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selenakNot that I always managed this. And what works for me may not work for you, as we’re all different, etc. But here are a few ideas:
1.) So you’re reached the point where every episode of what was once a beloved show, every book of a series you used to look forward to, every movie sequel becomes a drag. There may be still one or two scenes which are enjoyable, but you find yourself bored or infuriated by the rest. Your reviews, if you write them, are a long series of complaints, and not just for the occasional bad episode which happens in all canons, but all the time. There is also no reason to expect a radical change of writing (like, say, in the case of a tv show a completely new writing team), and/or your favourite characters are gone/lost all the traits you used to like them for. QUIT WATCHING OR READING NOW. Seriously. Don’t hate watch. Don’t keep watching because your fandom friends do. QUIT. Cold turkey. Completely. If you are a completist “but I have to know how it ends” type, you can always check out reviews by other people, but QUIT CONSUMING THE CANON.
2.) Your biggest problem is that you lose the chance of fannish interaction (discussion, writing fanfiction) with fandom friends when you quit consuming the canon. I sympathize, because it happened to me a couple of times. Here are some do’s and don’ts for me: DON’T keep commenting on your friends’ posts on the canon with bitter remarks of how you now loathe it. If you feel the continued need to rant some more about how canon has let you down, do so in your own virtual space, but remember, other people still enjoy it, and lecturing them on how mistaken they are to do so (because that’s how these type of comments come across) is just rude. DO try to find either a new canon to get enthusiastic about and cunningly try to lure the old fandom friends into getting interested in that one as well so you can discuss it with them, or revisit another old canon you know you and your missed friends share. This requires endurance and not giving up after the first two or so posts don’t get any echo of the hoped for type, but it eventually pays off for at least some of them. *waves atandraste*.
3.) Let some time pass (it can be one year, it can be ten, that really depends on you), then revisit the old canon during the era when you still loved it. Do not focus on what came after but watch/read what you used to love. More often than not, this leads to renewed enjoyment (at least, for me it does; most recent example was when I did my rewatch of the first three seasons of Once upon a Time a year or so after breaking up with it), and sometimes shared squee or shared discussion with old fandom friends about the era in question. Again: do not spoil this for yourself and your friends by turning a “this was one of character X’ best episodes” comment into an excuse to go off on a rant about how utterly character X devolved in season/movie/book NNNN. (Well, if you know that the friend who commented shares your opinion on that subject, and will gladly join you in an exchange of rants, go ahead. But generally speaking, it works better for me the other way around.)
4.) If the canon revisiting results in you realizing you don’t love the book/movie/tv show seasons that used to entrance you anymore, either, for whatever reason (your taste has changed, or you are simply unable to banish future developments from interfering with your watcher/reader enjoyment), I can understand this results in some need to vent. But again: do it in your own virtual space. And unless you very firmly lock this, avoid phrasing it in ways like “I can’t believe I ever fell for that stupid crap”, because your old fandom friends who fell for it, too, and still feel attachment can take this as a rejection of them even though it’s totally not meant this way. It’s not rational, but it’s emotional logic.
5.) So you’ve found a new canon to fall in love with all over again! Congratulations! This is great. However, before you declare the new canon’s creators infinitely superior to the old canon’s creators, be aware you may eat your words a few years later. In the interest of limiting future bitterness, better write the new squee without “how much better is this than the horrible badness of Canon X” type of remarks. Otoh, comments like “I love how trope Y, which Canon X also employed, is written here, because it presses my fannish buttons far more” may lure curious former fellow fen from Canon X into taking a gander at this new thing. See 2.)
In conclusion: life is short, wasting time on bitterness makes it even shorter. Let it be, let it be...
The other days
1.) So you’re reached the point where every episode of what was once a beloved show, every book of a series you used to look forward to, every movie sequel becomes a drag. There may be still one or two scenes which are enjoyable, but you find yourself bored or infuriated by the rest. Your reviews, if you write them, are a long series of complaints, and not just for the occasional bad episode which happens in all canons, but all the time. There is also no reason to expect a radical change of writing (like, say, in the case of a tv show a completely new writing team), and/or your favourite characters are gone/lost all the traits you used to like them for. QUIT WATCHING OR READING NOW. Seriously. Don’t hate watch. Don’t keep watching because your fandom friends do. QUIT. Cold turkey. Completely. If you are a completist “but I have to know how it ends” type, you can always check out reviews by other people, but QUIT CONSUMING THE CANON.
2.) Your biggest problem is that you lose the chance of fannish interaction (discussion, writing fanfiction) with fandom friends when you quit consuming the canon. I sympathize, because it happened to me a couple of times. Here are some do’s and don’ts for me: DON’T keep commenting on your friends’ posts on the canon with bitter remarks of how you now loathe it. If you feel the continued need to rant some more about how canon has let you down, do so in your own virtual space, but remember, other people still enjoy it, and lecturing them on how mistaken they are to do so (because that’s how these type of comments come across) is just rude. DO try to find either a new canon to get enthusiastic about and cunningly try to lure the old fandom friends into getting interested in that one as well so you can discuss it with them, or revisit another old canon you know you and your missed friends share. This requires endurance and not giving up after the first two or so posts don’t get any echo of the hoped for type, but it eventually pays off for at least some of them. *waves at
andraste*. 3.) Let some time pass (it can be one year, it can be ten, that really depends on you), then revisit the old canon during the era when you still loved it. Do not focus on what came after but watch/read what you used to love. More often than not, this leads to renewed enjoyment (at least, for me it does; most recent example was when I did my rewatch of the first three seasons of Once upon a Time a year or so after breaking up with it), and sometimes shared squee or shared discussion with old fandom friends about the era in question. Again: do not spoil this for yourself and your friends by turning a “this was one of character X’ best episodes” comment into an excuse to go off on a rant about how utterly character X devolved in season/movie/book NNNN. (Well, if you know that the friend who commented shares your opinion on that subject, and will gladly join you in an exchange of rants, go ahead. But generally speaking, it works better for me the other way around.)
4.) If the canon revisiting results in you realizing you don’t love the book/movie/tv show seasons that used to entrance you anymore, either, for whatever reason (your taste has changed, or you are simply unable to banish future developments from interfering with your watcher/reader enjoyment), I can understand this results in some need to vent. But again: do it in your own virtual space. And unless you very firmly lock this, avoid phrasing it in ways like “I can’t believe I ever fell for that stupid crap”, because your old fandom friends who fell for it, too, and still feel attachment can take this as a rejection of them even though it’s totally not meant this way. It’s not rational, but it’s emotional logic.
5.) So you’ve found a new canon to fall in love with all over again! Congratulations! This is great. However, before you declare the new canon’s creators infinitely superior to the old canon’s creators, be aware you may eat your words a few years later. In the interest of limiting future bitterness, better write the new squee without “how much better is this than the horrible badness of Canon X” type of remarks. Otoh, comments like “I love how trope Y, which Canon X also employed, is written here, because it presses my fannish buttons far more” may lure curious former fellow fen from Canon X into taking a gander at this new thing. See 2.)
In conclusion: life is short, wasting time on bitterness makes it even shorter. Let it be, let it be...
The other days
no subject
Date: 2016-01-10 11:21 am (UTC)I didn't really care for later seasons of Stargate SG-1, but the reasons were not anyone's fault. The lead actor wanted to spend more time with his little girl and hence was in the episodes less.
Can't blame him for that, and the replacement characters were well acted.
I didn't care for it enough to watch it all, but I wouldn't say it was bad or wrong.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-10 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-10 04:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-31 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-10 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-10 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-10 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-10 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-11 01:41 pm (UTC)(I mean, I understand why people are so attached to it, especially if they've been watching since they were children. But there are people who seem to have hated it for ten whole years and are still show up on Gallifrey Base every week to tell everyone how much it sucks.)
no subject
Date: 2016-01-11 02:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-12 02:28 am (UTC)(Which is not to say that there aren't bits of the show I don't particularly like, but it's not like I was watching the Saward era on TV every week and then getting online to complain about it. And even the parts I don't enjoy as a whole still have great bits - I mean, The Caves of Androzani is my second-favourite Doctor Who ever.)