I’ve seen the light

[nineveh_uk]

I had heard the phrase, but never understood what it truly stood for. Then last night I watched Thor on DVD, and now I know exactly that is meant by the fandom word “woobie”. Oh dear me, the characterisation of Loki. It’s as if the scriptwriters took every single cliché that fandom adores about a certain type of superficially “complex” character*, mixed them together, and gave them to a decent actor* who proceeds to play the character in the style of Rory Bremner’s Tony Blair: “Ambiguous suggestion, sympathetic nudge, big eyes, wobbly lip”.

* See also abused!leather pants!Draco.

**Actually, all the acting is really rather good, which is what elevates the film from mere entertaining tosh to really rather good entertaining tosh. It helps that it is fairly short - I can forgive a lot in 1 hour and 40 minutes that I can't forgive in two hours and a half.

Comments

With regard to Tony Blair...

[legionseagle]

...I felt Twitter had justified its existence purely because of the tweet which greeted the news that Blair was to appear at Leveson: "The hunters are closing in on Bambi."

I haven't seen Thor, so the woobiefication of Loki based on Avengers, Assemble (a tale of seven super-heroes, one flat-pack and a mysteriously missing Allen key) was a bit baffling to me, even given Hiddleston.

Re: With regard to Tony Blair...

[nineveh_uk]

(a tale of seven super-heroes, one flat-pack and a mysteriously missing Allen key)

I feel there needs to be a TV sketch in which a series of are given a flat pack and an Allen key and forced to assemble it in record time in order to save the world.

I now need to see AA (oh dear, there are another two crossovers) in order to see new!tough!Loki who isn't always looking pale and thin and as if he is about to shed a single crystalline tear.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know, and Tom Hiddleston just chews scenery so adorably. ;)

He's rather less woobie-like in The Avengers, but that doesn't stop the fangirls.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

It was an impressive display of scenery-chewing. He must have excellent teeth!

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

While I completely agree that Thor was entertaining tosh, Loki didn't even come across as a woobie to me. At first, I found him vaguely understandable, but I thought the film made it quite clear that he took things way too far and ended up in a less than likable place - and that he was mostly to blame. Fandom, however, seems to be another can of worms entirely...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

More a fandom woobie than a film woobie, I think - not least because I couldn't find the film emotionally "deep" enough to believe in any Inner Pain, as is necessary I believe for woobie-dom. But it was so obvious watching it that the fandom woobie was going to spring forth fully-formed.

[aunty_marion]

Ah. You have been converted to the woobiness that is TH as Loki. Me, I've been in love with Loki for about 50 years, so TH is just another (rather nice) way to adore him...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say converted so much as recognising the phenomenon!

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Thor (or Loki) but from the Rory-Brenner-as-Tony-Blair description, he sounds like an absolute ueber-woobie.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Oh he is. So much suppressed pain! The most ueber (great word) of woobies.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I’ve seen the light

This is a line from Lindisfarne's "Brand New Day".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YAE7gPmxIU