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Date Posted: 18:26:44 11/09/02 Sat
Author: CW
Subject: Re: CW's nitpicks (SPOILERS for Safe)
In reply to: Robert 's message, "CW's nitpicks (SPOILERS for Safe)" on 17:01:23 11/09/02 Sat

Yes, I was really crapping on Greenberg, and no, I wasn't having a bad day. As I've said before, my notes aren't a review of the episodes. As such they aren't really a fair measure of how good or bad the episode was or even how effective it was in telling the story. My notes are my impressions of the episodes as pieces of writing examples (in some cases filming techniques)for other writers. When I gripe about something, its because I don't believe the writers should be doing what they are doing.

Sometimes it may seem that I am griping about something when I am merely pointing it out, as with the sound of the gunshots this week. No gripes there. It just leads to the possibility that the weapons won't always be what we think of as old fashioned six-shooters. That's something interesting in my book. Same with the dirty post-hole-digger. Basically I advise people take every item in my notes as separate and unrelated in tone and intent unless I call attention to other notes.

This week my big gripe was about Greenberg writing about something he had invested too little time in studying. Was it his fault? No, Joss askes for a script and he does what he can within the time he has. But, he can acknowledge that what he knows is limited by avoiding specifics that are likely to get him into trouble. Mal was supposed to have grown up on a ranch. He would know much of what Greenberg fouled up. Many fewer people know about farm life than used to. But, that is not an excuse for making a fool of yourself with the people who do know you are talking nonsense.

Was Mal trying to hoodwink the buyers? The buyers seemed to know the right things to complain about when buying cattle. Would it make sense for Mal to assume that he could fool them about these things? I have to say no. So does Mal believe what he says. I have to say yes.

Considering my problems with typing, proofreading and the mechanics of punctuation, it's a miracle I can transcribe anything to a readable form. No, I didn't think he was using stand-down (noun) for stand down (verb). But, the formal military implications are fairly strong. Joss loves to bend the meaning of words. I love to bend the meaning of words. Remember I didn't a say a word about using 'bound' for 'arrested' this time or, if I remember correctly, for the 'Train Job' when it was first used. I got a hell of a lot of criticism when I was young for bending the meaning of words without explanation. Now I understand why. If everybody bends the words the way they please, pretty soon nobody understands one another. This time it's a pretty minor problem, but given the length of that particular speech it would be better to stick to the familiar like a simple "hands up."

Let me close by saying everything you said in your post is justified in my opinion. I hope you'll come to see why I think what write is also justifiable.

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