August 7, 2008

This Post Sucks!


"Most of the younger people I knew didn't seem to have a handle on things; they hadn't found their place, they didn't understand how the world works, they didn't understand how to treat other people, and they didn't know how to stop thinking about themselves."
~Kristin Hersh


It sucks.

What, you ask? Nearly every entertainment product that is released nowadays. Mind you, this is far from my own opinion- rather, this attitude seems to seep throughout our entire culture in today's world. And this attitude is growing stronger by the day.

I can't truly recall the last entertainment product- movie, TV show, computer game, video game or any other imaginable creative production- where I've heard a vast majority shower the new release with overwhelming praise. Even "Dark Knight" started an online war of words. Obviously, you're always going to have to ignore the 0.01 % that deliberately take the opposite side of every issue as some form of attention whoring. But setting that aside, ultimately there should be something out there that everyone agrees is great, right?

Does this just come down to personal preference? Is it that what is great to one person is terrible to another, and therefore a consensus within society is not feasible? Will there always be a large group of people standing outside the theatre after a movie saying, "That was boring. That director doesn't know what he's doing. They should have taken out the car chase scene and put in more of the monkey. I easily could have done it better."

I think that is the case. People will always differ on entertainment, as it is art, and art is subjective. However, I submit that there is a growing trend, particularly in the younger generations- the under 30 crowd, with exceptions (there are always exceptions)- who are adopting an attitude only best described as jaded.

As I roam the internet, I find source after source of people making highly vicious attacks on creators of our entertainment. And yet, at the core of these arguments is nothing whatsoever but personal opinions! There are no facts provided to back up the reasoning of the attacks or why the entertainment products being attacked "suck" so much.

And guess what? There's a simple reason there are no facts.

Pretend you've landed in an airport and are disembarking from a plane. Have you ever heard anyone on the way out ripping into the pilot for how he flew the plane? Not complaining about a bumpy ride, or bad flight attendant service, but that he should have gone up to 30,000 feet for the first hour, then changed direction to catch the jet stream? Or, consider this: you're in the hospital, and you pass by a group of patients standing around yelling at a brain surgeon. How could he have made that incision the way he did? Why didn't he use a different approach to his tumor removal method? Or perhaps complaining about his choice of stitching when closing up his last surgery?

It sounds ridiculous, no? Of course it does! Yet- have you ever heard someone tell you exactly how the local professional basketball team's coach should have handled the substitutions for the game last night? What trades must be made for the team to make the playoffs? How the team's all-star player isn't trying anymore, and should just drive to the hoop each time down the court, which will guarantee victory every game? Of course you've seen this- repeatedly, and in regards to countless topics.

Here's the most common thing I'm sure you've seen, if you're an online gamer- legions of message board posters telling game developers (in extremely petty and vicious language) how uncaring they are for not playing their product, and for deliberately trying to ruin the game for the players. Or complaining for all to hear that the company that makes the game is only out for money, and they simply do not care about the players' experiences. And my personal favorite- have you ever seen a post on a game's forum telling the developers how that person could, in a matter of weeks, reprogram the game into perfect balance and make everything "fun" again?

The difference in these situations is obvious, but almost never considered. The reason no one gives a brain surgeon or airline pilot grief on their jobs is simple- the average person has no experience in performing these actions. You don't casually fly a plane around as a kid, or slice open someone's skull just to see what you can do. (I'm really hoping you don't, at least.) Yet almost every single person has picked up a basketball in their lives. Many have seen basketball on television, and learned the rules (somewhat) by which the players play. There are countless young adults who are fluent in multiple computer programs and languages- they know how to create programs or scripts, sometimes quite impressively.

This is the crux of the matter. When people have personal experiences to draw from, it is easier to judge the performance of another based on your perception of how things should be done. However, there's a fundamental flaw in this that most don't take into account.

Let's take computer game development, in particular, World of Warcraft. Massively Multiplayer Game Services (MMGSs) are highly complex, detailed programs of massive scope and scale. There are countless aspects in development of the product that you would require a short novel describing all of the individual tasks required to create and provide the service. Yet, if you grab any one of the majority of the players who've played the game, they will give you a list of faults with the product and how they would fix them. Most will complain about how nothing is ever done to fix the flaws within the product, and anger is expressed when something is altered that makes the experience more difficult for their character to succeed than before. Almost every thread on the forum concerning the game will have countless complaints on how poor the service is run, and how to fix these errors. Many of these threads even have information where the poster claims to have multiple years of experience in developing computer games, or other similar products, and therefore how qualified they are to point out how to fix the problems.

That is the flaw that people don't understand, and why none of these suggestions are factually based. You see, unless you have worked on the exact entertainment product being discussed, any criticism on your part is simply your opinion on the matter. Only the people who have been part of the development of a product have most of, or all, of the information necessary to make factual commentary on the matter. You could be the world's best brain surgeon, but you would never criticize another brain surgeon off-the-cuff because they killed a patient. Instead, you would have to familiarize yourself with all aspects of the case- everything to which a person uninvolved is fully unaware.

You see, you can't truly tell Blizzard how to factually "fix" World of Warcraft... because you don't know how World of Warcraft works. You might think you do, but you don't. You haven't been in the meetings. You haven't manipulated the engine. You don't know Blizzard's policy of handling art changes and the procedures involved in adjusting the timeframe of the project. That is, unless you work for Blizzard, and work on World of Warcraft. You see, without having all of the information, you don't have enough information. And without enough information, you're simply guessing.

That's why all criticism beyond the creators of entertainment products is pure opinion only. However, since people are familiar with aspects of the entertainment product, they feel like "experts". They are using their personal knowledge of programming, as if they are now on even ground with the developers. They are using their understanding of how to make a movie, to judge the latest sequel to hit the movie theaters.

So where does this new jaded attitude come from? This belief where "that sucks" is so often repeated? It's coming from familiarity. As the world continues to get more technologically advanced, the younger generations are growing up with personal video cameras, and learning computer programming languages. The younger gens are tech-savy, and are using this experience to judge the world around them. They've seen it all before, and the more they see the same thing, the more jaded they become. Unfortunately, no one has ever stopped to tell them that casual knowledge and experience are not replacements for professional knowledge and experience on the actual development of a product.

Experience is not interchangeable. It is unique.

There is every right for the gamers and movie watchers of the world to speak up and voice their opinions on why they dislike their entertainment sources. However, there is no reason to hide behind the bravado of internet anonymity, insulting and attacking the people creating these artworks.

So when you're on your favorite game's message board, and the uber-programmer with all the answers is telling everyone including the developers how to fix the product in three easy steps of programming, call them on it. They don't know, they aren't the developer. If you're chit-chatting with your local team's sports fans and someone's calling out the coach for how poorly he substituted during the game, call them on it. They don't know, they aren't the coach.

Remind these people that they're only providing their own opinions, and their own personal experience has no factual relevance in regards to judging the entertainment. Ideally, if we can all start reminding each other that other people are giving their all in the production of these sources of enjoyment for us, we can begin to agree more readily that most things don't "suck". In fact, we might all begin to calm down and see that everything around us is really pretty great.

Or, do I just suck for writing this?


August 5, 2008

Get These Five Women Leading Roles, Already!

There are obviously a large number of actresses in the world all vying for a limited number of roles... but it is a real shame when great talent is being bypassed while others are landing coveted leading roles.

Here's Effect 37's top five list (in no particular order)... you may know just a few or all of 'em! Give some love to your top five in the comments!

1.) Emilie de Ravin- We see her on the already-legendary television show "Lost", and some became fans during her stint on "Roswell"... I personally fell for her goddess-like looks (and those eyes!) when she was a young demon on "Beastmaster" (hey... at least one or two other people watched that!)

While I'm thrilled she's part of the Lost legacy (and an important part, at that)... once she's done it's far past time for her to be the lead- I think she'd be an amazing new (less "crazyish") Sharon Stone in film, taking on some adults-only roles- she could easily hold her own sexual chemistry against any leading man on screen.



2.) Brit Morgan- This absolutely mouth-watering blonde has a large secondary role on the new ABC Family show "Middleman"- and while the leading lady of that show Natalie Morales would have been on this list if she didn't already have her own show, Brit seems to steal almost every scene she's in! With her looks and talent, she would fit into any role offered- and such an offer should be made a.s.a.p.!



3.) Lake Bell- You've seen Lake, possibly on Boston Legal or on the short-lived sci-fi series "Surface" (which shouldn't have been canceled, but I digress...) Her performance on Surface proved she is fully capable of leading a show- and just because that particular show failed, she shouldn't be ignored for other possibilities. With her striking looks, she fits into sexy roles easily enough- but this is one woman smoothly capable of playing smart just as easily. Get this woman a doctor, scientist or lawyer show, stat! (Preferably one where her character enjoys modelling lingerie in her spare time, though- we don't want to hide that body! =P)



4.) Claudia Black- One of the current queens of sci-fi, there's no reason whatsoever to buck this trend. Claudia became famous here in the U.S. for her role on the beloved and classic Farscape series, and has since delved even further into the hearts of sci-fi geeks everywhere with her addition to the end seasons (and new movies) of Stargate: SG-1. She's proven she's fluent in the genre, she's got killer comedic chops and is beautiful to boot- get her into the lead in another sci-fi show, before I shoot you with my Ion gun. (My Death Star's in the shop.)



5.) Jill Wagner- While currently laughing her ass off on the sidelines of (the quite admittedly funny) summer popcorn show "Wipeout", this is a criminal underuse of her talent. Lately she's done some guest stints, particularly on Stargate: Atlantis as a tough and sexy challenge for the leading male. (Bring her back, and more often, Atlantis!)

Jill did have her own leading shot before on Spike TV's "Blade" effort, and was a true delight- this show should never have been canceled... it was just the right amount of sexy and had interesting characters. Still, it's all proof positive she needs her own leading spot... give me an interesting action show with her able to use her body to maximum effect and I'm there.

After all, there's a reason just about every single guy in the country has at one time or another asked "Who's the Mercury girl?" (Yep- that's her making you subconciously a Mercury fan!)