Requiem eternam, Journ-El
May. 3rd, 2008 12:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficFor those of who you are interested, the fic in question. The rot doesn't really begin to set in until Page 123, so proceed with caution.
Usually, I’m the kind of person who values confrontation over passive-aggressive bitchiness (because really, is there anything worse than “You know what sucks? That guy who does X. No, I’m not saying which one… but you know the one I mean”?). If I think – if it’s my opinion -- that a story could accomplish what its set out to accomplish more effectively, I’ll say so and how to the author’s face. Now, there are exceptions. If I think that the problem is at my end, if I know the author wouldn’t like concrit, or whatever… I’ll hold my tongue. I’ll feel like a coward, but I’ll do it.
That said, the Journ-El has not only jumped the shark, but pole-vaulted over it. It has paved over the shark and turned it into a speed bump so that every day on the way to work, the Journ-El can “jump” the shark.
Let me pause for a moment to explain to you what the Journ-El is. After the release of Superman Returns, and the unlikelihood of a sequel in the near-future, one fan wrote a satire based on the premise of Clark’s blog thoughts during the events of the movie. It struck a chord with fandom, and over time the satire grew to include more conventional drama elements instead of just remaining whacky parody.
Incredibly, this worked. In retrospect, it was something like throwing a chainsaw at a juggler and then them catching the chainsaw and incorporating it into the act. The story went beyond Superman Returns to resolve the quasi-cliffhanger ending, including a climactic battle between Luthor and Superman, the revelation of Clark’s secret identity, and generally all the things you would want to see in a sequel. And they were all handled very well, with a literally astounding balance of angst, comedy, and heartwarming triumph.
And now that I’ve praised Caesar, I suppose it’s time to bury him.
It couldn’t last. While before Claire – I hate sounding so familiar when I’m being so critical – had been amazing at incorporating story arcs into the story, the fact that she was basically making things up as she went came back to bite her in the ass. The entire story had been winding down, with the actual threat of Luthor vanquished so as to clear space for the Clark/Lois romance to come to a head, when…
The angst-meters go off the chart. Clark gets a mysterious message which turns out to basically be a threat. Suicidally (he’s in a rather bad place, mentally) he flies off to infiltrate the criminal syndicate which sent it. Lois is hot on his heels, trying to uncover what he knows and get her man back (as it turns out, a great deal of Clark’s angst is due to Lois calling him Richard in a moment of passion… which, in hindsight, skews more Three’s Company than epic romance). As it turns out (keep in mind I am not making a WORD of this up)…
1. The criminal syndicate is led by an incestuous father-daughter duo who wants to adopt Superman as a surrogate son/lover.
2. Clark has been held captive for weeks, being tortured in ways that would make Eli Roth blanch, with both Daddy and Daughter wanting his hot bod.
3. Daughter actually does manage to rape Clark.
4. Lois manages to rescue Clark after a squicky field surgery scene, but he’d been reduced to an infantilized state and (oh, bru-ther!) contracted amnesia.
5. So the story becomes Lois and a psychologist OC trying to cure Clark from the mother of all PSTD cases. While fleeing from raping, murdering baddies whose every atrocity is described in, natch, squicky detail.
Now, you might wonder what in the Kryptonian hell any of this has to do with Superman, the preceding story, or especially good taste. The answer is not much on all counts. It’s obvious that the author is going for shock value and completely ODing on h/c instead of showing any interest in resolving the conflicts already introduced or staying faithful to the spirit of the story that attracted so many readers in the first place.
The hell of it is, the writing is still strong. The prose is frequently beautiful, the characters are well-drawn, it’s all just in service to a plot that is maddeningly… evil. Hateful. Sadistic, even. The closest thing I can compare it to is seeing a movie like The Day After Tomorrow and considering all the acting, stuntwork, special effects, and so on… all this incredible talent… all gone into realizing such a void.
It’s just really depressing to see such a great (I suppose I should say potentially great) story go up in flames and burn up all the good will it so rightfully earned. Part of me still clings to the hope that the author will pull it together and bring the whole thing to a conclusion that will make up for, or even justify, the miles of bad road that it took to get there. But I doubt it.
Like the mother of all narm scenes, the entire Lina Sibo plot overshadows all that has come before and all that will come after. It’s impossible to take seriously, yet too atrocious to laugh at. Knowing the horror to come sucks all the joy out of the earlier scenes and makes getting through the current plot a truly horrendous chore (as I said, just when you think Clark and Lois have escaped and you can settle in for the comfort part of the hurt/comfort, the author pulls a fast one and not only flashbacks to more gruesome shenanigans, but starts a subplot about the graphic rape and murder of an innocent young woman. I mean, JESUS!).
R.I.P. Journ-El. I will remember you for the story you were, rather than the travesty you became.
Usually, I’m the kind of person who values confrontation over passive-aggressive bitchiness (because really, is there anything worse than “You know what sucks? That guy who does X. No, I’m not saying which one… but you know the one I mean”?). If I think – if it’s my opinion -- that a story could accomplish what its set out to accomplish more effectively, I’ll say so and how to the author’s face. Now, there are exceptions. If I think that the problem is at my end, if I know the author wouldn’t like concrit, or whatever… I’ll hold my tongue. I’ll feel like a coward, but I’ll do it.
That said, the Journ-El has not only jumped the shark, but pole-vaulted over it. It has paved over the shark and turned it into a speed bump so that every day on the way to work, the Journ-El can “jump” the shark.
Let me pause for a moment to explain to you what the Journ-El is. After the release of Superman Returns, and the unlikelihood of a sequel in the near-future, one fan wrote a satire based on the premise of Clark’s blog thoughts during the events of the movie. It struck a chord with fandom, and over time the satire grew to include more conventional drama elements instead of just remaining whacky parody.
Incredibly, this worked. In retrospect, it was something like throwing a chainsaw at a juggler and then them catching the chainsaw and incorporating it into the act. The story went beyond Superman Returns to resolve the quasi-cliffhanger ending, including a climactic battle between Luthor and Superman, the revelation of Clark’s secret identity, and generally all the things you would want to see in a sequel. And they were all handled very well, with a literally astounding balance of angst, comedy, and heartwarming triumph.
And now that I’ve praised Caesar, I suppose it’s time to bury him.
It couldn’t last. While before Claire – I hate sounding so familiar when I’m being so critical – had been amazing at incorporating story arcs into the story, the fact that she was basically making things up as she went came back to bite her in the ass. The entire story had been winding down, with the actual threat of Luthor vanquished so as to clear space for the Clark/Lois romance to come to a head, when…
The angst-meters go off the chart. Clark gets a mysterious message which turns out to basically be a threat. Suicidally (he’s in a rather bad place, mentally) he flies off to infiltrate the criminal syndicate which sent it. Lois is hot on his heels, trying to uncover what he knows and get her man back (as it turns out, a great deal of Clark’s angst is due to Lois calling him Richard in a moment of passion… which, in hindsight, skews more Three’s Company than epic romance). As it turns out (keep in mind I am not making a WORD of this up)…
1. The criminal syndicate is led by an incestuous father-daughter duo who wants to adopt Superman as a surrogate son/lover.
2. Clark has been held captive for weeks, being tortured in ways that would make Eli Roth blanch, with both Daddy and Daughter wanting his hot bod.
3. Daughter actually does manage to rape Clark.
4. Lois manages to rescue Clark after a squicky field surgery scene, but he’d been reduced to an infantilized state and (oh, bru-ther!) contracted amnesia.
5. So the story becomes Lois and a psychologist OC trying to cure Clark from the mother of all PSTD cases. While fleeing from raping, murdering baddies whose every atrocity is described in, natch, squicky detail.
Now, you might wonder what in the Kryptonian hell any of this has to do with Superman, the preceding story, or especially good taste. The answer is not much on all counts. It’s obvious that the author is going for shock value and completely ODing on h/c instead of showing any interest in resolving the conflicts already introduced or staying faithful to the spirit of the story that attracted so many readers in the first place.
The hell of it is, the writing is still strong. The prose is frequently beautiful, the characters are well-drawn, it’s all just in service to a plot that is maddeningly… evil. Hateful. Sadistic, even. The closest thing I can compare it to is seeing a movie like The Day After Tomorrow and considering all the acting, stuntwork, special effects, and so on… all this incredible talent… all gone into realizing such a void.
It’s just really depressing to see such a great (I suppose I should say potentially great) story go up in flames and burn up all the good will it so rightfully earned. Part of me still clings to the hope that the author will pull it together and bring the whole thing to a conclusion that will make up for, or even justify, the miles of bad road that it took to get there. But I doubt it.
Like the mother of all narm scenes, the entire Lina Sibo plot overshadows all that has come before and all that will come after. It’s impossible to take seriously, yet too atrocious to laugh at. Knowing the horror to come sucks all the joy out of the earlier scenes and makes getting through the current plot a truly horrendous chore (as I said, just when you think Clark and Lois have escaped and you can settle in for the comfort part of the hurt/comfort, the author pulls a fast one and not only flashbacks to more gruesome shenanigans, but starts a subplot about the graphic rape and murder of an innocent young woman. I mean, JESUS!).
R.I.P. Journ-El. I will remember you for the story you were, rather than the travesty you became.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 02:02 am (UTC)However, I'd seen this fic recced in a couple places and was going to get around to reading it one day. Unfortunatly I have a great big roadblocky "Beyong This Point,Thou Shalt Not Pass!" in my head for noncon/rapefic. So, yeah. Thanks.
In the past I've encountered great *epic* works where the comfort part of the Hurt/Comfort was just a momentary respite before yet more hurt(and AANNNGSST.) coughXMMcough which I tend to refer to myself as the VC Andrews urge. I'd certainly like to continue to avoid it if I can.
I assumed from what I had read of this fic that it was humorous and tounge in cheek, and was fairly interested. You yourself say it's well written. Is there a stopping point? Somewhere you could point to and say, "If I had stopped here I would have been happy with this fic."