Frameshift

Oops (remixed YouTube videos)

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:12:35 GMT

Chris Beckman
oops, 2009
digital video art
concept by Billy Rennekamp

Somewhere between a home-video mixtape and a postmodern travelogue, "oops"—a ten-minute art video composed entirely of appropriated YouTube videos, seamlessly stitched together via a motif of camera drops—serves both as transportative adventure and metaphorical elucidation of YouTube itself (i.e. endless related videos), exemplifying the Internet's infinite repository of "throwaway" social documentation. From suburbia to subterranea, the radically shuffling environs induce a vertiginous yet aesthetically contextual thread—a transcendent, reincarnating POV; our omnipresent Camera—by which, the nature of the ultra-verité videos, eschewing any filmic grounding, plunges the viewer into a relationship of fleeting immediacy w/ its many videographers: a self-portrait at arms length, the digital blur of an obscuring thumb, a disembodied narrating voice. This abstractly voyeuristic portrayal of an ever-filming generation (who won't let the transcendence of being in A Moment inhibit their document-everything impulse) presages a future where every instant of our existence, from the mundane to the sublime, is preserved and catalogued for all to see.

oops from Chris Beckman on Vimeo.

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The men cried out, the girls cried out

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:44:36 GMT

Am I imagining things, or did someone vid Legend of the Seeker to Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Heads Will Roll"? I could swear I've seen a vid to that song, and my best guess for the fandom is LotS (though I suppose Highlander would be the most obvious fit for the lyrics), but I can't find it.

ETA: par_avion pointed me to the vid I was trying to remember, kiki_miserychic's amazing Misfits vid

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It's back!

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:37:14 GMT

By 'it' I of course mean the Dutch version of So You Think You Can Dance, and by 'back' I mean 'awesome!'

They've had their first two live shows, and as expected the quality of the dancing and the choreography varies, but it's still very fun to watch. I ended up dropping the current season of the Canadian version due to extreme boredom and my failure to recognize any of the dancers from one week to the next. With the Dutch version, I'd already gotten invested in several dancers after only seeing this year's final audition/boot camp episode, and I can remember who's who even when I can't remember how to spell their names (or understand why 'Caggie' is apparently pronounced the same as 'Chuckie').

They did something very cool that I can't link to because I'm on the train and Amtrak blocks YouTube, but if you're curious do a search for 'Don Diablo Animale' or I'll come back and edit the link in later. Basically, the group dance last week was set to electro-ish DJ Don Diablo's forthcoming song, and then was turned into a promo music video that looks really good.

Huh, this is ridiculously unpersuasive -- here's my first post reccing SYTYCD Netherlands, and if you check back on my SYTYCD you'll hopefully find videos of past routines. It's basically the most hip hop of all the SYTYCD versions I've seen, with adorable male/female co-hosts who look very MTVish. Plus Euvgenia is back as a judge! And this week during rehearsals there were three separate incidents of choreographers making dancers cry through their tough love! Also the audience tosses stuffed animals on stage for their favorite dancers at the end of their performances!

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Links roundup linked

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:34:55 GMT

Fresh from Symposium Blog: Fans, geeks, wrestlers, and Sherlock Holmes: links roundup.

Also new: Karen Hellekson, co-editor of OTW's Transformative Works & Cultures online journal, on Breaking the primacy of print.

Has anyone been watching the new season of SYTYCD Canada? Apparently there are four episodes out already. After the fiasco of the most recent U.S. season, and the cancellation of the Australia version, I'm just not sure I'm ready to plunge into yet another cycle so soon.

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Observations

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:44:15 GMT

Tuesdays feel so empty now that there's no new Pretty Little Liars to look forward to until, what, January maybe? I'm almost tempted to read the book series that it's based on, just to find out what happens next, but I think that would probably be a bad idea. Better plan: buy an external hard drive and start making my silly little vid for the show.

This would be a good time to catch up on TV that I'm behind on. My choices are: the second half of the most recent season of Damages, the second season of Sons of Anarchy, the third (and fourth?) season of Skins, and the third and fourth seasons of Friday Night Lights. My decision would be much easier if any of the above featured killer robots....

I can't decide if I like the new season of Jersey Shore. To be honest, the first season started losing me after the initial four episodes, but then the finale pulled me back in. I do still like the overall look of the show and the ridiculous opening credits.

I haven't come close to watching all the new vids from VividCon yet, but I have seen tons of excellent ones. Today's rec: luminosity 's gorgeous, haunting Last Year at Marienbad vid Caged Bird.

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Mad Men and Aca-Fen

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:55:01 GMT

My new Symposium Blog post is up -- no Mad Men spoilers, I promise! Especially since I'm already two episodes behind!

Thanks for everyone's responses to my question about posting vids on YouTube last week -- I'd still like to writing something up about that, but I'm waiting to track down notes from this year's Vidding & Visibility Town Hall at VividCon.

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Cross-posted to fandomapologyfinders

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:46:17 GMT

Hi, I'm looking for an apology that was when somebody was accused of plagiarizing some fics. I think the plagiarized fics were all from The Sentinel fandom, but the plagiarizer turned them into Sherlock Holmes with the names and some of the details changed. It wasn't that long ago, but I can't find the apology in my delicious bookmarks. Can anybody help? I remember that people said it was an okay apology, until somebody got mad in the comments about the OP using a sarcastic icon which made it a fauxpology.

Thanks!

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Dear Vidders: Why not YouTube?

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:19:53 GMT

I'm considering writing a post about vidding for Symposium Blog this week in honor of VividCon, so I thought I'd toss out a question:

As I'm eagerly devouring all the new vids that are coming out, I can't help but notice that for vidders who post streaming versions of their vids, most aren't hosted on YouTube. I see stuff on various Ning vid communities, Vimeo, a couple others, and occasionally self-hosted, but YouTube seems pretty rare, at least as a first choice for streaming vids.

So here's my question -- why not YouTube?

Is it because of:

Video quality?
Advertising?
Concerns re: greater vulnerability to takedown notices from copyright holders?
Privacy/obscurity (e.g. having some control over the audience that sees your vids, rather than anybody potentially stumbling across them)?
Something else?

I'm curious! And also hoping to use responses as fodder for a blog post -- if I get enough answers to write something up, I'll link back to this post but quote from comments w/out names ["one vidder said, 'YouTube killed my parents!'"] unless you explicitly give me permission to use your name. And of course you can also comment anonymously, or ask me to screen your comment.

Thanks!

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Vid rec: Appleseed - The Last Firstborn by dragonchic

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:20:41 GMT

dragonchic made my favorite vid from last year's Club Vivid with Wanted - Break Teen Spirit in Four Minutes, and she's made another amazing vid this year with Appleseed - The Last Firstborn.

(I haven't seen Appleseed and this vid makes me want to; it also makes me want to see dragonchic vid Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex a lot)

I can just tell this will be my new "rewatch in the morning right before going to work" vid.

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Audience empathy and dislike in Mad Men

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:42:20 GMT

Jason Mittell, "On Disliking Mad Men":

The missing ingredient from Draper and nearly all of Mad Men‘s characters is empathy, as virtually nobody’s behavior or situation invites me to place myself in their shoes. Instead, I watch the characters from an emotional remove that makes them appear as pieces in a mannered dance rather than fully realized people to care about. This might be the ultimate answer to the core appeal of serial drama, as without empathy toward the characters, viewers lack the emotional connection to sustain the commitment of weeks, months, and years that a successful series demands. Even though their actions are reprehensible, I feel empathy toward [Tony] Soprano, [Walter] White, [Dexter] Morgan, [Vic] Mackey, and [Al] Swearingen, understanding their acts in the context of their lives and situations. Draper’s blank slate doesn’t leave me with more than just the sense of him being a “cold bastard” as his core. And I translate this lack of empathy to how the show’s creators seem to regard their characters – while Al Swearingen might be a bastard, I always feel that creator David Milch loves the guy. While I know it’s my own projection rather than any authentic access to authorial intent, I can’t help but feel that Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner ultimately feels contempt toward Draper and the rest, fueling the emotional gap that keeps me from warming to the show.

In the end, watching Mad Men leaves me feeling unclean and unpleasant, having spent time in an unenjoyable place with people I don’t care about, and coming out smelling of stale cigarettes. The gloss and sheen is meant to charm me, but instead it masks something hollow, dark and cancerous. For people who like the show, this resonance is affecting and provocative, but for me, it feels like one of Don Draper’s callow ad pitches. None of the emotional arcs of the characters feel real or earned – instead I’m being sold the illusion of drama rather than honest drama itself, much like the packaging of nostalgia and memory in a Kodak slide projector. Enough people whom I respect feel quite differently, so I know it’s not because the show is a failure per se, but clearly there is a short circuit for me and presumably others, disengaging me from the show on its own terms and failing to create sufficient empathy to go along for the narrative ride that I want to enjoy....

It's funny; I was thinking this week, as I've been frantically marathoning season 3 of Mad Men to catch up and watch the current season as it airs, how odd it was to belatedly find myself empathizing with Don Draper. And yet I did, just as I've sporadically empathized with various other characters on the show at different times. But that empathic response isn't really the primary thing I seek out in television; especially with a self-consciously "quality" TV show like Mad Men, I'm looking for interestingness. I'm quite happy to get engaging characters with dilemmas and predicaments that I haven't experienced and can't relate to, leading lives that don't resemble mine (nor would I want them to). Those fleeting moments of recognition, identification, empathy -- if the characters are drawn and acted well enough, they'll inevitably come, but they're not necessarily the main event or precondition for my enjoyment.

Though I think I've been watching Mad Men as a modern tragedy crossed with more than a dash of A Doll's House, which might not ultimately turn out to be the best reading.

ETA: Ian Bogost, Against Aca-Fandom: On Jason Mittell on Mad Men

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Halfway through tonight's Pretty Little Liars (no spoilers)

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:25:41 GMT

You can tell that the writers enjoy working on this show. Sure, a lot of the dialogue is trite and clichéd, but they keep throwing in these clever, artful moments and you can almost feel the writerly hand behind them. And after tonight, I'm thinking that at least one of the writers is a fan of The Great Gatsby.

I just love this show!

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Suuuundaay!

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:42:53 GMT

Hallyu in aisle 3: I went to Whole Foods today, and my cashier and the two next to him started singing Nobody by the Wonder Girls and then debating how many members were in the group. I was so stunned that I couldn't say anything! I know they recently did a U.S. tour, but are they being played on the radio now or something? Is k-pop the latest hipster fad? Or is it just something about my branch of Whole Foods (I swear another cashier there looks like she could be Janelle Monáe's little sister who ran off to start her own punk/ska band...)?

I was very satisfied with the finale of MasterChef Australia, except for the part where the season is over. Everyone involved with the show, from the contestants to the hosts/judges to the celebrity chefs, was basically adorable. But I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be watching MasterChef Australia Junior with 8-12 year olds cooking off. Still, it was such an enjoyable reality TV show, especially in contrast to the current disastrous U.S. season of SYTYCD.

Oops, I forgot to catch up on season 3 of Mad Men -- I'd really had the best of intentions to watch this season as it aired. How bad would it be viz. spoilers if I watched the season premiere tonight before going back to watch last season?

I really think Joss Whedon's Avengers movie is going to be terrible, but that's probably because I loathed the second Iron Man movie. Bendis schmendis, I think the whole Avengers mythos has gotten pretty bankrupt creatively.

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What's with the fucking chicken?

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:36:52 GMT

The first part of my ~~hard-hitting investigative report~~ series on anon culture in fandom is now up on Symposium blog.

Yes, I said first part of a series. *sigh* It was getting too long, so I decided to break it up into five themes:

Distraction economy
Counter-public sphere
Communal confessions
Burden of identity
Wrong on the internet

To be continued....

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Fannish to-do list

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:07:36 GMT

1. Figure out who I'm rooting for on MasterChef Australia now that Marion's been eliminated (probably Adam? though I don't know yet who got eliminated on Tuesday's episode)

2. Keep counting down the hours until tonight's Pretty Little Liars after last week's amazing (and very viddable!) cliffhanger

3. Find someone to talk me out of using "Like 4chan for girls" (source) as the title of my Symposium blog post on anon culture in fandom

3b. Figure out if I even have, like, a thesis or a point or anything useful to say for said blog post

4. OMG only 6 more hours until Pretty Little Liars! (Hint: that's enough time to catch up on the first six episodes if you haven't been watching)

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Anon culture in fandom

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:44:50 GMT

So I'm working on my next post for the Symposium blog and I'd like to write about anonymity in fandom. But I need your help!

I've been following the latest anon meme that sprung out of the ViVidCon debates (is there some kind of Fight Club thing where you're not supposed to link to it? or actually name it? I'm going to err on the side of caution here, but let me know if there are standard anon meme rules or norms I should be observing), and it's been pretty fascinating to see the different dynamics of how discussions play out there vs. on LJ/DW. I've checked out a few other anon memes in the past, but this is the longest I've ever followed one. Yet I haven't left any comments on the meme, so I can't claim to be a participant-observer -- there's something about posting anon that just weirds me out (personally, not when other people do it). I'm not sure what it is, but I definitely got weirded out the couple of times in the past that I posted on anon love memes where you tell people on the flist how awesome they are. Which, hey, people on my flist are awesome, and deserve to hear that! So I don't know what my mental block here is.

So I'd love to hear from any of you about the pleasures (and perils!) of posting anon, or participating in anon memes. I'm also thinking of saying something about kink memes, which are the other major place that I'm aware of that carve out a pro-anon space in fandom, and seem to be on the rise over the last couple of years. But I know even less about kink meme culture than anon memes! So any observations, insights, experiences you'd like to share about kink memes & anonymity would be welcome.

And I think I need a third thing, right? I figured I'd at least reference the WoW/Blizzard Real ID controversy, but it would be nice to have a third instance of anon culture in LJ/DW-based media fandom, if anyone has suggestions.

Anon posting for comments is on, naturally (ETA: and IP logging is off). Thanks in advance!

ETA 2: I've fallen way behind on responding to comments, but I'm reading them all & appreciate all the perspectives & experiences & context that everyone's offering.

ETA 3: The first part of my Symposium blog post on anon memes is now up.

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New blog, first post

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:22:30 GMT

Hey, I just (finally!) made my first post to Symposium blog, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works' Transformative Works and Cultures journal. My co-blogger there is Dana Sterling, who's posted some good stuff about TWC's Supernatural-themed issue and the John Scalzi/Wil Wheaton fan fiction contest.

In my post, I look at fan cultures around MTV's The Hills, and suggest a mode of 'parasocial fandom' to complement what obsession_inc and damned_colonial have described as transformational fandom and affirmational fandom.

Okay, that makes my post sound pretty boring -- and it isn't, really! Probably? Anyways, check it out, and feel free to comment there if so moved.

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There's no kindness in your eyes

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:07:27 GMT

Hypothetically -- and I should stress very hypothetically, because with the heat lately I cannot imagine making a vid in my under-airconditioned apartment, but --

Good idea, bad idea, or worst idea: making a Pretty Little Liars vid to Hilary Duff's Stranger? (music video below the cut)

I mean, it wouldn't work with a straightforward/literal interpretation of the lyrics -- that's really more suited for, I don't know, something like a Smallville Lex/Lana vid or an AU/constructed reality SPN vid from Dean's POV where Sam's gone evil.

But still! It could work, right? And if I've accidentally got the song stuck in my head anyways, I might as well do something with it, right?

If you don't know the song:

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Crypto watches television

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:54:36 GMT

The Gates: My expectations couldn't have been lower going in to this (trust me, I learned my lesson after the crushingly disappointing discovery that Vampire Diaries was actually not the second coming of Dark Shadows), and the show still failed to meet them. Here's hoping that in this decade following Twilight, we'll finally see the rise of the fangirl-auteur in Hollywood, because that sensibility is totally absent here where it's so desperately needed.

Stargate Universe: So I'd been meaning to sample this show at some point when I heard via fannish osmosis that there was a particularly strong episode. Except that I haven't heard anything -- I'm not sure whether anybody on my flist is even watching the show. Certainly I would have remembered if someone had posted about an episode directed by Ernest Dickerson with scenes set in a club where Janelle Monáe was performing! But then kiki_miserychic made a gorgeous SGU vid, We Are All Connected, and that was more than enough to get me to check out the series. I'm still working my way through it, but I have to say that I like it. I was never a fan of SG-1 or SGA, so when SGU was announced, I had little confidence in the ability of the producers & writers to deliver on the premise. But so far they've done a pretty decent job -- though I do wish the female characters were more developed & central, and that they'd cast more people of color. Still, it's a solid show, with more of an ensemble (vs. team) approach and a Battlestar Galactica (minus the robots) tone, and Robert Carlyle does some great work that really elevates everything.

Pretty Little Liars: Once again I went in to this with low expectations (because honestly, when your starting point is Gossip Girl-meets-I Know What You Did Last Summer, you don't need to be an Ibsen to satisfy and entertain), but I'm very pleasantly surprised at how much I'm enjoying it so far. While the acting is largely nothing special, the plotting and pacing are more than competent, and the thriller elements balance out well with the high school drama. Plus, it's about as Bechdel test-friendly as television gets. Also bonus Laura Leighton!

So You Think You Can Dance: I still have some ambivalence about the format, and the judges are worse than they've ever been, but I'm enjoying this season more than any on the U.S. version of the show since season 4, so that's something.

Doctor Who: I MISS YOU! PLEASE COME BACK SOON!!!!

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Eleventy!!!

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:38:04 GMT

In about 24 hours, give or take, I will have seen the Doctor Who finale! Unless of course a Sontaran invasion preempts the broadcast.... *crosses fingers*

That gives me time to marathon the first twelve episodes, especially if I don't go into the office tomorrow, which I really should do but hate doing after already working umpty-dozen hours this week.

How are you going to spend the remaining hours? I can't do a poll, but here are some options to select from:

sedated
anxiously checking the clock
sealed up inside my homemade DIY Pandorica to avoid spoilers
buying a new shade of hallucinogenic lipstick
hanging with some hot Italians
knitting mittens with detachable fingers for Auton!Rory
other???

*trembles in anticipation*

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If there is a MasterChef Australia fandom, please don't point me to the fic

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:21:00 GMT

...and yet, after Wednesday's episode, I think I accidentally started shipping Marion/Callum. I mean, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it counts as shipping when you're mentally shouting at the screen "Just kiss each other, already!" during their cab ride through Paris, despite them showing no particular signs of romantic interest or sexual chemistry towards each other?

I don't know. But I've definitely developed a weakness for Australian reality TV competitions, because the contestants always seem relatively guileless and innocent. At least compared to U.S. equivalents, where everyone's so comparatively poised and polished in front of the camera, as though part of U.S. culture is spending your life mentally readying yourself for your close-up. When I watched the first season of Australia's SYTYCD, I remember being consistently charmed and delighted as I kept thinking how wonderful it was to watch people who don't come onto a show already "knowing" how to present themselves for television audiences.

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Of course I'm on team Marion!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:05:05 GMT

Aw, I think I got a little teary-eyed at the end of the latest MasterChef Australia.

Plus I'm at the point where I really don't want to see anyone else getting eliminated. It was bad enough to lose Skye and Matthew; at this stage, I'd be happy to see the remaining eight cooking and doing challenges and hugging and cheering each other on indefinitely.

In other news, I'm still on track to rewatch The Pandorica Opens every night until the finale.

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Coming up for air

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:48:15 GMT

I'm not sure how this month got so out of control so quickly viz. work, but it did and it's barely halfway over. I'm on my way home after being in DC doing meetings for the last few days, and, well, interesting/depressing/scary times (the media/security/spectator scene outside of the BP hearing yesterday was pretty wild). But I don't have to go back until the end of the month, and then I get a couple days in San Francisco next month, so overall it looks like things are calming down.

I'm basically behind in everything fannish. I managed to spend an afternoon catching up on the last few months of the comic books I've been reading, only to remember why I got behind on so many of them in the first place. The combination of soul-crushing mega-events (DC's Blackest Night, Marvel's Siege plus whatever they're calling the latest X-Men atrocity) really left a bad taste in my mouth. Though I'm still charmed by Barbara Gordon mentoring Stephanie Brown as the new Batgirl, so at least there's something I can still look forward to each month.

I think I'm still watching TV, but I can't remember anything more complicated than Masterchef Australia (the contestants are all adorable! and they love each other so much!), which is surprisingly enjoyable even if you don't really cook or aspire to cooking, and have no idea what most of the stuff they make is supposed to taste like. I usually end up falling asleep half way through it, and then watching the half I missed plus starting the new episode (it runs six days a week) the next night.

Does anybody have any thoughts about the new season of SYTYCD/US? I'm predictably behind a week, and still not sure if/how the revamped format will work out.

Oh, wait, I remember -- I'm watching Doctor Who! Well, not right at this moment, but I can tell I'll be on the edge of my seat at the back of the sofa for tomorrow's episode. I just want to bake cookies for MSmith & KGillan, they've really let me fall in love with the show all over again.

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Sixteen minutes of awesome

Tue, 25 May 2010 02:51:41 GMT

In rivkat 's most recent set of book reviews, she talks about a book about videotapes and copyright which discusses an awesome women's video chain letter project called Joanie 4 Jackie. You can find some selections from the video chain letters via Google search; and definitely check out Miranda July's video describing the project. Then draw sparkly hearts all over your screen.

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Last night I dreamed I went to the zombie apocalypse again

Sat, 22 May 2010 17:06:54 GMT

I was trapped in an office building with a couple dozen other people, all strangers. One of them took control of the group, who was willing to follow him, but he was reckless, didn't have a strategy, and endangered everybody. I think he ended up getting trapped in a stairwell and eaten by the zombies.

Someone else stepped up to lead, but focused on making decisions by consensus through interminable processes which kept breaking down as people turned on each other. I think they ended up getting thrown out of a window into the waiting arms of hungry zombies.

Somehow I ended up appointed the third leader. I came up with a plan to get us to safety, but everybody was still squabbling, so I bullied them all into following me. I used anything that worked -- insults, yelling, verbal abuse, physical threats -- until they went along with my plan, cowering all the way.

That was the worst part of the dream (the zombies weren't really that scary; they were mostly preoccupied with scavenging for Wiis and iPads). I was completely horrified at myself. Is that really my subconscious leadership style?

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Bad LOST fan, no biscuit (no spoilers)

Thu, 13 May 2010 21:41:45 GMT

As LOST's final season keeps drawing closer to its finale, I've been following more of the reviews and discussions of TV critics and what Jason Mittell calls the TVitterati.

But I've also been talking about the show weekly with a group of my co-workers -- it's truly our watercooler show, and we make a point of checking in after each episode. All of us are arguably fans -- is there anybody still watching who could be called a casual viewer at this point? -- but we're not on message boards, we don't have Lostpedia bookmarked, we might each check out reviews and recaps online but we don't obsessively track every pronouncement from Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse, we forget the names of minor characters and plot points from three seasons back. We're fans in the sense of highly engaged viewers who have a socialized way of engaging with the show.

Needless to say, I'm increasingly starting to think that my coworkers & I are watching from a different planet than the critics & TVitterati.

The consensus in my workplace is that there's stuff about this season that we like, and stuff that we don't like, but overall it's been disappointing and less entertaining than previous seasons. Meanwhile, I look online and see an increasingly elaborate set of norms and values advanced about the proper LOST fan's orientation to the show: we must have faith in Darlton; we have to believe that the finale will effectively retcon any dissatisfaction with elements of a given episode or plotline; it's okay to want some answers, but bad to want everything answered and worse to complain about the answers we get; be patient, be patient, be patient.

I guess I've never been a LOST fan in the sense of a true believer or proselytizer -- nor, for that matter, the apostate, the fallen fan who's turned on the show with precisely the same degree of passion which had once fueled their devotion. But lately, I'm wondering if me and my co-workers count as fans at all. Sure, we speculate and try to make sense of what's going on, but mostly we're along for the ride: call us post-mythology fans, who enjoy the sense of a mythology without being especially caught up in the details or the denouement. As long as it all feels like it's coherent, and could make sense, we don't worry too much about making sense of it or getting all the answers.

Time's James Poniewozik writes today in defense of arrogance as ascribed to LOST's showrunners, or more precisely in defense of ambitious 'auteur' television. And I certainly can get behind that -- I love my messy, flawed Sarah Connor Chronicles and Farscape and -- yes, still, despite everything, Battlestar Galactica too. But to me, LOST has never been anywhere near as ambitious or smart or complex as those shows, and the weaknesses and limitations that were obvious from the show's inception have returned with a vengeance in its final season. Unless, perhaps, you're the 'right' kind of LOST fan.

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