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Jumping Off
Some of you guys on my f-list might not want to read this, because I'm expressing a critical opinion on a community that some of you are a member of - ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
jumping_off. You are all more than welcome to read and discuss/criticize - of course - but I'm asking you not to bring the wank if you decide to comment. :)
So,jumping_off. Tonight's the first time I actually checked out that comm, because I for myself was perfectly happy with the LoM finale. But since the internet seems to have died sometime around eight this morning and hasn't yet been resuscitated, I decided to have a look-see.
Oh dear. This community is a perfect example of what happens when fans can't play nice. I feel like a traitor saying this, but it's just a TV show.
Before you get out your switchblades, let me try and explain what I'm saying. Stories are what you make them. If you want to hate a story, you will always find a reason to do so, and the same goes for loving a story. TV shows are nothing but stories. Life on Mars told a story in 16 parts. If you loved 1 to 15, how can you suddenly in part 16 turn your back and decide to hate it? I don't get it; I couldn't do it. If I'd had a problem with what happened in 2x08 - which I didn't - I would have still tried to find a way to reconcile with the story, simply because I loved it for the first 15 parts.
Stories are make-believe, they're a fictional reality, that means you can twist and turn them whichever way you want so they will fit your needs. LoM is a well-done show with consistent characters; it was from part 1 to 15, and it continued to be so in part 16. And there are so many ways to twist the finale into something positive; I can't imagine why so many people would decide to go for the one negative interpretation, especially if it makes them bitter and unhappy.
There's the interpretation of Life on Mars being a statement of the loss of imagination and self-reliance in our time. It's the one I like best, so that's why I'm listing it first. The 70s were a very revolutionary period, when no idea was discarded as long as it was unconventional enough. People were invested, people were interested back then. We've mostly lost that today; we're stuck in routines and rules and regulations, and the people who break out don't do themselves any favors. We see the equivalent of that on the show in the form of Maya, who follows her feelings instead of the rules and immediately gets kidnapped.
When Sam arrives in 1973, his modern-day rigidity clashes with the more improvisational style of that time, and he's marked as an anomaly, a 'freak'. But other than it would happen today, the people from the 70s (eventually) accept him as what he is, accept his new ideas and his different style, because they still know that there is beauty in diversity. They still possess the imagination to widen their horizon and to accept new and different things as something positive.
When Sam returns to 2006, he's an anomaly as well - he's the guy who was in a coma for so-and-so-many months - but instead of adapting and accepting him as an individual person, the people around him try to force their standards on him, and try to make him follow their rules and regulations. They lack the imagination to accept the thought that maybe Sam came back from the almost-dead with some new ideas and ways that they might actually profit from, and they lack the self-reliance to trust a person more than their set of rigid rules.
In this context, if Sam had not jumped off that roof, the statement of the show would have been that conformity and the denial of all identity is the way to go, and - yeah. Maybe not.
Another interpretation goes along the lines of 'friends are today's family'. Sam betrayed his friends in 1973 to return to his mother and girlfriend - his family - but the family in 2006 didn't express a whole lot of interest in him: there was one short scene with his mother, and Maya didn't show up at all. So he realized his mistake and returned to the people who were his actual family: his friends in 1973.
There are countless other interpretations. I've heard someone once go down a line of thought in which each person in 1973 is a body part: Ray is the muscle, Annie is the heart, Gene is the brain, and so on. Life on Mars is such a good show with so many layers, you don't have to go with the negative interpretation of Sam being too weak to deal with reality, not if it makes you dislike the show. Although I have to say that even that interpretation makes sense to me, because seriously, Sam is not a strong person. He never was, not once in the show did he show exceptional strength or coping mechanisms. Maybe the show is a statement on how it's okay to be weak once in a while, on how your friends will catch you if you fall. I have to say, I think if the show had gone for an ending in which Sam had suddenly turned into this strong person with awesome coping mechanisms, I would have been disappointed, because it would not have been consistent with his previous characterization.
Anyway, in the end, any way you look at it, you can easily turn the finale into something to like, and something positive. So I'm wondering, why all the hate? Why all the bitter posts and the moaning and tearing of garments? It's a fictional world, and the writers of the show gave it to their fans to do with it what they want. Do you want to hate the show? I'm sorry I'm sounding so preachy, but I just don't get it. :/
jumping_off. You are all more than welcome to read and discuss/criticize - of course - but I'm asking you not to bring the wank if you decide to comment. :)So,
jumping_off. Tonight's the first time I actually checked out that comm, because I for myself was perfectly happy with the LoM finale. But since the internet seems to have died sometime around eight this morning and hasn't yet been resuscitated, I decided to have a look-see.Oh dear. This community is a perfect example of what happens when fans can't play nice. I feel like a traitor saying this, but it's just a TV show.
Before you get out your switchblades, let me try and explain what I'm saying. Stories are what you make them. If you want to hate a story, you will always find a reason to do so, and the same goes for loving a story. TV shows are nothing but stories. Life on Mars told a story in 16 parts. If you loved 1 to 15, how can you suddenly in part 16 turn your back and decide to hate it? I don't get it; I couldn't do it. If I'd had a problem with what happened in 2x08 - which I didn't - I would have still tried to find a way to reconcile with the story, simply because I loved it for the first 15 parts.
Stories are make-believe, they're a fictional reality, that means you can twist and turn them whichever way you want so they will fit your needs. LoM is a well-done show with consistent characters; it was from part 1 to 15, and it continued to be so in part 16. And there are so many ways to twist the finale into something positive; I can't imagine why so many people would decide to go for the one negative interpretation, especially if it makes them bitter and unhappy.
There's the interpretation of Life on Mars being a statement of the loss of imagination and self-reliance in our time. It's the one I like best, so that's why I'm listing it first. The 70s were a very revolutionary period, when no idea was discarded as long as it was unconventional enough. People were invested, people were interested back then. We've mostly lost that today; we're stuck in routines and rules and regulations, and the people who break out don't do themselves any favors. We see the equivalent of that on the show in the form of Maya, who follows her feelings instead of the rules and immediately gets kidnapped.
When Sam arrives in 1973, his modern-day rigidity clashes with the more improvisational style of that time, and he's marked as an anomaly, a 'freak'. But other than it would happen today, the people from the 70s (eventually) accept him as what he is, accept his new ideas and his different style, because they still know that there is beauty in diversity. They still possess the imagination to widen their horizon and to accept new and different things as something positive.
When Sam returns to 2006, he's an anomaly as well - he's the guy who was in a coma for so-and-so-many months - but instead of adapting and accepting him as an individual person, the people around him try to force their standards on him, and try to make him follow their rules and regulations. They lack the imagination to accept the thought that maybe Sam came back from the almost-dead with some new ideas and ways that they might actually profit from, and they lack the self-reliance to trust a person more than their set of rigid rules.
In this context, if Sam had not jumped off that roof, the statement of the show would have been that conformity and the denial of all identity is the way to go, and - yeah. Maybe not.
Another interpretation goes along the lines of 'friends are today's family'. Sam betrayed his friends in 1973 to return to his mother and girlfriend - his family - but the family in 2006 didn't express a whole lot of interest in him: there was one short scene with his mother, and Maya didn't show up at all. So he realized his mistake and returned to the people who were his actual family: his friends in 1973.
There are countless other interpretations. I've heard someone once go down a line of thought in which each person in 1973 is a body part: Ray is the muscle, Annie is the heart, Gene is the brain, and so on. Life on Mars is such a good show with so many layers, you don't have to go with the negative interpretation of Sam being too weak to deal with reality, not if it makes you dislike the show. Although I have to say that even that interpretation makes sense to me, because seriously, Sam is not a strong person. He never was, not once in the show did he show exceptional strength or coping mechanisms. Maybe the show is a statement on how it's okay to be weak once in a while, on how your friends will catch you if you fall. I have to say, I think if the show had gone for an ending in which Sam had suddenly turned into this strong person with awesome coping mechanisms, I would have been disappointed, because it would not have been consistent with his previous characterization.
Anyway, in the end, any way you look at it, you can easily turn the finale into something to like, and something positive. So I'm wondering, why all the hate? Why all the bitter posts and the moaning and tearing of garments? It's a fictional world, and the writers of the show gave it to their fans to do with it what they want. Do you want to hate the show? I'm sorry I'm sounding so preachy, but I just don't get it. :/