Full disclosure: I'm a nerd. I'll admit it. As I write this I'm drinking a beer out of an Incredible Hulk pint glass, listening to They Might Be Giants, wearing a Threadless shirt depicting a metal sea monster destroying the Merrimack and the Monitor and I have the Imperial Logo tattooed on my arm. That's about as nerdy as it gets. Hell, I forgot to mention that I have the ESPN fantasy cast open so I can track my 4 fantasy football teams. It doesn't matter what kind of nerdery it is, I do it all, I'm a Renaissance Nerd. Today I'm suffering from an overdose of Nerd Rage.
Normally one would use the term to describe the legions of fans who are hypercritical about the things they love. Example: When Watchmen became a movie everybody I know bitched about the ending being a nuke instead of that weird squid monster. "It's different! The comic is so much better!" Yes, as a whole the comic was better, but come on. Do you know how fucking stupid that thing would have looked on the big screen? Knowing the geniuses in Hollywood I assume it would have been a combination of the Blob and Clifford the Big Red Dog with tentacles. Whenever there is some sort of comic or sci-fi adaptation nerds (and I use this term lovingly, I'm not Ogre) head to the internet to complain about it.
Today's post isn't about how I have Nerd Rage over something, although I feel a general takedown of George Lucas is in our near future. No, instead I am filled with rage toward people who have Nerd Rage, specifically about The Walking Dead. It seems to be en vogue to complain about how the series is differing from the comic and how it will never be as good et cetera. I read a couple of complaints about how most of last night's episode was "filler," and I agree. You can't kill off half the cast every show, sorry, that's not how things work. And have the people who complained about that even read the last couple of Walking Dead trades? Filler seems to be the majority of the comic now. I know that the CDC storyline wasn't involved in the comic and that Shane should be long dead by now (whoops, spoiler alert) but I don't understand the fuss and cynicism. It's a fairly faithful adaptation that the comic's author, Robert Kirkman, is a writer for so if anything he's the one making changes, or at the very least he supports those changes. Not to mention that there is a highly rated weekly show ABOUT ZOMBIES. This is fantastic, it's everything I've ever wanted. Every week I get to watch a pretty good show about a zombie invasion, how can that be a bad thing?
I understand having strong emotions about changes being made to something you love but this endless cynicism drives me bonkers. Kirkman has said that if he knew the comic would go on for as long as it has he wouldn't have killed Shane off so quickly. Now with the TV show he gets a bit of a do over. Plus, let's be honest, Game of Thrones might be the first and only show to have the balls to kill so many main characters in such a short amount of time. I look at The Walking Dead TV show as an adaptation of the comic and I don't want it to be word for word the same as the comics I've already read. I think it's interesting to see the things that get changed or adapted, I loved the vatos taking care of the old people for example. It just seems like the rest of my nerd brethren react negatively to any change for no reason other than it's a change. Rarely do you hear a reason for hating something other than the simple fact that it's different. I just wish that more people would just take a second to analyze what they saw and give reasoning as to why they disliked the changes instead of angrily bleating "It was different!" Take a second to appreciate that there even is a Walking Dead on television, something that never would have happened even five years ago. Maybe if it stays successful we can get a Y the Last Man series, eh? Oh, a nerd can dream. . .
Feel free to argue with me about this in the comment section, I'd love to hear someone who loved the comic but hates the show give me their reasoning behind it.
Almost forgot, if they introduce The Governor and fuck it up I'll be the first one screaming about it, you can bet on that. Then I'll delete this post so you might want to print it out if you are hoping to say "I told you so."
Nice blag, Charlie.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watch a comic book adaptation (or an adaptation of any kind of book, for that matter), I pretty much disregard the source material from the get-go and try to judge whether or not I like it for what it is. That said, I don't think The Walking Dead is a very good tv show. It started off really well with the season 1 premiere (brilliant), but since then it's been marred by plot cliche, bad dialogue, and uneven pacing. And this is coming from a guy who gave an entire season of Falling Skies a chance. I deserve an award for sitting through all ten hours of that show.
I just don't believe they're running for their lives, trying to survive in an end-of-days type of scenario. I don't think it needs to be given the full-on *The Road* treatment, but the show lacks a sense of urgency. I just don't buy it. I did before, in the first two episodes of season 1, which is why I find it so frustrating now.
It's still better than most of what's on tv right now (if you hate subtlety, you'll love the show where Claire Danes washes out her vagina in a sink in the first five minutes), but I expect more. I want The Walking Dead to be one of the best tv shows ever made. Considering the talent they have on hand, it certainly isn't out of the question.
By the way - did you hear Steven Spielberg is going to release the original uncut version of E.T. on Blu-ray? True story. George Lucas can suck it.