From: Julia Jones write:
Jenny Kaye writes:
So what you are saying is, that although there may be fans out there
who
have no idea who Chris Boucher is, and what his contribution to the
series involved, they still may be interested in buying his copy of a
script?
Yes, I am. Longer term residents of this list have seen a good few members turn up who had not seen all of the series; had seen none of it on arrival but had heard it talked about elsewhere and wanted to learn more about a show that didn't have neat tidy endings performed by shiny happy people;
And they come here?
who had seen it years ago and liked it enough to do a
search when they got net access, but hadn't seen it for years and couldn't even remember some of the actors' names.
Okay, but I was answering your email that said that "not all fans are aware of (or interested in) who was involved in a show other than the actors." I quite reasonably replied that if they are not interested in Chris Boucher then it is really of no importance to them who Chris Boucher is. Anybody who would be interested would very probably know who he was, and anyone he didn't IMO probably wouldn't be that interested if it involved in shelling out that kind of money.
Many of the above are quite likely to be interested in an original script with notations by the writer and/or script editor, even if they haven't yet had "Chris Boucher is god" burnt into their brains.
I don't think you have to be of the faith that Chris Boucher is god to be interested in him, in the same way that you don't have to necessary swallow the belief that "Avon is a kind and considerate soul" to be able to appreciate the character.
There're two reasons for this; one being standard fannish acquisitiveness about anything linked with the series, the other being an interest in the mechanics of putting together a show.
And if their level of interest in the show (and particularly in production) is that great, then I would think they would know who Chris Boucher is.
It is not necessary to be a
hard core "get a life" type fan to be interested for either reason,
When did I suggest such a thing? Please don't put words in my mouth.
This does sound unpleasantly as if you think that only *your* definition of a True Fan is allowed to enjoy all the pleasures of fandom.
No, what it sounds like is a *question.* I did not say that I thought that nobody should be allowed or not allowed to buy a script if that's what they want to spend their money on, I *expressed surprise* that somebody who didn't know who Chris Boucher was would want to buy his script. Somebody who didn't know who he was *might* want to buy it of course, all things are possible, but I was expressing the opinion that this was unlikely.
However, your response sounds unpleasantly as if you've taken a dislike to me for some reason and are spoiling for a fight. If this is the case, please e-mail me offlist-- I don't want to bore everybody else with it.
We've already had that debate - go look it up in the archives.
I don't need to look at any archives. I saw what happened last month. If *you* want another 40 people unsubscribing, go on. I'll be first.
Jenny
_________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
In message F1614CMxfqclwmlZBv9000121aa@hotmail.com, Jenny Kaye jennycat55@hotmail.com writes
Yes, I am. Longer term residents of this list have seen a good few members turn up who had not seen all of the series; had seen none of it on arrival but had heard it talked about elsewhere and wanted to learn more about a show that didn't have neat tidy endings performed by shiny happy people;
And they come here?
I believe that's what I just said. Several of them have spoken for themselves now. I note that you've snipped one of the categories - a large one, and the one I'm (almost) in. I'd only just got hold of the videos and worked my way through them when I got net access, and at that point I could *not* cite chapter and verse on the production crew. I would have still been extremely interested in a script with the personal notes of any of the production crew, partly for the thrill of owning a little bit of B7, but mostly because I'm one of those people who isn't just content to watch the silk handkerchiefs but wants to know how the trick was done. This is one of the many reasons I go wandering around the country to theatres where Gareth is performing. It's wonderful to be able to sit in the bar with one of the actors afterwards and pick apart how the play was put together, to compare what I saw during the performance with what the production crew were trying to achieve.
It can be very interesting to know what was intended. A good example of this for me is Blade Runner. I happened to read an SF-orientated review before I saw the film. The reviewer had seen the original preview cut, was thoroughly impressed, and was horrified when he went back to see the release version. He described what had been done to the preview. I went to see the film knowing something about what Ridley Scott had intended, and came away much more impressed by the remaining traces of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" than by the "Raiders of the Lost Androids" studio cut. The messing about had completely changed the feel of the film, for the poorer in my opinion.
Such changes are known to have happened in B7. There was a good example of this given in the analysis of Gambit script changes in an article in Horizon 39. Another example is Vere Lorrimer's infamous habit of shoving in action sequences and then cutting exposition to bring the episode back to length, occasionally leaving out critical plot points in the process. And then there's Mary Ridge's notes on the script for _Blake_, highlighting what I think is one of Boucher's rare duds.
So yes, if one is interested in this aspect, one may well be interested in acquiring scripts and other working material from the show, even if one is not yet up to speed on who all these people in the background are.
From: Jenny Kaye jennycat55@hotmail.com
This does sound unpleasantly as if you think that only *your*
definition
of a True Fan is allowed to enjoy all the pleasures of fandom.
No, what it sounds like is a *question.* I did not say that I thought that nobody should be allowed or not allowed to buy a script if that's what
they
want to spend their money on, I *expressed surprise* that somebody who didn't know who Chris Boucher was would want to buy his script. Somebody
who
didn't know who he was *might* want to buy it of course, all things are possible, but I was expressing the opinion that this was unlikely.
Let's go back to what Judith originally said: "Chris Boucher just asked me to pass on that he'll be selling various items via e-bay in the near future. I don't know what items he has in mind, though I imagine it's probably his remaining copies of scripts from various shows. "
A newbie who's never heard of CB (as two people have publicly admitted, and I know one of them saw at least some of the series way back when it was first broadcast) might wonder what the hell that message above has got to do with B7. Judith's explanatory PS would have clarified matters, and if this particular newbie was into collecting memorabilia, then s/he might have cause to sit up and take notice. A chance of getting a real B7 script! Not something to pass over lightly, whoever this Boucher fellow might be.
So I think Judith's PS was perfectly justified, and didn't warrant the sarcastic response it got. Not the sarcasm per se, just this particular instance of it. Judith was only trying to be helpful, and with good reason given that not everyone here knows their B7 inside out.
Neil
-
Jenny Kaye -
Julia Jones -
Neil Faulkner