This is probably a bad idea.
Happy Birthday, and better days ahead (and back!), I hope, to visionofblue.
Now...
But I'm so pissed off right now that I have to do it. I'll probably think better of it and delete this entry later, but here goes. I lurk at Mariska Hargitay's messageboard. Someone from TWoP asked me to join the SVU snark thread, but I declined because I don't feel like I'm enough of a fan of hers to be on her MB. Specifically, I have gotten much less fond of the character she plays on SVU, and I knew I'd spend most of my time in an SVU thread either criticizing her or defending Stabler from some of the zealots. Who needs a non-fan on a fan message board?
But, if you've read anything about the board at TWoP, the place is a trainwreck. So I lurk and mock silently. And I specifically tried to restrain myself from discussing the board or the site on TWoP (though I did make a few posts), because, again, I'm not a real fan and so my opinion of her site isn't really relevant.
Imagine my surprise then, when I discovered today that I became the topic of a side discussion on the board. It starts here and continues on the next page. Thanks to Dawnie for the support, though she did not tell me about the thread, nor did I ask her to defend me.
I resent the whole discussion on so many levels, beginning with the idea that Dawnie was really me, just in disguise. As far as SVU fandom goes, I think I post almost everywhere with this screen name, except at yahoo where I didn't feel like signing up for a new e-mail address. My screenname there is kellysruby, but I sign my posts as Sarah and have never tried to pretend I'm not also UltraViolet730. The person who began the discussion is, of course, NOT using her LJ name (or what I assume is her LJ name) on MH's board and could be accused of trying to hide her identity. Except, you know, why would anyone care?
The second objection I have is to the introduction of my name into the board to begin with. I stayed away from the board partly for the very things I'm being accused of - I knew my posts would seem repetitive and strident, because I'm not a fan of the direction Olivia's character has taken, and because I do feel a need to defend Stabler's character against what I consider misperception.
Thirdly and probably most acutely, I object to the not-so-subtle derision/condescension in her comments. This person lurks at TWoP and apparently finds my Stabler opinions to be repetitive, obvious and I'm guessing unconvincing. Oh, and obsessive. I can't deny that Stabler is my topic of choice at TWoP and other places. Or that I emphasize the same points in my posts. There are serious reasons why I allow some of this to get to me: it bothers me that people take the fact that Stabler is a straight, white, Irish-Catholic cop and use different parts of that background to assume opinions and behavior not in evidence. As a straight, white Irish-Catholic non-cop, I don't like seeing his character labeled negatively for things he hasn't even done or said.
Of course, there's also the shallow reasons I post so often about Stabler - I think CM is hot. And I like him as an actor.
I feel foolish even having to type that, because, really, why are any of us online discussing fandom and actors/actresses? Many people who don't go online would find the behavior in and of itself obsessive. I don't agree with that. Someone could go to the MH board and ask why "Olivia's Big Hands" has posted 193 times on a board she openly mocks and with a group of fans that she obviously finds, for the most part, idiotic, embarrassing and beneath her. But I won't do that, because I assume she feels like she is making a difference, letting the squeeing 12-year-olds know that there's a different kind of MH fan out there and that there are different ways to perceive the character. I also assume that she finds MH hot, and that plays a part in it.
There are just so many pot/kettle retorts I am trying to resist posting. I could point out the similarities in behavior and the hypocrisy of mocking me for doing the very things she derides. Or I could go through my recent TWoP posts and point out that I tried to start a discussion about the Benson good-old-days, when I really enjoyed her character, but that it got nowhere. Or I could ask why she bothers reading any of my posts if they are so boring and predictable. I could point out that her posts are entirely predictable and repetitive. Or I could point out thay my "obsessiveness" is, for the most part, confined to discussions of a fictional character. That I do not make a habit of making internet posts about a celebrity's real-life sexuality.
But I won't do any of that because she's entitled to do all of those things. And because I doubt any attempt at conversation would be productive. I can't be 100% sure she's the LJ poster I assume she is, so I can't contact her privately. But I don't belong to the MH board. And I don't want to join just to perpetuate a conversation about myself, a convo that doesn't really belong there. Even I am, apparently, not that obsessive.
But I'm also not enough of a Catholic to turn the other cheek. So here it is, Olivia's Big Hands. My answer to you. Feel free to respond here or find another place to discuss it where I can't respond. Or, you know, make fun privately, which I find to be a very helpful and healthy option.
ETA: This is the poster's somewhat chastened response to idledandy's gallant defense. Seems I'm not obsessive, just repetitive.
In that spirit, I'll repeat: Pot. Kettle.
We're done here.
Now...
But I'm so pissed off right now that I have to do it. I'll probably think better of it and delete this entry later, but here goes. I lurk at Mariska Hargitay's messageboard. Someone from TWoP asked me to join the SVU snark thread, but I declined because I don't feel like I'm enough of a fan of hers to be on her MB. Specifically, I have gotten much less fond of the character she plays on SVU, and I knew I'd spend most of my time in an SVU thread either criticizing her or defending Stabler from some of the zealots. Who needs a non-fan on a fan message board?
But, if you've read anything about the board at TWoP, the place is a trainwreck. So I lurk and mock silently. And I specifically tried to restrain myself from discussing the board or the site on TWoP (though I did make a few posts), because, again, I'm not a real fan and so my opinion of her site isn't really relevant.
Imagine my surprise then, when I discovered today that I became the topic of a side discussion on the board. It starts here and continues on the next page. Thanks to Dawnie for the support, though she did not tell me about the thread, nor did I ask her to defend me.
I resent the whole discussion on so many levels, beginning with the idea that Dawnie was really me, just in disguise. As far as SVU fandom goes, I think I post almost everywhere with this screen name, except at yahoo where I didn't feel like signing up for a new e-mail address. My screenname there is kellysruby, but I sign my posts as Sarah and have never tried to pretend I'm not also UltraViolet730. The person who began the discussion is, of course, NOT using her LJ name (or what I assume is her LJ name) on MH's board and could be accused of trying to hide her identity. Except, you know, why would anyone care?
The second objection I have is to the introduction of my name into the board to begin with. I stayed away from the board partly for the very things I'm being accused of - I knew my posts would seem repetitive and strident, because I'm not a fan of the direction Olivia's character has taken, and because I do feel a need to defend Stabler's character against what I consider misperception.
Thirdly and probably most acutely, I object to the not-so-subtle derision/condescension in her comments. This person lurks at TWoP and apparently finds my Stabler opinions to be repetitive, obvious and I'm guessing unconvincing. Oh, and obsessive. I can't deny that Stabler is my topic of choice at TWoP and other places. Or that I emphasize the same points in my posts. There are serious reasons why I allow some of this to get to me: it bothers me that people take the fact that Stabler is a straight, white, Irish-Catholic cop and use different parts of that background to assume opinions and behavior not in evidence. As a straight, white Irish-Catholic non-cop, I don't like seeing his character labeled negatively for things he hasn't even done or said.
Of course, there's also the shallow reasons I post so often about Stabler - I think CM is hot. And I like him as an actor.
I feel foolish even having to type that, because, really, why are any of us online discussing fandom and actors/actresses? Many people who don't go online would find the behavior in and of itself obsessive. I don't agree with that. Someone could go to the MH board and ask why "Olivia's Big Hands" has posted 193 times on a board she openly mocks and with a group of fans that she obviously finds, for the most part, idiotic, embarrassing and beneath her. But I won't do that, because I assume she feels like she is making a difference, letting the squeeing 12-year-olds know that there's a different kind of MH fan out there and that there are different ways to perceive the character. I also assume that she finds MH hot, and that plays a part in it.
There are just so many pot/kettle retorts I am trying to resist posting. I could point out the similarities in behavior and the hypocrisy of mocking me for doing the very things she derides. Or I could go through my recent TWoP posts and point out that I tried to start a discussion about the Benson good-old-days, when I really enjoyed her character, but that it got nowhere. Or I could ask why she bothers reading any of my posts if they are so boring and predictable. I could point out that her posts are entirely predictable and repetitive. Or I could point out thay my "obsessiveness" is, for the most part, confined to discussions of a fictional character. That I do not make a habit of making internet posts about a celebrity's real-life sexuality.
But I won't do any of that because she's entitled to do all of those things. And because I doubt any attempt at conversation would be productive. I can't be 100% sure she's the LJ poster I assume she is, so I can't contact her privately. But I don't belong to the MH board. And I don't want to join just to perpetuate a conversation about myself, a convo that doesn't really belong there. Even I am, apparently, not that obsessive.
But I'm also not enough of a Catholic to turn the other cheek. So here it is, Olivia's Big Hands. My answer to you. Feel free to respond here or find another place to discuss it where I can't respond. Or, you know, make fun privately, which I find to be a very helpful and healthy option.
ETA: This is the poster's somewhat chastened response to idledandy's gallant defense. Seems I'm not obsessive, just repetitive.
In that spirit, I'll repeat: Pot. Kettle.
We're done here.