Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Getting a good chuckle—while feeling annoyed/confused—about The Walking Dead nerdrage

Returning to a bit of familiar turf for me...(ranting ahead)

You gotta laugh—or maybe weep—at hardcore nerds in frothing nerdrage with an over-inflated sense of their own creative abilities. The types who swear with a solemn face that Tolkien should have dropped books 2 and 4 of The Lord of the Rings, tightened up all those boring travel-y bits in book 6, leavened it with a liberal dose of combat carnage, and viola! The Lord of the Rings is 10x better than that crappy book sitting on your shelf.

The latest example comes courtesy of message board discussions of The Walking Dead. I’m not naming the board(s) in question to protect the guilty parties (e-mail me if you want the hard evidence), but really, when you’ve got (according to their avatar pictures) middle-aged men stating in non-ironic fashion that they could out-write the writers of The Walking Dead, no problem and for sure, then you follow their blog link back and find grade-school caliber fiction so bad it makes your eyes water … yeah. Hard to take these critics seriously. But it doesn’t stop them from wanting the rest of us to hear the truth about why this show sucks so bad.

So let’s take stock of the situation.

At this point The Walking Dead is two years in and on its 19th episode. If you’ve watched them all you’ve sunk almost a day of your life into the endeavor. So the nerdragers have now chosen to voluntarily endure 19 hours of bile-inducing torture. Most sane people would ask: Why? The solution is easy: shut the goddamn thing off and stop clogging up message boards with your nerdrage. Try one of the other150 or so cable channels. This is not 1979 where options were limited and everyone was stuck watching Creature Double Feature on Channel 56. We've graduated from VCRs to DVDs to DVRs. You’ve got vast libraries of films in your Netflix account (including literal scores of B-grade zombie flicks) to choose from. Actual libraries of books to read. Comics. Videogames. We’ve got more entertainment at our personal disposal than the sum total of entire previous generations. We’re drowning in entertainment options. And porn. So, please, rather than continuing to bitch about The Walking Dead do me a favor and pull the damned plug.

I’d respect these complaints more if the nerdragers turned the TV off. But I gotta laugh because they’ve watched far more closely than I, a fan, ever has. They remember every little clue like those dead cop zombies that didn’t have bites (how did they zombify?) and speculate incessantly about what that whispered conversation was back in the CDC episode. They rewatch episodes. They stick around for Talking Dead afterwards. Some of them have even taken the extra step of going out and buying up the comics to read ahead but boy howdy! It all sucks! GAPING logic holes LAAZY writing and yet they keep coming back, every week, to the same threads, to voice their displeasure. What gives? Can anyone explain this phenomenon? I don’t get it. When I read Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World at my college roommate’s suggestion I didn’t like it, decided that one book was enough, and stopped the series. I didn’t plow through the rest of The Wheel of Time, whining all the way. I used to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation and when that ended I decided to give Deep Space Nine a try. I realized I didn’t like the characters so I—wait for it—stopped watching. And found something else to do with my time.

I’ve got my own gripes with The Walking Dead—characters doing dumb things that don’t promote survival, failing parenting 101, and so on--but damn, dude, it’s still worth watching. I tune in every week and enjoy it for what it is: Survival drama with zombies, seasoned with interesting moral dilemmas, examination of the line between brute survival and civilization/humanity, and ruminations about how to cope with our own mortality (our death is coming slowly, inevitably, like the zombies, and it will get us in the end. The question is how we deal with it). It’s good stuff.

If you can explain this self-flagellation phenomenon—subjecting oneself week after week to a show that purportedly demeans my intelligence and is full of suck thought it was Walking Dead not Talking Dead and will they ever get off the damned farm--I’d like to hear it. I’m struggling to find a rational answer. Are zombies just that popular that their fans will watch anything featuring a corpse?

10 comments:

Beth D. said...

I still watch and enjoy The Walking Dead. I think I started watching it more as a curiosity, and then was sucked in. I have had my own issues with it along the way, but now my only thing is with AMC making me watch Comic Book Men for that one little clip that is usually a let down. I could discuss The Walking Dead all day, and one day I would really love to dig into the comics, I hear they are a little different. I can't say why people flame things, but they do it with everything on the net.

Beth ^_^
http://sweetbooksnstuff.blogspot.com/

Narmer said...

I don't like zombies so I don't watch. Simple, as you pointed out.

Trey said...

I've noticed this same phenomena with other things. I think they do like it in some way (otherwise why keep coming back) but derive more pleasure feeling they're superior to it in some way than actually enjoying it.

In my youth, I noticed a similar sort of phenomena among father's of my friends. They would watch some science fiction show or movie and complain the whole time about the implausibility of it--but never change the channel.

I wonder if seeking out this feeling of superiority isn't one of the reasons reality TV is so popular.

jason said...

I have a love/hate relationship with the show. (maybe that's too strong-- a like/dislike might be more accurate) I love the idea of a zombie apocalypse television show and the show has had some great moments. However, it does do some stupid things--the zombies are like ninjas, quietly creeping up to the characters and springing up with rawr out of nowhere. Perhaps the rage you mention comes from 1. they're posting on the net and 2. they're disappointed and think it could be better. I get disappointed by things that are clearly plot contrivances and reek of laziness or lack of imagination, the same kinds of things that turn me off when reading. That being said, I do find some good stuff in it--it's a popcorn kind of enjoyment and that's okay. You just can't think about it too much.

Brian Murphy said...

Hi Beth,

now my only thing is with AMC making me watch Comic Book Men for that one little clip that is usually a let down.

I always see this advertised but I haven't bothered to watch myself... sounds like I'm not missing much.

I don't like zombies so I don't watch. Simple, as you pointed out.

Come now, you're being too reasonable! I do think most if not all of these internet critics like zombies, but they don't seem to like the show so I'm not sure why they keep watching...

I think they do like it in some way (otherwise why keep coming back) but derive more pleasure feeling they're superior to it in some way than actually enjoying it.

Good observation Trey, I would suspect that's the case here. It's likely a bit of showing off on the internet too...

However, it does do some stupid things--the zombies are like ninjas, quietly creeping up to the characters and springing up with rawr out of nowhere. Perhaps the rage you mention comes from 1. they're posting on the net and 2. they're disappointed and think it could be better.

I have some of the same problems too, and I don't mind discussion of them (I find these conversations interesting, in fact). My post was more of a commentary on people who visit threads solely to explain about how much the show sucks, without praising any of its good qualities, or explaining why they heck they keep coming back, week after week, for 19 episodes. There must be something there...

STAG said...

I guess if you dumb down a (book-tv show-college course, whatever) enough, people will watch it to feel superior.

I think it is a truism that if it is above average, people won't watch or read it. Even a badly acted high school production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" is superior to pretty much anything I see on TV, yet we don't get the "Byron Channel".

I think that is just human nature. Fun to spot it in action though!

Taranaich said...

I used to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation and when that ended I decided to give Deep Space Nine a try. I realized I didn’t like the characters so I—wait for it—stopped watching.

DUDE.

In fairness, the first two seasons are, shall we say, not very good. I haven't even seen all of them. I'd even say only the pilot and "Duet" were worth watching. But once Worf came on the show, it kicks into overdrive. It isn't my absolute favourite Trek series, but I'm definitely glad I started watching more regularly after "Way of the Warrior."

francisco said...

it's a complex thing, people and critics say good things about the show and you're almost in the obligation of see it, in fact it wasn't until season 3 that I noticed that Lost was a boring thing for me and even a... not know the word in english for engaño, estafa, tomadura de pelo... trick? trap?

by the way are you interested in The walkind dead comic books? I have read some of the first issues and are even better than the show

we've got now a satration of entertainment and information with internet not a long time ago when you had a doubt about a filmography or something like that you must write a letter to some specialized publication and wait months for the answer if they gave an answer, internet along with the print machine (impresora) of Guttenberg are the best inventions of humanity

francisco said...

saturation

Brian Murphy said...

by the way are you interested in The walkind dead comic books? I have read some of the first issues and are even better than the show

Hey Francisco, no, I haven't read them, but I'm tempted to track them down as I wait for season 3...