[ SECRET POST #3191 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3191 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 027 secrets from Secret Submission Post #456.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. http://i.imgur.com/zKBE9CF.png

[(Anonymous)]

I think this sometimes, too, yeah. Like OP notes, criticism is good and necessary, but yeah, I think sometimes people who do it don't quite seem to understand how the TV business really...works.

An example would be when they heap anger onto a showrunner and blame them for any and all problems a series is going through. Yes, the job title indicates they do have some control and say over what goes on, and there are times they can fuck up, certainly.

But I often feel fans tend to forget that showrunners have people they have to answer to as well. Just 'cause they might be cool with, or against, something happening on their show doesn't mean the advertisers or the network executives would agree. And sometimes their hands can be tied depending on issues with actors and writers and time constraints depending on the channel the show is on as well. Sometimes there are things that are truly out of their control. And yet I don't think some people realize or think about that fact.

[(Anonymous)]

Whenever people go on about how if they were the showrunner, they'd do X!!... I don't say it out loud but I internally roll my eyes and go "yeah, and then you'd get fired"

[(Anonymous)]

Haha, so true. Yeah, it's a lovely fantasy to have sometimes, sure. But there's a reason why it'd ONLY be a fantasy.

People seem to have that attitude about a lot of jobs, though. I work in retail, and it amazes me how much stuff customers seem to think I and other retail workers have control over, or that if I'm unable to do something for a customer or whatever, that it's intentional on my part and I'm doing it (or not doing it) just to piss them off.

Yes. You have figured out my evil master plan, oh, savvy customer.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you do it intentionally to piss them off sometimes though? :P

[(Anonymous)]

LOL, not so far, no, but there are times I am very sorely tempted...:D.

[(Anonymous)]

Omg me too.
Like, no I can't order you this product we don't have at our store.
I'm a cashier. I don't make decisions about what to order.
I'm a cashier. I don't have any influence on what day new stuff comes.
I'm a cashier. I'm not allowed to give you a discount without asking my boss first.
I'M A DAMN CASHIER AND NO I'M NOT HIDING YOUR PREFERRED CIGARETTE BRAND UNDER THE DESK!!! AND I ALSO DON'T CRAWL INTO THE REVERSE VENDING MACHINE TO DESTROY IT FOR FUNSIES IN THE MORNING!
I LITERALLY HAVE NO POWER AT ALL.

(This got way more rantier than I thought, but this week I had an influx of really obnoxious clients. :/)

[(Anonymous)]

Like, no I can't order you this product we don't have at our store.
I'm a cashier. I don't make decisions about what to order.
I'm a cashier. I don't have any influence on what day new stuff comes.
I'm a cashier. I'm not allowed to give you a discount without asking my boss first.

Been there. I also get people griping about the prices of things...guess what, people, I don't set those, either!

Rant away! Feels good to let it all out, doesn't it :D? Sorry you've had a rough week with customers-hope you have some pleasant ones come your way soon! There's a few of 'em out there!

[(Anonymous)]

THIS OMG THIS. Networks fuck with shows all the time.

AND ALSO. If an actor is a key part of a show they can leverage that to shape the show, and sometimes that leads to bad things. (Example #1: Andromeda! Example 2: The Good Wife!)

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly. The execs and ad people don't care about or focus on the same things the fans do. All they're generally interested in is, "Is this show making us money and keeping our network going?"

And excellent point about the actors, too. I'm not familiar with the "Andromeda" situation, but I've heard a bit about some of the behind the scenes shenanigans with "The Good Wife". Give an actor enough clout and they can throw their weight around, or try to, at least, in a lot of ways.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. And from the way some people talk, it's clear they don't actually have a clue about what goes into creating a TV show nor all the limitations that are beyond control of the writers/producers.

[(Anonymous)]

I hold writers up to the standard of not having giant gaping plot holes. And then when fans bring them up not to say "well this happened off screen".

Idk like I know doing a show involves a lot but there are certain things showrunners do that just drive me bonkers.

[(Anonymous)]

Do I think I would be up to the monumental, life-consuming task of helming a show. Fuck no. But there are definitely shows where I look at the writing aspect of it and think, "Even I could do a way better job than this. WTF are they even THINKING? Do they know their own characters AT ALL??!"

However, it's notable that I definitely don't feel this way about all shows, and I don't tend to imagine myself as the one who would come in and make the show better. It's usually someone else, or several someone elses working as a team. Some non-specific group of writers who really GET the story's potential and the characters' potential and who turn the whole thing around and manage to capture at least a little of the greatness the story is capable of. (It's not an ego trip where I come in and be awesome, is what I'm saying. In the cases where I think I could write a show better, I also think many, many other people could also write the show better, and would be candidates waaaay up the list from me.)

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I think there's a vast difference between saying, "Oh, I don't like how that storyline was written/played out" and the belief that you could run a show without any issues or whatever. There are story arcs that I've seen and thought, "Hm, I think I would've taken that in a different direction, personally." Or, "I wish the show had touched on this topic or issue a little more." And if there's contradictions in a character's backstory or canon, I'll notice it and be like, "Um...".

But then that's why I go and write fanfiction dealing with my reaction to those sorts of moments :p. Or discuss and debate it in fandom conversation. Beyond that, however, I'm certainly not sitting there thinking, "If I ran the show, everything would be better!" or anything like that.

And if I did have that dream, your comments about group efforts and letting those who are way better at writing/running things take over are mine as well.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel this way about video games, especially Bioware games. While there are a ton of very good reasons to criticize them, especially the writing, most people who do so act as if development is just like writing fanfic or coming up with meta with their friends over Skype. They have no idea the complexity involved, nor the fact that their audience is more than the hundred or so people on tumblr who all want the storylines to address their extremely niche interests.

[(Anonymous)]

I was just coming to this thread to say that Bioware fans are possibly the worst about this. The secret made me think of this one person who thinks that adding poly romances to the games would be as simple as adding (literally) a single line of code, and that the devs must be withholding them out of pure malice.

[(Anonymous)]

Years ago, I read a piece from Neil Gaiman about working on a TV project, and it convinced that working in cinema is absurdly hard, because the teams are so huge. It's very hard to have a single vision come through, whatever you intend.

[ninety6tears]

If they think they could do better they're likely wrong, but not necessarily wrong? But there's a huge difference in skill between writing it and running it and lots of people don't seem to realize that.