![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elapsesLately I have been thinking a lot about the cultural impact of The O.C., and how it fits into the way Hollywood copies everything that is a little bit successful. Every new sitcom is Friends meets The Office meets Family Guy, and every new drama is Dynasty meets CSI meets The Sopranos. NOT REALLY, but you are catching my drift. It is a pattern we are all aware of, thanks to remakes and spinoffs and respins (that's my made up word for Psych-Mentalist and X-Files-Fringe type situations). Money money money.
But the O.C.'s remaining cultural influence isn't about that. And it isn't about the fact that we can totally blame Josh Schwartz for Spencer and Heidi, although, in fact, we can. No. It is about Alexandra Patsavas, and the way the O.C. changed the way TV uses music. The fact that suddenly every TV show wanted to be the O.C., that cool show with all the indie music that sells their own mix CDs! The fact that everyone started hiring Alex P. so that they too, reach that same glory. The fact that montages are something that occurs in pretty much every episode of television, rather than a sometimes thing (compare Friends' use of music to How I Met Your Mother's use of music).
So that was going to be this post. And I would still be interested in going into that in the comments! But you see,
Unfortunately discussion of this STRANGE and MYSTERIOUS title requires an introduction of thoughts. Because you see, I am super weird about Bones/XF comparisons. I just... don't like them. It harkens to the way I feel about the X-Files and specifically Mulder and Scully, who are (perhaps you have noticed despite how subtle I have always been about this) my actual one true pairing. To the degree where when somebody puts them at #6 when they make one of those OTP charts, I get irrationally judgmental. I mean, what a WEIRDO, right? Might as well not put them on your list AT ALL. In fact maybe that would be better, since you clearly do not get it.
Ahem.
The point is that Mulder and Scully are a strange and complex beast. There is no one interpretation. They have given many people many many FEELINGS and they will give them to many more, but not one of them completely understands them. We theorize and we wonder, but we will never reach the apex of comprehension.
Mulder and Scully's magical and legendary UST is also apparently popular in Hollywood, because many TV shows since have tried to imitate it (it's like I was discussing above: Hollywood cannot resist repeating a proven formula, mostly because of the cash). SVU! Fringe! Castle! Bones! In fact: most cop shows. It is how they operate these days. Also: surprise! The X-Files was not the first one to do the lady cop + dude cop = UST.
Which isn't to say that the Bones doesn't draw from the X-Files. It does. Perhaps more than the others (disregarding Fringe) because you have rational scientist lady/emotionally intelligent dude. And: surprise, people get very wrong and also irritating in the process of trying to compare them. Blaaaaaaaarg, YOU GUYS. SERIOUSLY I AM SO SICK OF IT ALL. This is basic Bones-Wire scale, WE ARE ABOVE THIS. Actually no, WE NEED A NEW SET OF CHARTS FOR THIS. SIT DOWN INTERNET, LET ME EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL:
PLEASE IGNORE THE GLARING TYPO.
IN CONCLUSION: why are we focusing on the similarities and not the VERITABLE CANYON OF DIFFERENCE? I have always been more than happy with Bones' little nod in the Pilot. That is enough acknowledgement. It's like a friendly little "thanks for the help, bro" from back when the show had not quite found itself yet and most people were just watching because Angel was on a cop show. And then it became Bones. And now here we are, with an episode entitled "The X in the File". I just hope it is going to be in the vein of the "we're Mulder and Scully" and not in the vein of this:
UGH, HART HANSON. UGH. YOU ARE BEING JUST AS BAD AS THE FANGIRLS.
But Bones has not yet let me down. SO. Here is to an iiiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting upcoming episode.
I am a little afraid this is going to come of semi-passive aggressive. IT IS NOT ABOUT ANY OF YOU, all of you approach this question the right way. It is the internet at large that is being dumb. Isn't it always.
But the O.C.'s remaining cultural influence isn't about that. And it isn't about the fact that we can totally blame Josh Schwartz for Spencer and Heidi, although, in fact, we can. No. It is about Alexandra Patsavas, and the way the O.C. changed the way TV uses music. The fact that suddenly every TV show wanted to be the O.C., that cool show with all the indie music that sells their own mix CDs! The fact that everyone started hiring Alex P. so that they too, reach that same glory. The fact that montages are something that occurs in pretty much every episode of television, rather than a sometimes thing (compare Friends' use of music to How I Met Your Mother's use of music).
So that was going to be this post. And I would still be interested in going into that in the comments! But you see,
Unfortunately discussion of this STRANGE and MYSTERIOUS title requires an introduction of thoughts. Because you see, I am super weird about Bones/XF comparisons. I just... don't like them. It harkens to the way I feel about the X-Files and specifically Mulder and Scully, who are (perhaps you have noticed despite how subtle I have always been about this) my actual one true pairing. To the degree where when somebody puts them at #6 when they make one of those OTP charts, I get irrationally judgmental. I mean, what a WEIRDO, right? Might as well not put them on your list AT ALL. In fact maybe that would be better, since you clearly do not get it.
Ahem.
The point is that Mulder and Scully are a strange and complex beast. There is no one interpretation. They have given many people many many FEELINGS and they will give them to many more, but not one of them completely understands them. We theorize and we wonder, but we will never reach the apex of comprehension.
Mulder and Scully's magical and legendary UST is also apparently popular in Hollywood, because many TV shows since have tried to imitate it (it's like I was discussing above: Hollywood cannot resist repeating a proven formula, mostly because of the cash). SVU! Fringe! Castle! Bones! In fact: most cop shows. It is how they operate these days. Also: surprise! The X-Files was not the first one to do the lady cop + dude cop = UST.
Which isn't to say that the Bones doesn't draw from the X-Files. It does. Perhaps more than the others (disregarding Fringe) because you have rational scientist lady/emotionally intelligent dude. And: surprise, people get very wrong and also irritating in the process of trying to compare them. Blaaaaaaaarg, YOU GUYS. SERIOUSLY I AM SO SICK OF IT ALL. This is basic Bones-Wire scale, WE ARE ABOVE THIS. Actually no, WE NEED A NEW SET OF CHARTS FOR THIS. SIT DOWN INTERNET, LET ME EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL:
PLEASE IGNORE THE GLARING TYPO.
IN CONCLUSION: why are we focusing on the similarities and not the VERITABLE CANYON OF DIFFERENCE? I have always been more than happy with Bones' little nod in the Pilot. That is enough acknowledgement. It's like a friendly little "thanks for the help, bro" from back when the show had not quite found itself yet and most people were just watching because Angel was on a cop show. And then it became Bones. And now here we are, with an episode entitled "The X in the File". I just hope it is going to be in the vein of the "we're Mulder and Scully" and not in the vein of this:
UGH, HART HANSON. UGH. YOU ARE BEING JUST AS BAD AS THE FANGIRLS.
But Bones has not yet let me down. SO. Here is to an iiiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting upcoming episode.
I am a little afraid this is going to come of semi-passive aggressive. IT IS NOT ABOUT ANY OF YOU, all of you approach this question the right way. It is the internet at large that is being dumb. Isn't it always.
