I'm looking forward to seeing Maria, Clyde & Luke form a peer-friendship I also like the way that Sarah Jane doesn't simply treat Maria and Clyde as Luke's friends, but takes an interest in them as people too. I suppose it's likely that Maria's relationship with her will become something close to faux-mother, but...hopefully still with that "I'm not going to lie to you," aspect where Maria's treated as more of an adult-equal by Sarah Jane.

As to SJ's relationship with Clyde - well, I think I ought to link to this post by [livejournal.com profile] spiralsheep because she makes some extremely good points.

And because to my shame she puts her finger on something that was bothering me but I couldn't articulate because, well because it's really hard to see it because, to all of our shame, that's currently how our little patch of the world works.

The closest I came to identifying it was, I think, deciding I really liked Clyde because he was just the right mix of ballsy, smart and daft. Then realising he wasn't daft at all. Then trying to work out why I initially thought that.

Now, to get one thing out of the way - I don't actually think that smart and daft are exclusive of each other. They could certainly both describe Luke, and I actually find the combination very endearing.

But Clyde's not daft. Like I said, he's ballsy, which means he plays class-clown, acts loud, makes others laugh. But that's a function of his personality, and, I think, a very calculated understanding of his social sphere. It's not daftness.

I remember thinking he was smart because he's clearly strong-willed and makes his own decisions and might like the idea of tanks blowing shit up more than I do, but wants to be a hero and is willing to work to get there. And if part of that desire to be a hero is because he wants the glory and the rush, who cares, because he's brave and he's loyal. And he knows what he's committing himself to do and sees it through. And I was pleasantly surprised that it was Clyde that really saved the world by working out it was the vinegar that they needed.

And I can't really think of a single time that Clyde's been daft. Perhaps in the third episode when he convinces Luke to leave the house? But even then, one could argue that finding the responsible adult/person who knows most about the situation and aliens was the best plan. And even if it's dangerous, I think that'd come under ballsy, not stupid. Especially since he spends the entirety of that escapade trying to look after Luke and teach Luke NOT to be daft.

So...why was it that I immediately thought of Clyde as daft? Because he's coded that way and because I'm trained to think about him that way. Because he's loud which Sarah Jane finds irritating. Maria's "grounded" and "sensible" and as the kid POV character gets a detailed home-life. Luke's a genius even if he's not smart, but Clyde manages to put together an easily forgettable occurance and work out how to save the world, and it's coded as a fluke and luck and the result of him clowning around and everyone tells him to shut up. The focus isn't on what he does it's on the way everyone else sees him.

And I fell for it to.

On the plus side, I now like him more than ever.

Take care y'all! :)

In other news I am knee-deep in Knights of the Old Republic II on XBoX. It's...well it's weird. I think it's breaking my brain. I can't decide if it's attrocious or horribly underrated. I'm leaning towards the former. It's like someone told the world's most epic, mythic, INCREDIBLE story to an idiot who thinks being cool is all about cliches and twin-customised-duel-wielding katanas and making angsty statements and being emo, and then that person made a video game.

[identity profile] gonzo21.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I was hugely disappointed by KOTOR 2. Mostly because of the way it falls apart in the second half. But also it just isn't half as good as the first game in terms of characterisation.

[identity profile] projectcyborg.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
it's endlessly fascinating that Ten(nant) irritates you because [livejournal.com profile] iamsab loves him more than anything in the universe. personally I'm indifferent to the Doctor in general but I definitely prefer Ten's goofy to Nine's manpain. this seems like the achilles heel of the Who franchise -- with most shows you take or leave what you get, but in this case with each new Doctor there are going to be fans who love him and fans who don't. mindfuck!

meanwhile, I love SJS and Maria SO VERY MUCH. and want them to get sexy together. because I'm a terrible person. oh, Mommy kink!

[identity profile] nomoreanonymous.livejournal.com 2007-10-09 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Knight of the old Republic was made by a totally different team than its sequel hence is uh..... crapness IMHO

The first game played really well plus the story was kinda cool too and i bet that you liked how the dungeons and dragons rules went on in the back ground but the sequel as you say is just so EMO. Im sick of how easily the sith keep returning to conquer the galaxy. There must be a "How to be a Sith Lord for dummies" book plus a "How to pull a galaxy conquering fleet out of your ass" book available in the star wars universe. I stuck it out to the end but it was painful.

If you every upgrade to a XBOX 360 and like the first game for more than just its star wars trappings then id highly recommend mass effect by its creators bio ware

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGCsGbYqVCQ

I rather enjoyed what ive seen of the sarah Jane adventures, only through youtube so far sadly. Seems the new doctor who universe is far more intresting and fun when the doctor isnt in it. I think your right about Tennant. I long for Christopher Eccleston to make a return when ever i watch a few of his episodes. SJA seemed to have a sense of fun about them that makes them really enjoyable. Couldnt help shouting WHAT! a few times with lines like "there was something about the farts, smelt kinda metalic" though :P
ext_939: Sheep wearing an eyepatch (Sarah Jane)

[identity profile] spiralsheep.livejournal.com 2007-10-09 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
::nods general agreement with post::

Clyde's not daft. Like I said, he's ballsy, which means he plays class-clown, acts loud, makes others laugh. But that's a function of his personality, and, I think, a very calculated understanding of his social sphere.

Yes, because that's what people who have spent much of their life experiencing unthinking rejection do in self-defence. Their behaviour says they want to be loved and included but their words pretend to coolness and indifference.

Perhaps in the third episode when he convinces Luke to leave the house? But even then, one could argue that finding the responsible adult/person who knows most about the situation and aliens was the best plan. And even if it's dangerous, I think that'd come under ballsy, not stupid.

I suspect Clyde was being coded as, at best, "pushy" in that scene. He wants in and he wants in so much that he's doing things which can be coded as "rebellious". There was a discussion in the comments of my post about where we thought the writers might take the character and we decided there was some convincing foreshadowing for:

http://spiralsheep.livejournal.com/165939.html?thread=2187827#t2187827

The focus isn't on what he does it's on the way everyone else sees him.

Yes, exactly that!