Pet Peeves: Podfic Batman Voices and Perfection

[hells_half_acre]

1. For the past two (working) days, my job has required absolutely no thought whatsoever, so I was able to start listening to podfic again while I worked. (Sadly, I've now completed that task, so it's back to only listening to things that I can zone in and out of.) Anyway, my point is this:

Dear Podficcers,
I love you. I really appreciate all the time you put in to turning good stories into recordings so that my horrible job is a little less horrible. That being said, please do not try to imitate Dean/Jensen's batman voice...please, don't lower your voice and try to imitate any man's voice. I am able to understand and imagine the words in his voice even if I am hearing them in yours - and I much prefer having a greater range of emotion in the dialogue than "monotone head-cold". I'm just saying - you're own speaking voice is LOVELY podficcers, I would like you to use it for all characters.
All my best,
Hells.

2. This is actually not so much a pet peeve as something that makes me highly uncomfortable...

I absotely hate it when people call someone "perfect" or "flawless". This is a huge problem if I decide to hang out on tumblr, I've discovered. It makes me extremely uncomfortable. I get what you are trying to say, "Jensen is perfect" means that you think he is beautiful, a good actor, and a nice person. I would just prefer if people said "Jensen is beautiful, a good actor, and a nice person." To me, calling someone perfect is actually really dehumanizing...because no one is perfect and therefore, in my mind, "Jensen is perfect" translates to "Jensen is not a person" or more accurately, "Jensen is not allowed to be human."

I guess... I guess this is the whole "objectifying" thing...only, I know that's not what people are trying to do/say, but it's exactly how I interpret it... and I'm not joking when I say it makes me "highly uncomfortable" - I seriously feel a little sick to my stomach whenever I read it. I'm not sure what to do about it, because it seems to just be part of the lingo out there on the internet. Anyway, I just wanted to complain about it, because it drives me crazy... and I guess it might be a little ridiculous? I mean, seriously, "Jensen is perfect" gives me the same visceral reaction as someone saying "Jensen is a faggot" or "Jennifer Lawrence is a cunt"...I mean, how completely ridiculous is my brain? But that's exactly what it does. It's sort of like each "Jensen is perfect" is another piece of wood for the stake that you are eventually going to burn him at for actually being human and not perfect at all... and I'm just sitting here watching that thing being built and thinking "no no, this is all wrong!!!" but no one is listening to me because I'm that crazy person in the village that no one ever listens to because I'm crazy.

Comments

[risenshine22.livejournal.com]

You're not crazy!
It's really hard to find a flaw when it comes to Jensen beside the fact that we just can't have him.
Once, when I was talking to a friend about how perfect Jensen is, he simply replied that his poop doesn't smell like roses either. This totally cracked me up - and everytime I read the words perfect and Jensen in the same sentence I have to think of not!roses ;)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Well, good to know I'm not crazy. :)

I just think that sometimes Jensen probably gets into bad moods and yells at people and then later has to apologize...you know, like the rest of us do. And if he did that to me, I'd probably be like "that's okay Jensen, sorry your day sucked" whereas if he did that to someone who thought he was perfect, well, they'd be crushed and never forgive him, even though it's nothing they wouldn't have done.

But yes, his poop also doesn't smell like roses. :P

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

fans on tumblr who say xxx is perfect are generally, i find, 12 years old (actual chronological age) so some consideration of this is required ;)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yes, that is what I always try to remind myself... and then I feel bad for the day that all those 12 year olds are disillusioned, because that's going to suck for them. :P

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

You're not crazy, just you see into the implications of words way more than most people...not necessarily a bad thing!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Well, that's one way to look at it! Yay, I have a greater appreciation for the power of words! ;)

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

tumblr is chock full of hyperbole and silly gushing. It's little snippets of stuff, instead of anything in-depth. I just go to look at the pretty pictures...

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I just go there for the pretty pictures too! And then people add these captions to the pretty pictures that make me horribly uncomfortable! It's a hard life for someone who, like me, who has ridiculous hang-ups. :P

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I totally get what you're saying. I'm also one of those people who think the paparazzi should back-the-fuck off celebrities because the 'stars' are just people, like us (albeit prettier), and deserve a little privacy.

I also agree with you about doing 'voices' while podficcing. Just read me the story, please? I'm not a kid at a puppetshow. I have often abandoned a podfic for this very reason!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I try to make it a point not to click to view paparazzi pictures on the internet, because I don't want to be contributing to that market place. Especially since I've met one of the paparazzi guys in Vancouver that follow the boys around and he is a vile person that I would not wish on anybody.

And yes, I've also abandoned podfic due to voices. Of course, then I'm too chicken to contact that podficcer and suggest that maybe they don't try to do voices - so, I guess I'm not really helping the problem. I just don't want to hurt anyone's feelings! :P

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

I don't know if podficcing with 'voices' is the norm or not, but it's just my personal preference to NOT have them. Even with podfics purchased from places like Audible.com, you may get 'voices'. But I guess it's not our place to suggest otherwise. If a podficcer likes to do it that way and they get plenty of listeners, that's just the way it goes, I s'pose!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

True. I don't know what the norm is either. I prefer just straight narration though. If the story is written well, then you should be able to tell who is speaking even without differentiating the characters by using different 'voices'...

I actually had to stop reading a fic the other day because they'd written it in such a way that it was impossible to tell who was speaking until after they spoke, and even that was convoluted. It was like..

"Go to the store," James stared at Anthony, wondering what they needed at the store.

"I don't see why I have to," Anthony was obviously not taking no for an answer though, if the look on his face was anything to go by.

"Just do it," James sighed and went to the store.

Anyway, I've gotten off topic. I guess I just wanted to complain about that fic that I couldn't read. :P

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

I totally agree.

Re. the fic, was this fanfic or published, edited fiction?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Fanfic...so you know, usually allowances for 14 year-olds. Especially given that I was reading a fandom that has a predominately young fanbase (in my observations.)

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Ah! Gotcha. Well at least you didn't pay cashmoney for it! ;)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yes, thankfully it's only really happened to me once, that I bought a book and then couldn't get past the first chapter due to the writing style. :)