someone keeps moving my chair

[reflectedeve]

Everytime someone mentions Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, I get this song by They Might Be Giants stuck in my head. "Mr. Horrible, Mr. Horrible, telephone call for Mr. Horrible . . ."

As for Dr. Horrible, it was generally marvelous, but apparently I forgot what writer I was dealing with. It was all so marvelously silly and upbeat, and then! Joss! >:( Goddammit. Someday you're going to not kill the love interest, just to shock us.

Last night's Avatar, on the other hand . . . oh, the ♥meta.♥ Every time I think it's impossible for me to love that show any more than I already do, it proves me wrong. Everything from mocking their own storytelling, to out-and-out mocking the 'shippers (I do always love it when the canon mocks the 'shippers, I confess). Just beautiful.

It is far too hot; time to abscond to a friendly local cafe with my sketchbooks. (You know, I've drawn porn in public before. It should not be paranoia-inducing to contemplate having my bandom reference sheets with me there.) Not taking my laptop; I think I need some time away from the internet.

Comments

[zelempa.livejournal.com]

I didn't even mind the death of the girl, except that it didn't seem the serve the plot in a way that made sense. It's like Joss couldn't decide whether he was telling a story about a villain who is really nice and a hero who is really mean (correct ending: true colors of both out in the end) or a minor villain who is hardened into true evil (correct ending: anything but "he gets what he has wanted all along, but at the expense of the life of the one person he wanted to protect. So. Great!") I'm not even going to argue that it's the wrong ending because it's unpleasant or it hurts, but because it feels to me like the first 43 minutes of the show and the last 2 were from different stories.

Everything in Dr. Horrible would have been perfect as-is if only there were another act, or even another minute, of denouement--not even necessarily particularly happy denouement; the girl doesn't need to come back to life, and Dr. Horrible doesn't need to totally reform, but I feel like we need to see he is affected in some way by what has happened. Honestly. I don't think it's optional. The story feels unfinished.

The songs were good though. And Neil Patrick Harris's face.

[reflectedeve.livejournal.com]

Your reaction is in line with some of my first thoughts, but now that I've had some time to consider, I'm not sure. It's a combination of the two stories you mention, yes. I'm not sure that this was a mistake; even if it was, I do think it was deliberate.

He was a villain who was really nice, and the hero was really mean; the heros true colors come out in the end, but because the story is a tragedy, the "nice" villain was also hardened into true evil.

It's very blatantly not giving us what we expect/want. (I was totally expecting your "correct" ending, though I'm kind of kicking myself now, because Joss.) I'm inclined to be very critical of that lately (and particularly with Joss). Such a blatant subversion of stock storytelling kind of strikes me as self-consciously edgy a lot of the time; it needs to justify itself, it needs to be handled well. I'm undecided as to whether or not "Dr. Horrible" pulled it off. It struck me as lacking transition, which is what I'm getting from you as well. Basically, I need to watch it again.

Also, I think that last shot of Billy was intended to be what you're talking about, to show us how he was affected. I'm not sure it was enough; I was definitely left feeling unsatisfied, but it will be interesting to see how it works when viewed all together. (I'm not going to try that tonight, though; I just got in from The Dark Knight, I think I'm at saturation point.)

But yes, the songs were great, and I loved Neil Patrick Harris & Nathan Fillion.

[alexmegami]

See, the only way I can come to terms with the story is believing that neither of them are good/nice guys. That basically the "Nice Guy" (tm) (as in the guy that is always there for the girl because he secretly wants to get in her pants, not because he cares about her actually) and the macho prick both lose out because they were too self-absorbed in their own little self-made dramas to realize who they were hurting with their actions.

But the person who still loses out the most is the one that dies. :/

[alexmegami]

Also, what zelempa said. It did need at least another minute or two, or even just a little bit more than a half-second glance at his face before the credits.

Or... like... a mostly-melted frozen yogurt in his hand. Or something. I dunno.