Mars 1, Type Face 0

[trinityvixen]

I finally sat down to more than the off episode or two of Veronica Mars last night with darkling1 and feiran. Before bigscary gets too excited, I have to say that I was still right about not liking it especially and yet wrong about it's being utterly worthless.

Why not like it? I hate Veronica. Thought I would from the little I knew of her, watched three episodes and sure enough, I do. I dislike her immensely and I do not like the fact that her oh-so-impossibly-mary-sue-esque tragic life makes me a horrible person for hating her. I'm sorry, but she's run up against caricatures. The new police chief or whoever? The only thing he didn't do was rape her himself (and stomp on a puppy). Ditto the guy who was dating her murdered friend. The biker-dude-with-a-heart-of-gold (well, at least feminism has changed the gender of that stereotype). The out-of-the-blue hottie (who is headed for some kind of last-minute pushy-about-sex boyfriend stereotyping, I can already feel it).

My worst bugaboo about this series is the idea that, at a school like the one she attends, OMG NO ONE WOULD ACT THE WAY THEY DO. They're about one order of magnitude richer than the public high school I went to, but the kids in my high school acted at least as entitled as the bitches on this show and they STILL did not act in the conveniently angst-generating way that people on this show do. When you're a teenager with that kind of entitlement, you certain as shit don't give a fuck what someone's dad did and use that to influence your opinion of them. I GUARAN-FUCKING-TEE IT, okay? I promise, promise, promise that kids raised to be that spoiled don't give a shit if their parents are tarred and feathered so long as they can have the car keys, use of the vacation house in Cabo, and a trip to Europe once a year. THEY. DO. NOT. CARE.

If they'd said that Veronica's family's ensuing poorness was the ENTIRE reason to kick her out of the circle, then I might have believed it. Still, if her "friends" were so shallow, why was this supposedly sassy, smart chick hanging out with them? She could find more stimulating friendship under a bridge at 3 am. Ugh, I hate when adults who felt like they were ostracized in high school write stories about being ostracized in high school. I'm sorry, but life is nothing like television, and this entire set up screams of a bitter wallflower writer raised on too many television-school shows. (90210 wasn't this angsty, and that says something.)

I am reminded of these stupid forums we had in high school where such hard-hitting questions as "Do you feel people treat you worse based on how you dress?" There was this total pot-smoking trashoid who got all weepy about how people treat him like an idiot because they think his choice of hang-out spot (the smoking circle on the edge of campus) and clothing (black and smelling of smoke) meant he was stoner. Clue-in, lame-o, you WERE a stoner. It marked the one and only time I spoke up in forums. I told him, literally, that real life is not like Dawson's Creek (the Veronica Mars of its day), and that there wasn't some rich-bitch cabal to keep him out of the keggers in the rich quadrant of town. They just didn't think of him, period, get used to it. I dunno that being non-existent or unnoticed is better than being actively loathed for HIM, but I'd certainly prefer it to thinking people are taking time out of their day to hate me for absolutely no reason. As long as I can ignore them back, I say live and let live.

I'll be fair, now, and say that Veronica Mars did get slightly better with two or three episodes in, but it's still not tweaking my interest. I can't believe that, after the shit-tacular pilot, this show got picked up. That was the most smarmy, annoying, dead thing I've seen in forever. It's like it was written by some dude trying to approximate all the things that straw-feminists say are awful about men (they are rapists! they let rapists go! they make lousy boyfriends! they're not in touch with their feelings!) in a one-hour period. Fuck that.

Credit where credit is due, it was still better than the documentary Helvetica which I rented for no reason. There's plenty of ways to make a documentary about something obscure with a devoted, geekish following, but this wasn't it. They threw a bunch of graphic designers together and basically just had them wax poetic about how important a font was or was not to them. They did the documentary-requisite "I HATE HELVETICA!" "I LOVE HELVETICA" stuff, and that's all I got out of it.

Comments

[viridian.livejournal.com]

I suspect the Helvetica thing only appeals to those who can spend lots of time over at fontaddicts or obsessivefonts or fontshare or... yeah, I have about six or seven of them memorized. Remind me to rent that one?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Sure, but you shouldn't really bother. I don't feel like I learned to appreciate the type face better at all or anything like that. This is an art form, clearly, and they let the artists explain it instead of trying to let a historian at it. A grad student art historian would have done a better presentation.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Ah well, we'll have to agree to differ here--I adore Veronica. She's sassy and snarky and resourceful. And her dad rocks. Plus Wallace and Mac (a later addition) are very cool. The best eps are when she gets them and sometimes Weasel to help her pull off a scam.

The only problem I have with her character is that she's not actually all that bright--it always takes her a while to figure out stuff that's right in front of her. That's more pronounced in the later seasons. And in part because, as with many shows built around a strong original story, it had a hard time finding its way with new storylines. I was sad to see it go but at the same time felt it was time--first season is great, second season is decent, and third isn't very good.

Though the plan to make fourth season about her after college and starting out in the FBI was cool.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

I'm probably going to stick with it through at least the second season, but it's a bit over the top: Veronica's best friend is murdered, her boyfriend dumps her, her dad loses his job, her mom runs off, and she was raped? I see some things to like in the show and I love a good mystery, but I hope it takes things back a notch soon. trinityvixen is right that a lot of these characters are mere stereotypes, and in one episode I could tell the writer is obsessed with The Wizard of Oz: "You need to see the wizard" and "Your little dog too"...which might have worked coming from the same character, but instead came from the sheriff and Weasel, respectively. Not that I don't like some Oz myself...

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

There are arc and non-arc episodes, as is often the case with shows like this, and I prefer the non-arc ones because they're self-contained mysteries and often involve those scams and plans I mentioned. And the elements you mentioned aren't as heavily featured in those.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Veronica's best friend is murdered, her boyfriend dumps her, her dad loses his job, her mom runs off, and she was raped?

You forgot to add that she was then humiliated after being raped; she's doing half of her dad's work to keep them afloat financially; she has no friends except other people who are among the Out Caste; she's being forced into extra curriculars; her ex is teasingly still around (and hallucinating AND clinically depressed); and she keeps losing car parts.

Oh, and Paris Hilton apparently goes to her school (a negative in one's life if ever there was one).

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

That's right! Somehow I forgot those. I guess my mind can only retain so many improbabilities at once...

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

And really, not all of those happened in the pilot, so it's unfair to demand you remember half of them, really.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

And, sadly, it's not improbable at all that she would have been slipped a roofie in that crowd (too much entitlement + access to drugs = rape culture) and that she would then be treated like a slut for getting drugged. It's just a little improbable that that unfortunately too common scenario happened on top of all the rest.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I dunno, she just strikes me as wrong. It's hard to write someone who is credibly young and quick-witted enough to make the sort of fearless retorts Veronica does, especially in scenes, like in the pilot, where she's having sexual threats shoved down her throat. Given her negative sexual encounter, I cannot possibly believe she'd be so cavalier with Weasel and his gang threatening her with cock as she is. Not when she then turns around and goes coy on Troy trying to kiss her.

It's hard to write a rape survivor story because there isn't one narrative. There must be women somewhere who become a bit like Veronica--instead of being made to feel powerless, they become fearless (hey, the worst has already happened, right?)--but I can't possibly find a source for her unstoppable confidence. I appreciate that she's not a wreck, but there should be a reason better than, "Well, that's how we wrote the character." Maybe it gets explained later.

I might also add that Kristin Bell is an actress in the mold of Sarah Michelle Geller only with more sociopathic blankness. What I mean is that she does a bare minimum and relies on the story for the charm a lot of the time. Unfortunately, the charm of the story isn't there for me either.

The sociopathy comes in because the story has her bounce from defensive good cheer to utter, unfeeling indifference so fast, it feels like she fakes absolutely every emotion. I don't connect with her character emotionally because she's just not emotionally believable. When she cries, it's like I watching her doing a read-through of the script more than bringing the action to life. It reads; it doesn't play. "Veronica spouts witticism, so-and-so reacts with a harsh rejoinder and leaves. Veronica cries." Aaaaand scene.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

See, I infinitely prefer Bell to Gellar. I've seen Bell in three series now (VM, Heroes, and Deadwood) and liked her in all three. I think anyone could have played Buffy but only a few could have pulled off Veronica. But like I said, we'll just have to differ--both on her and on the show.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I liked Veronica Mars (largely because of Teddy Dunn I ADMIT IT), but wasn't crazy about it. My biggest problem...I think I'd have to wait until you'd seen more of the show or give me the okay to spoil you a little. And I hate that a lot of fans canonize Logan. I love an asshole on tv as much as the next gal, but I love the asshole with the heart of gold. The John Constantine who does the right thing in the end but does every single thing wrong before that. Logan is not this character. Logan is just a bad person. He's a manipulative little shit who is violent and cruel and I don't care how bad his childhood was, there's nothing to redeem here. When he grows up, he's going to be an alcoholic who beats his wife and sleeps with every woman in town. I have far more sympathy for Lex, even when he's a super-villain, than I do for Logan.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Also, I went to school with very rich kids and scholarship kids and there just wasn't a dynamic like this. But since I've never seen anything on TV or film that even remotely approximates my high school experience, I don't expect it. I just figure this is what high school was like for everyone but me.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

The only thing that I can recall being close was Freaks and Geeks, but that show bored me to tears, which is probably why it so reminded me of high school. I mean, the general dynamic was mostly right. The bullies vs nerds was a trope, but the older sister struggling to find a group to which she could belong and not be socially mortified? I think that's about right.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Oh thank god. feiran said Logan was one of her favorites, which, after three episodes of his being an unrepentant ASSHOLE, I figured must mean he went through an Oprah-esque transformation. I'd prefer he stay the stereotype than become another one through some angst-ridden faux evolution. I'd also prefer it if he dropped dead.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, he stays an asshole. I don't have a problem with Logan fans, per se, I just have a problem with Logan fans who think he's a good person underneath. He is not. He really, really isn't. He's one of those people like the Talented Mr. Ripley who you can feel bad for, but all those feelings he has about being a monster? He should have them cause he is.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Of course, if he's been secretly killing people for the last three seasons, then you might see him in a different light.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd totally be on him like white on rice. ::rolls eyes:: He's not a killer, he's a total coward who, to cover for this failing, becomes a bully. I don't like bullies.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I dunno that being non-existent or unnoticed is better than being actively loathed for HIM, but I'd certainly prefer it to thinking people are taking time out of their day to hate me for absolutely no reason. As long as I can ignore them back, I say live and let live.

You were an unusual teenager in that respect, I think. I feel like most teenagers (and many adults) want/need/crave attention, and build their worldview around whatever means they're actually getting it. Obviously the popular kids think about you all the time, the reason they don't talk to you is because they hate you.

It's kinda like how we Jews KNOW Christianity is the One True Religion, but we ignore it because we're stubborn and hate truth. Or something.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You were an unusual teenager in that respect, I think. I feel like most teenagers (and many adults) want/need/crave attention, and build their worldview around whatever means they're actually getting it. Obviously the popular kids think about you all the time, the reason they don't talk to you is because they hate you.

I guess? I dunno, I like attention like the next attention whore, but I'm definitely not a member of ours and younger generations which enjoy fame of any stripe--positive or negative. I loathe negative attention. I'd sooner not make an ass out of myself if I have any say (I do it often enough unintentionally without trying to call attention to it and make it worse).

I guess popularity never mattered to me? I'd sooner have just the one friend than thirty so-so acquaintance-friends. That's abnormal maybe.

Also, Christianity isn't the OTR; it's geekdom!

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

I have Helvetica here from Netflix right now. Huh! Let's see what I think of it.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Maybe someone with more of an appreciation for design will like it better?

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

I really love Veronica Mars. It's cool that you don't, of course, but I think it rocks. Of course, the dynamic actually is similar to how it was at my school. We had one HS for the whole city, and the wealthier kids were in the advanced classes. Being from a non-wealthy family, I would get made fun of and picked on (and worse - like having someone put acid in my cranberry juice during lunch, and having a group of guys pelt me with slush balls after school) - and they often told me what a freak my dad was.
But I love V, and Wallace, and Mac.

My other favorite shows with a HS setting are Twin Peaks (well, some of it is in a hgh school, and they show how messed up EVERYONE's life can be) and Daria, which had the stereotypes, but the snark was magnificent.

And I am babbling because it is late. :)
Anyway, I added you as a friend back after we met at feiran's birthday, and I think I have been a total spaz and forgotten to comment and say hi. :/

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Actually, I loved the Daria, man. Loved it. But that's entirely different from the overwrought presentation in Veronica Mars. Daria was a wallflower who occasionally was noted by the rich and stupid (and some of the rich and smart). They didn't actively terrorize her or what not like is being done to Veronica (except for Quinn, but I pardon that because, you know, sisters are like that!). That was closer to my high school experience in the popular vs not setting. I'm sorry to hear that yours was so, ugh, just ugh! I always think that people are too lazy and stupid, for the most part, to be purposefully malicious, but that doesn't mean there aren't some who go that extra mile to be.

My vehement reaction should not be taken as anger btw, just that's the way everything comes out when I dislike something and am baffled by its popularity. As feiran put it, if I didn't react strongly, she'd look for pods in my room. I certainly can see how certain elements could have, over a few seasons, developed really well (like if they toned down the "I AM THE BAD GUY" stereotyping stuff). I just won't be giving it that chance myself since I'm super turned off by what appears to be a Mary Sue set up with an actress I do not like. ::shrugs:: Feel free, any time, to mock anything I like as much and tear it to shreds. I do so to things people I know like and just expect them to forgive me for questioning their taste by inviting them to do it back.

And friended you back! Yay! More proof I exist!

[glvalentine.livejournal.com]

Oh man, thank you. I also am not a huge fan. (http://www.defenestrationmag.net/columns/film/film082005.html)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I can't say as I was wowed by Logan's character like you were, but I bet that's because I won't be bothered with this show to get into his deeper acting style. At the point I left off, the most heartfelt character was the chico on the bike. I'm wondering if he is gay, actually, since they're not writing him as a biker/Latino stereotype and he's being all sensitive without being actually threatening (all the cock-talk is for show and his own gratification). You can spoil me, I'm really never finishing this series.

I hadn't even really thought about Veronica's manipulative streak other than to wonder when the hell she was going to pay back Chloe--er, her best platonic friend (sorry, too many years of Smallville mean my brain automatically calls the sure-to-be-suffering friend that's in love with the main character "Chloe;" proper usage: "He is such a Chloe."). More to look forward to, I suppose, in that I won't watch it and have to agonize over it.

[glvalentine.livejournal.com]

I wasn't even so much wowed by his character, I just enjoyed some smoldering breaking up all the voiceovers.

I also have no idea how any of it panned out, because I couldn't even finish the first season before I gave up, picked up invisible petticoats, and stormed out. ;)

And dude, right? Like, "Hey, I need another hall pass!" She's singlehandedly deforesting Guatmela with all her hall pass demands!