Actually I loved it. Well done folks. Does it still matter that I only sat through the one pilot episode? Is my volte-face negated by my ignorance of Diana Gabaldon's body of work?
Sure, my partner told me that in Germany, many loveless middle-aged women are obsessed with the scintillating blend of sex, adventure, fantasy, Celtic landscape and... romance. She's only read one Gabaldon book though, so what does she know? Plus, you could easily stereotype many niche markets. Football fans, for example, who are similarly navel-gazing and who often take aggressive umbrage to those who question their chosen devotion.
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| Adventure and history |
Anyway, back to the delicious melange of adventure, history, sex and 18th century square-gos that is Outlander. Some may say that were you to remove the 'adventure' scenes, you'd be left with a slushy soft-porn production of the sort Channel 4 were once famous for broadcasting but clearly they are ignorant. Most probably douchenozzles in Gaelic even - srùb tòin (?)
And then there's the glorious history. Highlanders escaping the redcoats were most probably hairy and dirty. Most did speak Gaelic without subtitles (I bet the modern-day Redcoats will hate that!). Some may take issue though with the concept of Invernessians of 1946 partaking in pagan rituals in stone-circles and generally being backward superstitious bumpkins. Some like my very own mother! She, in her ignorance, claims that in her teenage years, almost all Scots were strict followers of Calvinistic Presbyterianism! No stone-circles for her - only dour adherence to a diet of Sabbatarianism and hellfire (a fate that I now believe is too good for Outlander critics). They even worked on Xmas day or so she says. Plainly, she hasn't read every Diana Gabaldon novel.
Certainly, were I a Jacobite sudger escaping murderous Redcoats hellbent on ethnic cleansing, I wouldn't say no to getting a lumber from a beautiful older woman who had just appeared from 200 years distant. She could lay her hands on my biodag anytime...
Some in their heretic lunacy may even suggest other Scottish films that portray Scotland as seen by real-life Scots.
Like Trainspotting maybe. Aye right - the language there is terrible and there's no Gaelic. Plus, who could love a junkie?
Or there's Seachd - lots of Gaelic, one or two nefarious Sasannaich and even mystical folklore. No sexy bare-chested Highlanders though. And we know that's very important given the beseeching of some on Twitter for readers to 'fix' an online competition for the 'best on-screen couple'.
I just know that the British public will love this! It's a shame that it's not on terrestial telly and we've had to leave it to tax-dodging pirates Amazon to show it but... that's life folks.
If any douchenozzle or ignoramus says otherwise then let them write their own blog with their own opinion. How dare they!
Btw: I found Outlander at Online Movies here. It didn't cost me a penny but that was before Amazon's announcement so who knows how long that will continue. Dèan maorach is an tràigh ann....
7 comments:
I'll answer more in depth in my own space but to answer your question...NO. It wasn't that you disliked the show myself or anyone else took issue with. It's that you completely misrepresented the show, and what it is about. If you are going to review something, have the good sense to actually KNOW what you are talking about and do it properly.
But, I loved it! Does my opinion still count?
What did I leave out? I mentioned the Gaelic, the sex, the romance, the fighting, the time travel, WWII... please enlighten me.
Btw, I'm not a distiller but I know a good dram when I have one. Though someone else may disagree. Ditto, am not a chef but...
I did note with some distain than even Vanity Fair (!) moaned that Outlander was blatantly pitched at a certain female audience. Hell, what do they know?
Your volte-face is nothing more than a condescending slap in the face to anyone who reads it. You obviously do not love the show and have set out to ridicule it and anyone who disagrees with your, very biased and distorted, point of view. I will try to be brief as I go through your blog.
Yes, Outlander fans are obsessed – we are actually pretty ok with that description. For many of the fans, it’s been over a 20 year wait to bring this series to the screen and all of us – new or old to the fandom – want to give it the best possible chance of success.
You didn’t love it. Fine. I said before I really don’t care about THAT. You misrepresented the work – passed it off as ‘soft porn’ (and are doing so again) because that is what you decided it was. Is there sex in the series? Well yes….sex is a very natural and normal part of life. The scenes portraying this have been well done and are not gratuitous. Ron Moore has said in many interviews if it doesn’t move the story in an important way – it isn’t there. (Oh, I’m getting the feeling you just don’t know who Ron Moore IS – Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Roswell, Helix – really someone that would take on a ‘Mills and Boon’ sort of show right? NOT)
Yes, many middle-aged women are hooked on the books. So are many 20 somethings, doctors, lawyers, teachers – you name a high end profession and it’s represented in the fandom. From personal experience – an accountant, a nurse, a born Scot that thinks they are wonderful, a Navy SEAL, and a lawyer. Those are people I personally know. I’ve read many comments from soldiers who pick them up for overseas flights because they are LONG books, and write home asking for the rest of the series and then pass them around camp. I hardly think these are the ‘Mills and Boon’ types.
The history. Is it 100% accurate to every detail? Of course not. It’s fiction. Is there enough actual history woven in to get someone’s interest that might normally find history boring? Absolutely. Have there been many who have taken up reading ACTUAL history books about the era because they were so intrigued by this ‘fiction’ – I’m quite sure I’m not the only one. As far as paganism – it is quite advanced and is still practiced there today – and all over the world. Your mother didn’t – cool for her. It’s a small piece – but it IS important to the history of the area whether you choose to acknowledge that or not.
Is the Gaelic perfect? Probably not – but productions can’t always allow for perfection. I do know that the Gaelic consultant is passionate about getting it as correct as possible and the cast is working hard to do their very best with it. Hopefully – it will bring about an increased interest in a beautiful and meaningful language that many never even get a chance to hear except for something like this.
Ok this is getting long – I apologize. My main point is – if you are going to review something, be honest about it. You don’t like it – that’s fine. Don’t call it an apple when it’s a peach or say it’s porn when it isn’t. I would have to honestly tell people to be careful reading your blog because you do not accurately portray what you review. You can hate it – say you hate it and say you think Outlander fans are a bunch of idiots. That’s ok, it’s your opinion – but don’t lie to people about the content just because you don’t like it.
Oh…and I DID write my own blog about this. Here you go: https://rynawolfe.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/reviews-and-passionate-fans/
You said Outlander was "disappointing" and "shit" in your initial review. Now you claim you "loved it?" What a bunch of wishy washy BS. I could respect your opinion if it was an honest one. You really are a tool.
"Dissapointing" "Shit" "So, so bad" Those don't sound like the words of someone who "loved it." If your opinion was honest it might count for something. your backtracking tosses any credibility you had into the shitter. Along with your blog.
You asshole. I bet you're not even Scotish. What do you know about us Outlander fans? I bet you're not even a woman. Bullshit blog.
You lot are nuts. It's television FFS! Get a life.
I had to laugh though at the idea of modern day Inverness folk dancing around stone circles! I guess those Yanks know us better than we know ourselves.
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