In all fairness, the fandom characterization of Martin was much more interesting than his actual characterization on the podcast.
I think this is because the fandom was more willing to explore what it means for Martin to be aligned with The Lonely - and thus willing to portray him as strange and transformed. That transformation never really happened in the fourth and fifth seasons of the podcast, and it was frustrating to spend so much time with a character whose reaction to his environment was so superficial.
In contrast, I found Alasdair Stuart's performance of Peter Lukas to be very interesting. I appreciated how Lukas used his extreme "niceness" as a shield to prevent anyone from knowing his true thoughts or feelings, and I was hoping that Martin would go in a similarly creative direction. But alas.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was absolutely blamed for his transformation. This wasn't just suggested; it was outright stated by every character at least once, especially towards the end. I feel that this was unfair, as Jonathan didn't actually do anything aside from trying to help himself after his requests for help from others were denied. The story seemed to be trying to set up Jonathan as a character with gray morality, but it didn't come off that way at all.
This was especially frustrating because the podcast never explored why The Beholding is supposed to be scary and bad. Like, there were no stories about the darker aspects of being on social media, or what it means to be canceled. There were no stories about CCTV cameras or government surveillance or data tracking. There were no stories about thought crimes. There were no stories about what it means to be female (or female-coded) and have your appearance and behavior constantly monitored by society at all times. For example, you know? So why was The Beholding bad, and why was Jonathan judged so harshly?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the end of the fourth season and the entire fifth season suffer from the missteps in the character development arcs of the two main characters. To me, it's not so much that the ending hurts, but rather that the ending doesn't have the emotional weight or valence that perhaps it should.
I also dislike the reaction the podcast tries to provoke in the listener by saying, "Jonathan is bad and wrong, and you are just as bad and wrong as Jonathan." Exactly as you said, there's a lot of emotional baggage tied up with that, especially since the writing did such a fantastic job during the first three seasons of helping the listener identify with a queer+ace point-of-view character.
Sorry for rambling. It's just, damn. I really love this podcast, and it's such a shame.
ETA: Sorry, I guess there was the "Extended Surveillance" episode about the security guard whose consciousness is swallowed by an outdated CCTV system in a low-rent shopping center, but this story seemed more like a "horror of the machine" sort of deal rather than a reflection of the public conversations surrounding the social and political implications of mass surveillance that were going on in the UK in the mid-2010s. I hope that makes sense.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2023-01-18 02:14 pm (UTC)I think this is because the fandom was more willing to explore what it means for Martin to be aligned with The Lonely - and thus willing to portray him as strange and transformed. That transformation never really happened in the fourth and fifth seasons of the podcast, and it was frustrating to spend so much time with a character whose reaction to his environment was so superficial.
In contrast, I found Alasdair Stuart's performance of Peter Lukas to be very interesting. I appreciated how Lukas used his extreme "niceness" as a shield to prevent anyone from knowing his true thoughts or feelings, and I was hoping that Martin would go in a similarly creative direction. But alas.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was absolutely blamed for his transformation. This wasn't just suggested; it was outright stated by every character at least once, especially towards the end. I feel that this was unfair, as Jonathan didn't actually do anything aside from trying to help himself after his requests for help from others were denied. The story seemed to be trying to set up Jonathan as a character with gray morality, but it didn't come off that way at all.
This was especially frustrating because the podcast never explored why The Beholding is supposed to be scary and bad. Like, there were no stories about the darker aspects of being on social media, or what it means to be canceled. There were no stories about CCTV cameras or government surveillance or data tracking. There were no stories about thought crimes. There were no stories about what it means to be female (or female-coded) and have your appearance and behavior constantly monitored by society at all times. For example, you know? So why was The Beholding bad, and why was Jonathan judged so harshly?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the end of the fourth season and the entire fifth season suffer from the missteps in the character development arcs of the two main characters. To me, it's not so much that the ending hurts, but rather that the ending doesn't have the emotional weight or valence that perhaps it should.
I also dislike the reaction the podcast tries to provoke in the listener by saying, "Jonathan is bad and wrong, and you are just as bad and wrong as Jonathan." Exactly as you said, there's a lot of emotional baggage tied up with that, especially since the writing did such a fantastic job during the first three seasons of helping the listener identify with a queer+ace point-of-view character.
Sorry for rambling. It's just, damn. I really love this podcast, and it's such a shame.
ETA: Sorry, I guess there was the "Extended Surveillance" episode about the security guard whose consciousness is swallowed by an outdated CCTV system in a low-rent shopping center, but this story seemed more like a "horror of the machine" sort of deal rather than a reflection of the public conversations surrounding the social and political implications of mass surveillance that were going on in the UK in the mid-2010s. I hope that makes sense.