Miss Dee

I prefer a paper book in almost all situations. That said, there's a big exception made for travelling - I like to have some favorites on the iPad so I'll always have something to read. I want to own those favorites in paper as well, though, for when I'm home. I find books (paper or electronic) expensive, so I rarely buy something that's untested. Most of the ebooks I own are the free classics. So for new material either I leave a list for my husband to get out of the library (he's involved with the local board and delights in finding me things), or it goes on the Christmas list. Therefore most of my library reading is paper books. There's something to be said for the environmental aspect of switching to ebooks, though. Think of all the books that must get tossed as junk every year.

There used to be a Canadian show about a newsroom called E.N.G. (Electronic News Gathering). It was about a newsroom in "Metro" (read: Toronto) and started with the premise that the bosses brought in a character called Mike to be news director instead of promoting the fiery Ann to the position. It pre-dawn fast moving shows like ER and NYPD Blue in the States, but was a great deal like those shows; it also had a lot of serialization and interesting characters, and tackled interesting issues - coming out, disability, suicide, sexual abuse, even alien abduction. Not all stories ended happily. And it introduced Victor Garber and Clark Johnson long before they became recognized in the States. It was a fantastic show - CTV, I think, although I watched it in reruns when it came on in the afternoons on CBC in the late 90s, right after All My Children and the Janet-from-Another-Planet years. Anyone else in Canada watch this besides me?!

You know, I never minded Crusher's inability to get beyond the physical reality of her lover in The Host. While I get that a lot of people can be elastic about the sex of the person they love, many others cannot - they like the sex they like, and that's that. Plus Beverly had just gotten beyond the change of body once. I'm not sure humans can evolve enough by the 22nd century that one's lover can wear different faces and shapes all the time and one wouldn't care. Although it might be an intriguing series-long arc to consider for a coupled character in the next series...whenever it comes.

As someone who loves Jane Austen and all her romantic pairings and wishes she could go to Austenland for a visit, I can sympathize with loving that kind of story. But this is not that story, and in insisting TPTB try to turn it into one, they're missing the great story that is there.

I've got a sinking feeling that the purpose of this is to make us think Reese's old lady is getting fridged...only to fridge Reese instead.

I think, much like Ichabbie itself, "Tempus Fugit" and "Pilot" need each other to demonstrate how completely awesome they really are.

I thought that counselor was rather savvy. He basically told Mike at the outset he was going to clear him (so the cop wouldn't get all squirrelly about having to bare his feelings in order to get off a suspension and thus act overly defensive), but he had to stay the hour (thus upping the chances he'd start talking just to pass the time).

"My friends...you bow to no one."

I figured "you're like a son" wasn't meant as a literal truth so much as a way for Wells to get Cisco to doubt he was going to harm him. If he could get Cisco to still see him as a father figure who cared about him, then Cisco might hesitate to act instead of diving for cover or a ray gun or something.

I'm no expert, but here goes: "Showrunner" refers to the head person running the show. The person in charge of the writer's room, the one who is in charge of day-to-day happenings. The Manager of Operations, if you will. "Shipping" is actively rooting for a romantic pairing in a show or other story. These pairings are usually called "ships", and the people doing the rooting are "shippers". Ah, I see mine is not the first offering, nor the most elegant.

Hee. That's a funny saying. Wish she'd had a chance to show a sense of humour on the show.

If you love Michael Emerson, he's just as compelling as a complex good guy on Person of Interest.

I take your point, jhlipton. I thought about making that the other end of my range I described above, but decided to keep it at structural racism instead, as I was saying that's the only thing I feel comfortable assuming about Goffman in this situation. But even there there's room for nuance. Did he truly only see side lining Jenny and Irving for Hawley and Katrina as a temporary necessity for the story, completely clueless about the message he was sending? Did he deliberately try to reduce the number of minority characters, cynically assuming that a whiter cast meant bigger ratings and more money? Does he honestly not understand the audience investment in Ichabod/Abbie, or is he afraid of it in some way? But unless I see more evidence to the contrary, I'm not comfortable assuming he hates people of colour or is disgusted with the idea of closeness between Abbie and Ichabod.

Thanks, jhlipton, for putting it so succinctly. I don't like accusing people of overt racism unless I'm a lot closer tothe situation than I am to this one to make that judgment. But I think he's racist in the way most of us white people are unconsciously racist, in that we don't understand our own privilege and how the actions we would take towards a white person can have a very different meaning and effect when taken towards a person of colour. In which I include myself; just because I try to be aware of it doesn't mean I'm not guilty of bit at times myself. Isn't there a song that goes "Everybody's a Little Bit Racist"? I think that's true of white people anyway, when you're talking about structural racism. Although maybe we need a different word; there's a lot of power in the word "racist", and maybe it shouldn't be diluted down to where someone can go "Yeah, I'm a little racist, but so is every white person, right? I'm working on it." That would seem a bit... blasé. Or am I out to lunch on this? *ahem* Topic? Don't mind if I do! I guess I'm saying that I believe Goffman really doesn't get race relations and has blinders on when it comes to privileging white actors over actors of colour, but I don't think that necessarily means he thinks people of colour should be treated differently (lesser than) white people as a general rule. But is that a popular or unpopular opinion? I'm not sure. I've heard plenty of people say or suggest that they think he's racist, but what do we mean when we use that term? There is, to me, a range of behaviour between "He doesn't understand his own privilege and how his writing decisions affect the show" and "He's deliberately trying to erase the diversity of the show to make it a show of white actors with one token minority actor." Both are racist, but have very different levels of knowledge, intention, and consciousness of behaviour. And maybe we should be saying none of that matters a fig, because the only thing that does matter is the effect. But I have a hard time accepting that on general principle.

Hee. Andy Travis.

This gives "Shipping Wars" a whole new meaning. :)

Nobody tell me if they've met Alan Rickman! I couldn't bear finding out that he's an asshole or pervert or something.

My UO: Although it was universally panned, I adore the Harrison Ford/Julia Ormond remake of Sabrina. So much so that if I ever have a little girl I'm calling her Sabrina. I get the complaints; I just don't give a shit.

If anyone can suggest a great Sleepy Hollow-related and theme-related phrase to put in front, have at it! I thought, with us on pins and needles, it'd be great to have a place to discuss our hopes, fears, and predictions for renewal (IT WILL BE A RENEWAL, RIGHT? RIGHT?!!). When we get a season 3 ("WHEN", NOT "IF"! ARE YOU HEARING ME, FOX?!!!!), we can use it as a central place to discuss (possibly angst over) ratings and any scheduling changes or updates. I thought I'd throw out a topic to start us off with: does the announcement of Goffman's departure make you more or less certain that we'll get a Season 3? And who would you like most to take the reins, whether a likely choice, unlikely gamble, or pie-in-the-sky dreaming?

That's how Hollywood works, though. Every single network bigwig has been hired and fired about 10 times; some shows have had a different show runner every season. You've got to fuck up pretty bad to be untouchable. Hell, people still want to work with Roman Polanski.

I figured that's what broke PTV this evening! *grin* Ladies and gentlemen, start your squeeing. Personally I think it's a sign of good faith, both that Fox wants to bring Sleepy Hollow back as well as that they want it to work this time when they do.

How to Make an American Quilt - the montage near the end where all the ladies are putting the finishing touches on the details of the quilt for Finn, and each lady flashes back to the scene in her life that prompted the detail... causes ugly sobs for me. A League of Their Own - the entire end with the ladies visiting their exhibit at the Hall of Fame. By the way, the casting of those ladies to match their younger counterparts was STELLAR. The Joy Luck Club - "I see you." Toy Story II - Jessie's story of love and abandonment to the tune of Sarah McLachlan's "When She Loved Me." Fucking destroyed me the first time I watched it. Shall We Dance? - Richard Gere bringing his wife the rose to the tune of Peter Gabriel's "The Book of Love."

The Life of David Gale. The videotape Kate Winslet watches at the end. I saw that movie over 10 years ago; I can't remember my birthday parties and parts of my wedding day are a blur and sometimes I have trouble envisioning my loved ones' faces... but I actively have to push the memories of That Scene out of my mind to this day. I sometimes hate the way my brain works.

I always thought you could make an interesting fantasy/procedural hybrid on the Aurors from the Harry Potter series.

I'm fine with this trope for white men/white women, because you're right that the default is always to stick them in a relationship. You should add Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows from the original CSI lineup to your list; Grissom did get involved with another character, but she wasn't the lead.That said: I think when it comes to white men/women of colour, making them platonic, "no romance here; yuck!" IS the trope. And I know Fitz and Olivia will be brought up here, but a) that relationship was established from the beginning, which is different the the "man and woman are partners, than something more" trope discussed here; b) that is a toxic relationship I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy; c) Shonda shows regularly subvert this trope because she's a WOC herself and knows damn well other show runners are too chicken-shit to go there. So the tropes I like are: "white men/white women leads start off as partners and become platonic friends only," but "white men/women of colour leads start off as partners but are fated to become the romantic end-game couple." Precisely because each of these are the rare tropes that go against the default story lines on most shows. I don't think these two tropes can be conflated; the race of the woman being considered for the white male lead makes a significant impact on how far most shows are willing to go with the possibility of real romance, as opposed to only teasing it to keep viewers invested.