Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Canon Fodder


It used to be that I would make fun of the overly zealous fanatics in fandom.  Yes, the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters was very different from the movies but it’s all cool even if Egon is a blond and Slimer is now a full on member of the team.  It’s all good, right?  I used to be very forgiving of change and manipulation to canon that, looking back, probably made me a bad fan.

Then I realized, a few days ago, that I’ve now become a crazy uber fan that hates canon change.

Let me explain:

Doctor Who ~ Good as Gold

Let me explain further…

Blue Peter had yet another Doctor Who contest for kids.  Three little girls wrote a script and Steven Moffat picked the winning script to be turned into the little mini DW episode seen below.





It is cute and sweet and not only TOTALLY INACCURATE but CANONICALLY UNSTABLE!!!

(Things are about to explode, so watch out!)

Now, while I totally appreciate and fully believe in inspiring children to write and I think these little girls are freakin’ adorable, I utterly blame Steven for this travesty.

Watch out, Amy!  Companion competition!

Now, my facts may be off here (and I’ve just spent an hour trying to verify the info) but I believe Russell T Davies had negated a few of the Classic Who books with a few of his Tenth Doctor episodes.  I’ll let this slide as not many have read the books and a lot of the New Who fans ignore anything Classic Who.  (WHY? I JUST DON’T KNOW!)

Anyway, this little short written by the adorable, cute, sweet little girls should make me smile and awwww and not be utterly put off by:
                           
                      A)     A Weeping Angel on the TARDIS and is apparently still on-board.
                      B)      The Sonic Screwdriver being used as a 'killing' weapon.  (Would not happen!)
                      C)      The Doctor DOUBLING OVER HIS OWN TIMELINE IN A FIXED POINT!!!

See, there is this little episode called ‘Fear Her’ and it featured a little girl named Chloe Webber.  Chloe had an alien called an Isolus.  It gave her the ability to trap people inside her drawings.  After trapping the Doctor and Rose releasing him, he ran with the Olympic Torch to the stadium, lit the flame and then went back to Rose.

Of course, he mustn’t have noticed the TARDIS parked in the middle of the stadium so the other torch bearer ran inside.  I mean, he’s a bit of a ditz at times but I do like to believe he might’ve noticed something like that.

This kind of messes with canon and this is also why a lot of people were put out by Matt Smith running with the torch in Cardiff.  I was actually happy for the little klutz.  

Matt, Matt, Matt of the TARDIS
Dorky as can be...
AHHHHHH! Watch out for that random middle-aged man-child dressed like Davros standing in the middle of the road...

*TRIPS*
Awwww, Matt!


There were loads of others that had hoped it would be David Tennant.  See, this is what happens when you promise us chocolate but you deliver pixie sticks instead. (Both good, but vastly different.)

Now, there are plenty of people that jumped down my throat to point out that it was a kids contest.  Again, I do understand this fact.  My issue is with Steven for choosing it knowing that ‘Fear Her’ would still be fresh in people’s memories and he should have taken that into consideration.  I like Steven.  I had expected better.

A few years ago, I may have been willing to ignore this and it wouldn’t have bothered me.  Hell, I read fanfiction and canon is practically raped in those stories but they aren’t filmed and put out there to be placed within canon.  It is hard to ignore something on film as being just a ‘cute little thing they did’ when they use the sets and actors from the show itself.  This is what everyone keeps missing.  The Real Ghostbusters was animated with different voice actors and could never really be a part of the Ghostbusters canon just like some people don’t consider novels in some fandoms to be a part of the actual canon either.  This, though, this is a different story and I’m utterly disappoint.

Steven, don’t be like George Lucas!

Your fans will be utterly displeased.


2 comments:

  1. Blue, I was curious as to whether your remark
    "Steven, don't be like George Lucas!"

    was referring to the tendency of all published Star Wars material to have a pseudo-cannonical 'Expanded Universe' status or what may brain jumped to while reading this post: the Star Wars Holiday Special? After all, it's a filmed Star Wars holding a tenuous, at best, place in the canon in part because Lucas has disavowed any association with it, and yet, let the thing be filmed in the first place.

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  2. David, Actually, I was going for the 'changing canon to his whim' but you are correct. It's hard to disavow something you allow to be created.

    I myself was poking at his statement that Han didn't shoot first and the other changes he's made to the series.

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