Something's eating my mail.

[astridv]

If anyone tried to email me today... I didn't get any mail. Apparently I'm also not getting any comment notifications. This sucks. Hopefully my mail is just stuck in a queue somewhere.

well, why let a good post go to waste: general Bones thoughts - no spoilers
So the other day I watch Bones 1.4 and 1.5 with the roomie (she actually likes the show, yay) and I just realize: I really, really like Temperance Brennan. I mean, sure, I tuned in because of Boreanaz, but by now I'm not just watching because of him. I find Brennan's ivory-tower cluelessness endearing. And for those who think that level of pop-culture cluelessness in unrealistic, I'd just like to point to my dad (who has this journal bookmarked btw *waves*).

I've seen several people on LJ mention that Bones is borderline Asperger's in her inability to 'get' basic social behaviour from anything other than an analytical viewpoint. Interesting, I wonder if that's what the writers are going for.

I also love the rest of the lab gang. So, a set of characters I'm really starting to care about. Dear writers, don't mess it up! And lose the Angillator... or at least use it very sparingly, thanx. Seriously, in most cases I think it would work much better if they showed a set of calculations intead of a holographic replay based on those calculations. Maybe not as flashy, but more realistic and sense-making.

Okay, I didn't even mean to write this post. I meant to sit at my desk and work on those hundreds of changes my one client asked for. Sigh.

Comments

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

My problem with Bones' cluelessness is how could she also be a best selling author? That just doesn't make sense to me.

[makd.livejournal.com]

Temperance Brennan is, quite frankly, a stereotypical anthropologist. I've said this before on LJ several times now. I've been working with female and male anthropologists since 1974. Excepting the ones who study popular culture, they almost never get popular culture references! They are cool people - but generally intellectualize most interactions. Maybe they spend too much time at the dig or in the bones lab (most physical anthropologists, of which forensics is a branch, see humanity as bones, stones, and teeth.), but they are often "out of it".

One colleague, who's a really good friend, is an archaeologist. I always tease her that she's the only person I know, short of the Classicists, who speaks a dead language (Mayan, in her case.). She's a painter, does all kinds of crafts (of course! dude: anthro is all about the craft.), is a superb cook, and has a fantastic sense of humor. She does not, however, "get" popular culture. Just this week, we were talking and I suggested that she might like to watch "Lost" or even "Bones". Well, maybe "Bones", she told me - and only b/c a couple of her students had told her that Bones reminds them of her!!

[shrugs.] Brennan probably is like Kathy Reichs, whom, by the way, my friend has met at several anthro. conferences over the years. "What's she like?", I asked. "Oh, nothing special", she said; "she's just like us, except more organized." I believe it ---- she's probably just. like. Bones in the pop culture way.

oh...oh....almost forgot! Last Fall semester, we (my anthro. bud) and I were talking about course content, and I mentioned that we were covering hip-hop and rap music in class. "What's that?", she said. She was serious. I tell you, dude: anthros are generally interested in fossils, bones, stones, teeth, and anything from a dead culture. The only exceptions are the ones into pop culture.

And the younger ones? Once they get into graddy work and thesis work and get onto the dig? fahgedaboudit.

[qfemale.livejournal.com]

I think you would get a LOT of feedback on this if you posted it to 206_bones. ;-)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

*grins* I know. But I actually just came on LJ to post about my missing email and the rest just kinda slipped out. Maybe I'll post it over at the community as well... once I get my work done, that is.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

I don't see a contradiction there. She's going by 'write about what you know' - in her case, a mystery novel centered around forensic anthropology. Do you need pop-culture references to make that kind of story seem realistic? Besides, if she saw the need to add something along those lines, my guess is she'd just treat it like every other fact and just research it. With the same analytical approach she takes to hip hop music.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

*nods* Interesting! I'm not really surprised since I know more than one person irl who're not at all immersed in modern pop culture. I think it's easy to forget that us fandom folks are on the exact opposite end of this particular spectrum. In a way, we're just as extreme as Temperance. ;) (When I tell my friends about some of the fandom metaffles, they get that weird look...)

and only b/c a couple of her students had told her that Bones reminds them of her!!

LOL

[qfemale.livejournal.com]

;-) would be fun!