24 June 2011

The Art of Making First Impressions...

...in entertainment. Or in real life, it depends. This is a less formal rant so a more polished one will be for another day... once Fangirl finishes up unpacking boxes in the new house. (At least the internet now works - sorry for the short inactivity!)

No matter what the situation and place, we all can relate to the importance of first impressions. How else can someone hire you? How else can you have a tiny idea of which people you want to hang out with? How else can you be willing enough to pay for a CD - no, excuse me, DOWNLOAD an album - without hearing a note? How else can you be prepared for what you might get yourself into? You get the idea, yeah?

Typically some people emphasize that judging someone or something without understanding some of it is wrong. However, first impressions are conclusions made from quick judgements made on the surface. So all the extra moral people in the world are being "evil" and are not aware! Sort of. Not only that but if you judge something after exposing yourself to "a little bit," someone will scream at your face until you are figuratively beaten to the ground, stabbed in the gut, punched in the face, and left on the edge of a cliff. ...Maybe that was too graphic. REMEMBER: it was figuratively speaking.

To get to the point, I often hate making firm positions on something without at least attempting to do some background research or look over the views of others on the subject. Sure, I can be an opinionated witch 99.9% of the time, but I try to not look or sound completely unintelligent and lazy. With that in mind, I sometimes think my reviews are far too subjective (and I know they are), even to the point that I don't CRITICIZE. As much as I love shows like Higurashi and House, books like Harry Potter and Mars, and other stuff, it really doesn't look good if a fangirl does nothing but squeal and jump up and down about something that might be considered garbage in reality. The same goes for things I don't like (Twilight. PERIOD.)

So what is the point of this post? I don't know exactly. A confessed worry? A rant? Both?
Yeah, it might be both.

You could say that I just ran into a show that bored me so freaking much that I had to stop at only 11 out of 25 minutes. I barely made it to the halfway mark of the first episode and I gave up. That, ladies and gents, is a first. I gave Godsmack one full song and half of a second before I declared them as a band I hate. I gave Slipknot one song and a few minutes of research before I disliked them. I liked the Twilight series for over a year before I dropped it. I gave freaking Disney stars a few weeks of the "I don't care" treatment until I despised the company all together. Even Justin Beiber. Months of mild annoyance before I exploded with rage as fast as people kissed his feet.

Yep. I don't think I disliked something so quickly in a long time... The guilty party is...
Ergo Proxy.

Maybe I'm still emotional from my shear disappointment of the first 11 minutes of the show, but man, what a waste of time it was. My first impression was somewhat neutral: animation looked good, soundtrack was supposedly decent, and everything else is a mixed bag. In such a short time, I was blown away at how dull, uninspiring, and slow the show begins. There is no hook, no pull whatsoever. Despite it being a post-apocalyptic world, everything in Ergo Proxy felt so dull that even real life is more fascinating.

Again, these are my first impressions and I know I can't make a review of it because of the lack of information I have. But as a first-time viewer, I am positive that I will NOT review this snoozefest for a long time, even if you gave me the lifetime opportunity to send me to Finland for a week. This "psychological" and "philosophical" show needs to get off of its snooty butt and write an interesting story.

It's times like these when I have to be careful of impressions. Sometimes they can be right, sometimes they can be semi-true, and other times they are downright wrong. But after reading and watching many reviews, I have not found much relevant persuasions to make me to change my mind. If it's because of movies, music, shows, or even people you meet every day, you might relate to the frustrations of making first impressions and judgements.

2 comments:

Tenebris In Lux said...

I wouldn't say you are THAT critical, but rather sensible. It seems like when I review something, I either really love it or hate it, thus why I'm reviewing it in the first place. Either that, or I cannot think of any more adjectives to say. I cannot call every other album "cool": it just doesn't work like that.

I think all human beings make the mistake (of first impressions, that is) but I suppose that it really is some strange yet natural human psychological thingy. I like to know more about peoples' backgrounds before really making a judgment. Even my bullies -- some of them really are bitches (to be blunt) but sometimes I wonder if they have a rough life at home, etc.

KK said...

I like the point you make about being judgemental. I consider myself a relatively nice person, but I admit that I judge people and things quite a bit. I think that it's simply human nature to do so.

And by the way, you aren't TOO opinionated. I mean you are, but not in a bad way, lol. :)

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