Measuring the Marigolds and Overanalysis

You know there is something to be said that the more you analyze something, the less enjoyment you get put of a subject. The notion that the more you analyze something, the less you enjoy it may or may not be true but how much of it is actually true or just plain hogwash?

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

It depends on how you look at it. Babylon Five pretty much spoils Lord Of The Rings (and it works the other way around). But I enjoyed both, flaws and all.

Bab 5 producer JMS Lampshades this in his Complete Book Of Scriptwriting: "Once you read this book you won't be able to enjoy a movie or tv show. Why is that drek being produced while my script sits in a trunk in Toledo?"

It's all a matter of taking time out to enjoy things. Knowing how to cook really gets me angry whenever I eat at a cut rate diner. But when I dine at a good place, it makes the meal much more enjoyable.

edited 11th May '14 4:46:53 PM by TairaMai

All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48

On the flip side, people can take enjoyment out of analyzing things. I'm sure professional critics enjoy their jobs to some degree, for example. Analysis involves creative thinking, and if you're a creative person, analysis might be a mecca of thought for you.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Remind me never to read that book as it I don't it to 'ruin' the mystery. Still, I often wonder if I am analysis something right or if I even know how analysis for fiction, math, etc. is done. I know after coming to this site, I could never look at things the same way again...

I know people who enjoy analysis as well as the work in question but for others it ruins the mystery.

edited 11th May '14 8:26:44 PM by GAP

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

Gotta fix those arrows.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Sorry about that.

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

Remember, Tropes Are Tools.

A lot of what goes into movies and tv shows is behind the scenes studio drama. In some cases, it's an annoying piece of trivia that actor X also did show q.

In other cases, any explanation helps make sense and can at offer a lesson as to how not to make a movie/tv show. Many actors leave, studio execs think they know better. Or there is a director with a "vision", like a lieutenant with a map, getting lost but insisting that she/he knows the way...

The key is to look at your own works and see what tropes you want to play with, use, subvert or explore.

Then there are the Mind Screw films. Really, any analysis is hopeless. Just enjoy the work for it's own sake. If you can find a trope or "explanation" it's a bonus.

There is the old theater saying "if it ain't on the page it ain't on the stage", nothing ruins the MST3K Mantra more than bad writing. That's when the marigolds pretty much beg to be put out of their misery...

edited 11th May '14 9:28:21 PM by TairaMai

All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48

I heard a rather good analogy about this once: do biologists not find cat pictures cute because they know about the cat's inner workings?

We do find pictures of cats cute. You should also ask that to a vet.

Exactly. Presumably, film critics don't find films less enjoyable just because they know how its all put together.

I tend to find things more enjoyable if I can clearly articulate what I like about them.

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...

I thought the Pokemon games were fun without the metagame. With the metagame, it's enjoyment Up To Eleven.

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?

But what about don't didn't find it fun? What abput those who don't like their stuff dismissed as being 'illogical', doesn't exist in reality or just plain hogwash? What about elitism?

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

What about them? If you don't enjoy analyzing things, you don't have to.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

I suppose that some people don't find it boring but for some people it feels as though an illusion has been dispelled. My problem is that I really don't know what to look for or I am too lazy to find it. Before I lurked in blogs, I had no idea that Robocop was a satire on anything until I saw the blog as well as Ebert's review. Robocop seemed like a really good action movie to me although it didn't ruin my enjoyment, I had idea of the satire and meta humor present until I saw blogs and reviews on it.

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

Heh, funny thing, I took a class on Intimate Relationships this past semester (just took my final today @_@) and my professor used a variation on that quote (talking about, IIRC, chemists or physicists or something and finding the sunrise beautiful). The gist of that was that learning about the psychology behind relationships doesn't need to make them less romantic, and may indeed enhance your relationships. I imagine a similar principle is in play with media analysis and appreciation of media.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

There are classes on that?

Where can I sign up?

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...

Come to NJ, the weather's...um, barely passable, but hey, we have classes like that! My professor is actually one of the top in that specific discipline in social psychology.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Does it also cover how to achieve an Intimate Relationship?

New Jersey was already on my list of "far away places I'd like to visit someday."

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...

Pretty much that's the point of the course . Not intimate as in "sexual", of course, intimate as in dating and closeness.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Did this course help you in getting dates?

It certainly helped me figure out some of the things I was doing dead wrong at the very least. Most of it focused on the things that happen in relationships that are already ongoing, but there was a whole unit on initiation and all that jazz.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

I think you can buy those from any cake shop or cookery stores.

Edit: ninja'd

edited 12th May '14 2:36:22 PM by IraTheSquire

Well, if social psychology can teach you something useful, the miracles haven't left this world after all.

(Social psychology, as a discipline, has a bad rep in our country because of this guy. It's also associated with ideologically motivated pseudo-studies, like the "meat eaters are assholes" example in the article, and with nebulous, hard-to-replicate results in general).

But enough knocking the social sciences. If you picked up anything interesting there that you'd like to share (here or in PM) I'd be happy to listen.

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...

Work in foodservice, there are some cherish illusion shattered in a zillion pieces...

Does that stop me from going out to eat? No. It does make me picky..but mostly 'cuz I like to taste what I'm eating.

All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48