Monday, June 23, 2008

Pet Peeve #1

Scenes from St. Augustine -- Potter's Wax Museum. I've never wanted to do this one, but the DH picked it as one activity for us. It was actually kind of fun, and I was tickled to see the Seinfeld crew there. (Is it just me, or does Elaine look like some demonically possessed Barbie doll?)

Seinfeld was one of my favorite shows, because even though it was a show about "nothing," it really was a show about characters. For the most part, you could count on the characters to stay, well, in character.

Another of my favorites, when I had time to watch, was Law and Order. I like the police procedural, but even better was the tiny nuggets we gleaned about the characters over several seasons. (And I love how they used New York the setting as a character.) Even with minor inconsistencies (Does Cragen have chidren or not?), the characters remained themselves.

One of my pet peeves in movie, television and book series is characters who go wildly out of, well, character. For example, I loved The Mummy with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Wiesz. The second was a wild rolic, but left me with a niggling sense of dissatisfaction I didn't figure out until I'd watched it the second time. It was Evie and her character changes. Now, I'm sure living ten years with a swashbuckler would alter a shy, slightly goofy librarian, but she turns into a Lara Croft-wannabe? I don't think so. (Yeah, yeah, I know . . . she's channeling the reincarnated Egyptian Lara Croft, but please.) It bothers me enough that I'm not sure I want to see the third Mummy movie, due out in August (although I know I'll end up seeing it).

So . . . what's your number one pet peeve as a reader/viewer?

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On a side note, yesterday's 1000 words was like pulling teeth. I expect today will be the same. I hope this breaks soon . . .

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it's maddening when characters go wildly out of character. I'm still very upset about JR Ward's Lover Enshrined.

I have many pet peeves as a reader. I don't think I can pick a number one.

I love Law & Order. I've only seen the last 2 seasons though.

Hope you have a good writing day!