(Not a complaint) Help me get back that “loving feeling”

[gogo]

Help me get back that “loving feeling” for Lonelygirl15 and her story…I need help from devoted viewers and fans in trying to remain engaged, intrigued and curious about the plot.

As a viewer since the end of the summer, (during the forced “outing”), I have been patient, so I am not asking for suggestions about how to be patient and look for clues. I just want some suggestions about how to approach and view this series with the same excitement I did in the late summer and early fall.

I appreciate Trainer’s concise list of what we have known since Bree and Daniel split up after being homeless (What we know so far). However, there are some issues that are nagging at me from before the homelessness situation. I wonder about things that we don’t know so far or that some viewers (like me) hope will be addressed.

What we don’t know so far:

• Where does Crowley fit in?
• Is there anything relevant about the science teacher and the public school issue?
• What about that girl named Cassie (not CiW, but the track-walker who people were so mean to according to Bree)?
• Why the cookie contest (and a 12 out of 10)?
• What about the ox and cart folktale?
• Did the bibliomancy tell us anything we should keep in mind?
• What about the ceremony and fake ceremony?

This is not criticism at all, but just a plea. I wish for some ends to be tied up before we, as viewers, move on to the next set of clues/issues. Unfortunately for me, I am not a fan of daytime soap operas, simply because there can never be any resolution (since they must go on and on and on for years.) If I am to watch any kind of soap opera, I prefer a weekly one-hour nighttime drama in which some ends are tied up as new conflicts begin.

I guess I do feel a bit discouraged because I am rather burnt out from seeking out clues and researching in vain. (Did they place the hallway rug at a 45 degree angle to signify something? Does Bree’s nail polish color symbolize something? Does the logo on the bench next to the window mean anything? Etc.) I am just not sure about my role as a viewer. Now, understand that I am not looking for a total reveal of every detail here (of course, that would be no fun and serve no purpose). However, there as been such little resolution of earlier issues that I feel like every suggestion/theory people bring up is a puny needle in some haystack that is stands in a field of some distant farm in an undisclosed county in some state that I have never been to.

Oh, and I am not insulting anyone or anything. If I could do better in creating a series like this, you would have heard, read and seen lonelygogo15 a long time ago, and would have purchased the myriad products I would have been pushing (lonelygogo15 tee shirts, boxer short, toothpaste, body wash, flatware, sweat socks, car air fresheners, dog treats, a line of feminine hygiene products, etc.). But I can’t and didn’t, so you won’t. (However, I would have been ruthless in my pursuit of money, I am afraid to say, and you probably wouldn't have watched for very long because I wouldn't be so patient with fans- I'd be banning people who had the slightest concern or suggestion about lonelygogo15. I can be a jerk, sometimes.)

I do want to be a fan of lonelygirl15, though. What support can others give to help me get my excitement back? I don’t want to be a Cynical Cindy, Negative Nelly or Whiny Wendy. (I wanna be a gung-ho gogo!)

I am leaving for work now and in the hopes for getting my gung-ho spirit back, I look forward to any replies and suggestions from others. Thanks in advance.

gogo

[covedweller]

What's Bree supposed to do, look at the camera and go "that science teacher thing isn't relevant?"

It's relevant to the character, but not everything can be a major plot point. Looking at the above list, I think it's a safe bet that the obvious major stuff is being revealed a little more. But if something isn't major, it probably doesn't come up at all.

And no show can stick to only the major plot, or else it's far too narrow.

I had that whole research/speculation fatigue thing for awhile. My advice is to play the ARG if you want to go down that path.

With LG15 proper it's rarely paid off aside from "what if" speculation--and if we want crystal clear confirmation from the characters, it's really going to bum you out if you were wrong in your guess of where it was going.

Oh, and track walker Cassie liked to make prank phone calls!

[wintermute]

Oh, and track walker Cassie liked to make prank phone calls!

Yeah... TWJ can attest to that

'mute

[spaciegirlreturn]

I have the same problem. I don't think it ever will be as exciting/interesting as it was then becuase, for one thing, it's not new anymore and we're all kind of used to the format and how things have been progressing (SLOOOOOWWLY).......and there's no CIW which added a lot of interest for me and many other people. I don't know, no matter how complex/active the plot has gotten so far, it's still not really that exciting. I think if they worked in more clue stuff like they used to, that would interest me more...all that researching was fun, but then again I'm reluctant to put in as much effort becuase so few of the "clues" in the past ever amounted to anything. blah

[Ziola]

I can understand what you are saying, gogo. I only watch the Bree videos to see if they have any importance to the OpAphid ARG. I know that sounds very lame, but I find Op to be much more fun and interesting then our little lonelygirl right now. I think that they story line has taken far too long and right now, I just want something to happen.

[iamcool]

i think 99.9% of that is right.... but i have faith the creators wont leave us hanging

[voyboy]

Ms Kelly,


They are growing. And when we grow we go through awkward stages of change. Change can be good but very uncomfortable during the process. So dont abandon your students dear teacher. they need you.

We all need you.

[Kasdeja]

I can't get that song out of my head.

[AutoPilate]

[milowent]

As a viewer since the end of the summer, (during the forced “outing”), I have been patient, so I am not asking for suggestions about how to be patient and look for clues. I just want some suggestions about how to approach and view this series with the same excitement I did in the late summer and early fall

.... I do want to be a fan of lonelygirl15, though. What support can others give to help me get my excitement back? I don’t want to be a Cynical Cindy, Negative Nelly or Whiny Wendy. (I wanna be a gung-ho gogo!)

gogo, i think my experience has been similar. The following realizations have helped me keep my chin up:

1. Its ok to still love lonelygirl15 after the initial infatuation is over. I think Dr. Phil sums it up well:

Falling in love is only the first stage of love. It's impossible to remain in that stage. A mature relationship will shift from dizzying infatuation to a deeper, more secure love.

Don't make the common mistake of thinking that when the initial wild passion fades you aren't in love anymore. The answer is not to start a new relationship so you can recapture that emotional high with someone else. The answer is to learn how to move on to the next stages of love for a different but richer experience.

Remember, there are no other lonelygirl15's out there. She is the only one for me/you/us. I mean that both literally and figuratively; there is no internet phenomenon like her.

2. i pay less time and attention to clue speculation. the creators don't give us enough information to logically deduce how the open plot threads will be resolved, and their resolution may be less than logical. but those resolutions and plot developments can still be a heckofalotta fun to watch. p. monkey's 10-12-06 ratings were a fun clue, we found out, but we can't determine whether it means the ceremony was real or fake until we are told.

3. on a meta level, enjoy watching how the creators react to the fans. you can see it in videos (early on: daniel reading the rolling stone to prove the videos weren't all taped in advance. recently: we learn bree was taught to be tough; that's why she wasn't a complete mess in her last vlog). how to fulfill the campaign-like promise of fan interaction is still way up in the air.

4. punk rock didn't change the world either, but it enriched my world.

[gogo]

I must thank all of you for your kind replies. I guess I need to go back to "playing" lonelygirl15 as a viewer. I see the points about how wanting everything to tie up into a neat little bundle simply won't work because that is probably not the intention of the series. I guess I'll just watch things unfold, understanding that lonelygirl is "the one" for me (as milowent and Dr. Phil have helped me to realize). I guess I'll watch her parentally -thrilling over her achievements, encouraging her when she makes a mistake, and feeling bad when she falls down (as I did when when my daughters first learned to walk).

What's Bree supposed to do, look at the camera and go 'that science teacher thing isn't relevant?'

Umm, no. I thought I made it clear in my post that I wasn't looking for something quite that obvious. I guess my original post was unclear in that way as you assumed I wanted the main character to address an issue so bluntly and ridiculously. However, I don't really recall suggesting that each video include arrows pointing out important clues or that there be a special "secret" of the day. Thanks, though, for your reply. I'll be sure to keep my "gaming" for the game (ARG).

Sorry about the song, Kasdeja. It has too been stuck in my head.

Thanks again for your thoughtful replies and for, the most part, neither insulting my genuine concerns nor accusing me of making demands on a free show. I have received some good suggestions here.

[Kasdeja]

I don't know why anyone would be mean to you for this post. YOu weren't being rude or anything like that. Everything you've said here are things that many of us have had issues with, especially recently.

[AutoPilate]

milo, never quote Dr. Phil again.

[immortal1]

I have more of a feeling like getting up from the table while still being hungry. Looks like others may feel that way too. I think a few factors have contributed to this.

1) Storytelling. The kind of story being told is similar to Lost in that it's an unfolding mystery. I found an interesting quote on a technique the writers at LOST use called "The Art of the Stall."

“We knew as we were shooting the pilot though that the only way to do the series would be to use the art of the stall. In any given season of 24 there's not that much happening, but they give the illusion of constant suspense. On Lost if every episode were about discovering the mysteries of the island than we would be sunk, because there's an inevitability to that where if the characters decided ‘we're going to explore this island and figure out what this place is' whereas if it's ‘we're going to figure out how to live with each other and figure out what this island is' and we're going to learn about the characters before the crash so that they're emotionally compelling, that was the only way we saw to do the show.”

There also is a rule when writing for visual media called "show don't tell." Basically that means it's more powerful for the viewer to see an event happen then to have a character announce the event took place. So while both LOST and lg15 both tell the story of a mystery that slowly reveals itself, LOST can show you since it's on TV but since lg15 is shown via vlog by defintion we are told more than we are used to. Understanding this I think of the last video when Daniel tells us two things 1) Jonas mental health exercise failed and 2) they have had meaningful talks. I really don't see why these 2 things couldn't have been a video of their own. Jonas and Daniel sit down in front of the cam as a means of brainstorming how to handle Bree. Jonas comes up with the mental health exercise and we see him try to connect with Bree and fail. He reports back to Daniel and reveals how this helpless feeling is bringing up memories of his parents and we see them have that moment Daniel talks about when they hug it out. In the back of my mind I'm thinking maybe they don't have the resources/manpower to do 5 videos a week anymore and they wanted to do this but it got cut. But you know what? You can't cut corners like this. Push the Pmonkey thing back if you have to. Since this is a vlog and I have to accept being told things you have to take the opportuntity to show them when you can. In addition there will be red herrings and what look like red herrings until they are used in the plot. Also I think it would help if you asked a new question just after you've answered an existing question, that's how they try and handle it on LOST.

2) Expectations. We still may have to fine tune our expectations. I think taking the things stated above into consideration we are still expecting this to play out like it would on TV or film but this is playing out over the internet where there really is not an established precedent.

3) Internet. Because the story is being told over the internet in small increments I think it's meant to be one half of the experience. The ARG and fan interaction elements are supposed to round out the experience. For lack of manpower/resources those things aren't there yet. There hasn't been any new ARG stuff or in character chats to pick up the slack.

4) Pacing. For a while there we were getting five videos or so a week and each weeks worth seemed almost self contained and that's fallen off. It probably wouldn't be as noticeable if there were new Op/Tachyon vids. Even Gemma was good for a new vid every week and she's gone now.

Bottom line? The lg15 machine probably isn't firing on all cylinders right now. It crank out one 5 minute episode one week, take the next week off and catch up on admin stuff, hiring or whatever. Release the 5 minute vid and the beginning of the off week and have the ARG people put something up midweek. I don't know the day to day so maybe this isn't feasible. I don't see how it could hurt and it might be interesting to see how a 5 minute vid is received.

[milowent]

milo, never quote Dr. Phil again.

shall i just mail you a copy of Relationship Rescue, then?