Introduction:
For this take in the #BATTLEROYALE contest, I am going to write about things that annoy me in the topic "Entertainment & Arts", now it would be easy just to rattle of things that tick me off in the Entertainment world because I ranted about them often enough but what is way more annoying to me is when it is something that irks you is in an aspect of Entertainment you like.
(1) Lost:
The whole background for this take was "Lost". How I feel about "Lost" gets it own special section because it is the thing that has annoyed me the most in recent years. "Lost" was brilliant when it first started, the first four series were full of twists and turns. We were told that everything means something and it will all be revealed. I remember sitting in bar with a friend and he telling me "How the waves break on the beach and the colour of the sea are really important". Theories started to come out, the one that was constantly shot down was "No, they are not dead and in Purgatory".
The whole scenario was getting stretched by the end of season 4 but for season 5 and 6, they just went all over the place. You stayed with it because you knew that the big reveal was coming at the end of season 6. Now I am in Ireland so I got up at 5am to watch a simulcast of the last episode so I am watching it and thinking they are leaving the reveal pretty late, then at the end, they just go "Guess what, we are dead and in Purgatory". It finished without explaining a thing. My friends and I were so mad.
(2) Series That Go On Too Long:
Ever since the Fonz "Jumped The Shark" in "Happy Days", this expression is used for a series that goes on too long or using a crazy gimmick to reclaim viewers.
There are probably many examples for me but the two that come to mind are (1) "Revenge" where I thought it had a good story arc for one series but they kept stretching it and stretching it, making it more ridiculous until I think I gave up between season 3 and the final 4th season.
Example (2) is "Glee". It is a show I didn't think I would like but I did. It was enjoyable for the first few seasons then the first batch of kids graduated. I felt it all went downhill after that with the split between New York and the new batch of kids, it should have gone one way or the other. In the end I think I switched off early in the final 6th season.
(3) Shows That Don't Run For Long Enough:
Okay, I know I am fighting the ratings Gods here and sometimes shows you like get axed. My tastes are such that a lot of my shows are right on the edge of the axe. I really enjoyed "Ringer" with Sarah Michelle Gellar which was axed after one season, I thought it had a lot of potential but maybe having a major star was too expensive salary wise.
The second example was "The Chicago Code" with Jennifer Beals. it started the same time as "Blue Bloods" and I remember thinking that "The Chicago Code" was far superior to "Blue Bloods" but "Blue Bloods" is going to make it, turns out I was right.
(4) A Show That Just Ends:
I just have the one example here but it was so weird. As I said earlier some shows you like will be axed and will give closure on storylines but "My Name Is Earl" was in trouble in the ratings then at the end of season 4, it ended on a cliffhanger so it must coming back, right actually no, it got axed.
(5) Bad Endings:
These are usually works of fiction that have a great build up but have an open ending or an unsatisfactory ending. The open ending is something I have noticed in European cinema especially French movies. They are often quite long films anywhere from 150 to 180 minutes long, there is a slow character/story build up for first 3/4 of the movie, you could have a 10 minute scene of brewing a pot of coffee for themselves then all of a sudden it is like they are rushing for the last half hour to get the details in with a lot of times, a very open ending leaving the viewer wondering about the fate of the characters.
Dan Brown is one of the main culprits for unsatisfactory endings. His books steam along for the first 90%, great read then he gets stuck and goes "Good guys win, bad guys lose".
(6) Why Are You Telling Me This?:
Dan Brown falls into this category as well, in a lot of books he would have twin narratives going on about secret societies and science. I personally find the secret society bit alright but the pages and pages of science so boring. It is just a trend I noticed, I was reading a book (I can't recall title or author) but there was an exciting chase that went into underground caves. There was a 12 page description of how to "Pothole" correctly in underground caves in the middle of the chase, it would be the same as having a car chase in a movie with a "Top Gear" voiceover about the cars being used.
(7) Remakes:
If the original is good enough just remaster it and rerelease it, don't ruin it by remaking it.
(8)Shows That Take You For Granted:
I swear this actually happened, the original "Dallas" was a huge show in the 1980s. At the end of season 8, the actor who played Bobby Ewing wanted to leave so his character was killed off. Things didn't go well for the show or the actor, so the first scene in season 10 was Pam, Bobby's wife awakening and hearing the shower, she goes into the bathroom, viewers expect to see her new husband who she married last season instead they see Bobby, her dead old husband in the shower then she says "I just had an awful dream, you were shot dead". PAM, YOUR DREAM WAS THE WHOLE OF SEASON 9 WHICH NOW NEVER HAPPENED
Cast changes without changing character. It happens a lot but why not create a new character and kill off old character rather than say nothing. In Aussie soap "Home And Away", one weekend VJ went away a small short haired 15 year old , coming back on Monday a foot taller, 20 lbs heavier, voice two notes deeper and with longer hair which his mother never noticed.
(9) Over Concentration On Some Characters:
"Glee" makes it into the list again here. As far as I could see "Glee" was supposed to be about a group of high school kids so how come 90% of each episode was about Rachel, 9% about Kurt and the rest had to fight to be seen in the remaining percent. They were all on a equal level of talent.
In the Millennium trilogy in which "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" is the most famous book. I think the fact the author was a journalist made him want to concentrate on the journalist male character in the book, Mikael Blomkvist and make him a shining example but with closer scrutiny some of his attributes are not as perfect as the author thinks, Lisbeth Salander is a far more interesting character and gets far more traction with the reading public. The image is Mikael from the film of the Book.
(10) Ghost Writers:
You are writing a series of books with a core of central characters. Admit you are using ghost writers, a reader will notice, I have read James Patterson books with Alex Cross as the central character and seen at least three completely different personalities for him.
I have also noticed Patricia Cornwell's character Kay Scarpetta completely change as well personality wise in different books..
Conclusion:
I suppose I should be happy that there is a lot of stuff out there that I like and it is okay to have a few quibbles with them, as The Rolling Stones say "You Can't Always Get What You Want" but in fairness, I am pretty happy with most of it.
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
1Opinion
James Patterson does not hides the fact he uses ghost writers.
www.telegraph.co.uk/.../...ller-factory-works.html
Good to see he admits it - A bit ethically suspect I think.
I agree it claims to help new struggling writers but I think he's got to be the one mostly benefiting from this.
Makes me glad I have never read one of his books.
Meh, Patterson. You read one, you read 'em all. Sadly, that really is the case for most popular modern writers (Cornwell, Baldacci, etc.)
@Fathoms77 Yep. I think legitimate writers rarely get the attention they deserve in the mainstream media.
Just look at the romance writers people are most currently familiar with Nicholas Sparks, Stephenie Meyer, and E. L. James. Nicholas Sparks derides the romance genre, both Stephenie Meyer, and E. L. James were nobodies. None of them have ever once won a RITA from Romance Writers of America. The very purpose of the RITA is to "to promote excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding published novels and novellas."
Any wonder why none of them has ever won besides not even bothering to enter that is?
I read very few new novels, let's just put it that way. :P The latest one I read was Chad Harbach's "The Art of Fielding" and it was only okay, as far as I was concerned. I simply choose to read the best literature has to offer down through the ages.
@Fathoms77 So you only read classics and literary fiction? I actual recently did a question www.girlsaskguys.com/.../q2090897-let-s-talk-about-what-books-we-are-currently-reading-please-include
as an impromptu book discussion.
Yes, mostly. Though I'd rather say I tend to read just about everything that isn't necessarily modern, as "classic" encompasses anything written before 1980 or and there are a couple millennia of stuff written before that, of course. :)
@Fathoms77 I think your selling contemporary literature short but to each his own. Happy reading.
Some of it's fine, a few are even great. It's just that none of it seems capable of standing up to the best humanity has produced in the past, in my view.
Actually, they weren't all "dead and in purgatory" in the last episode of Lost. That was a flash into the future. If you remember, most of them managed to leave the island in an airplane.
Jack died in the bamboo forest near the beach, watching the plane leaving the island.
In the future flash, they all met in the purgatory (after they have all died).
This is Spiorad_Aisce, I have deactivated my account because I was getting too much into the BattleRoyale competition. I had written 20 takes for it in 3 weeks and ran out of steam. Anyway your opinion is correct, I did a bit of research into the lost ending since, I think I am one of the section of viewers who were confused and disappointed so I just lashed out at the purgatory bit. For some reason, it is the only bit I really remember in the church.
@Saoirse_Nua Indeed, I know what you mean, lots of people were a bit disappointed with the last season of Lost, it's like the show lost it's edge.