Big Damn Commentaries

Over on the official Versal boards, in a comment on our re-announcement of this site's existence, a fellow Browncoat expresses some skepticism about the concept of fan-recorded commentaries.

Personally, I don't want to hear fan's commentary on a movie. Mystery Science Theatre? Yes. The people who were there working on it, or wrote it? Absolutely! 2 hours of "Ooooh! Sean's so hot!", "I love Kaylee's t-shirt!", "Here's where Mal makes me cry!" and singing along with the Fruity Oaty Bars commercial? Oh Hell No.

We thought it would be a good time to take a moment to explain why we think the idea actually is a worthwhile one.

Personally, we want to hear Browncoats talk about what it was like the first time they saw Firefly or Serenity. We want to hear about their obsession over the R. Tam Sessions. We want, for example, to hear some of the fans who got to go be extras in the film discuss what was happening on set when their scenes were shot.

Spend some time on any official or unofficial Firefly or Serenity boards and you'll find a wide range of fandom, including posts which reflect the above critic's disdain. But you'll also find a great deal of insightful and considered opinion.

We believe that prospects of fan-recorded commentaries of the latter variety is well worth the risk of having to cull through fan-recorded commentaries of the former variety.

At some point, in fact, we hope to add a rating or voting function to this site, so that Browncoats can rate the various commentaries which will be listed here. If and when we find a method for this which appeals to us, it won't be some sort of simple numerical ranking, but will allow Browncoats to label commentaries across a spectrum of descriptive opinions.

Which means concerns such as those expressed by the above-quoted critic can be addressed by Browncoats themselves, by clearly noting what commentaries seem useful and interesting and which do not.

Of course, in the meantime, that can already be done: Just post a comment to any given listing.

But to assume and suggest from the outset that fans of Firefly and Serenity as a whole can't rise above nothing more than two hours of fannish drooling? Well, that seems needlessly -- and rather embarassingly -- dismissive of the very fanbase of which the above-quoted critic themselves is a part.