spiderbraids (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spiderbraids) wrote2021-05-22 08:59 pm
spiderbraids) wrote2021-05-22 08:59 pm
Entry tags:
Foster's in Europe (Part 12): Scooter Bloo
Here's another gift on my birthday: A brand-new Foster's in Europe fanart :-)
You know you've got a great concept when you've been doing art about it for about 11 years :-) For this one, I decided to drop Bloo and his Euro scooter somewhere in Tuscany... It was much easier to vector-ify Bloo and the bike than to find a suitable view in Street View that screamed Tuscany... Eventually found this one right outside the mountain town of Monticchiello :-)
And now, a bonus section (warning for language and incendiary comments)
There will always be reviews that disagree with the majority opinion, and it's no exception when it comes to the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode that inspired this series of fan arts :-) In this bonus section, I try to make the case that the fandom's negative opinion should at least be acknowledged and respected :-)
Full disclosure: I got off the Foster's bandwagon before S3, so I was spared from experiencing the disappointment/anger first-hand... This Anime Superhero Forums (previously Toonzone Forums) thread is where I first heard about it (and even then, seems like people were more against Madame Foster stealing the tix instead of the bait-and-switch plot)
OneRadicalDude (one of the big-name Foster's fans, and as such, the only reviewer I'll name) posted a review at TV.com headlined (emphasis mine): "This was a great episode, though not my favorite. Lots of twists here. I don't know why so many people loathed 'Foster's Goes to Europe.'" Relevant excerpt: "I also felt a lot of sympathy towards Mac. He didn't deserved to be blamed for what happened, but I'm sure a lot of people would be crushed, after going through all the trouble to be prepared for a vacation. Life isn't perfect, you know."
Well, yeah, life isn't perfect, but it seems callous to use that to excuse an ending like this, especially with shows like Foster's, where things always work out fairly in the end (or at least they should) This excerpt hits the nail right on the head on one of the reasons why people disliked the episode, and yet after all that, he still ends his review with "Still, I cannot figure out some of the negative feedback." I don't want to come across as being too critical of these reviews, but if you feel "a lot of sympathy towards Mac" about the ending, then how do you not understand that's a major part of why most fans don't like the episode? (Seems his review doesn't even take the episode title, and the basic expectations that come with it, into account :-\)
(ETA)
Here's one from Anime Superhero Forums' talkback for the episode:
"I dont know why everyone disliked the ending I thought it was a good twist. And it's really ironic."
If you're talking about (seemingly) having Mac of all characters derail the trip by losing the tickets, that's more than cancelled out by the others having the temerity to tell him off for it... If you're talking about the Madame Foster part, though, let's segue into the next review :-)
(/ETA)
Another one of the positive reviews at TV.com was mainly about how great EuroTrish was, but here's the relevant excerpt:
"I didn't mind Mac and the others missing out on a free trip to Europe for two reasons:
1) Madame Foster isn't right in the head. She can't help it.
2) If Madame Foster didn't steal the tickets EuroTrish wouldn't have been able to go back home."
Well, I'm pretty sure most of us DID mind for two reasons:
1) Madame Foster may not be right in the head, but I would expect her to at the very least care about Mac or Frankie, AKA her own granddaughter, and how they'd feel about missing the trip (... and yes, I'm perfectly aware of a later episode involving her plot to steal Frankie's movie tickets, that even references this episode's events)
2) I don't think EuroTrish getting to go home was remotely as important as having the kid who won the free trip to Europe actually getting to go on said trip (ETA: Also, looks like this same person made the "EuroTrish going home" argument in the AS talkback as well)
Might as well add a few more reasons while we're at it:
3) Imagine yourself excitedly looking forward to your first-ever plane trip overseas for weeks on end, just to have it fall through on the day of departure through no fault of your own (for some, that may well have become easier since last year)... Now try saying you don't mind it happening to Mac (also, imagine viewers expecting to vicariously experience Europe through Mac's eyes and getting this mess instead)
4) It's not just them missing the trip, it's how the rest of them (especially Bloo) tell off Mac for it, when he was the only one who did his due diligence... note he shows up at the Foster's door with a suitcase already packed, speaking of which...
5) It doesn't make sense anyway that the rest of the entourage isn't ready on the day of departure... yes, I get that's the point of the plot, but surely in the days leading up to the trip, Mac should have helped them get ready during his daily visits?
(ETA)
6) And speaking of those daily visits, between the disappointment of missing the vacation of a lifetime (or at least his childhood) and the anguish from the others unfairly telling him off, Mac would have a very good reason to no longer visit Foster's :-\
(/ETA)
Here's another one from a dedicated Foster's discussion board:
"I personally thought that this episode was one of the best of the series that I have seen thus far, I mean how many people out there have tried to write a "travel show" with little or no actual travel within the course the episode. Not even the Simpson's writers are that gutsy, usually when someone on that show says "The Simpsons are going to _____" they are usually there before the first commercial break."
Well, given that one of that particular show's most famous episodes gives an in-show example of what happens when you dangle an interesting plot in front of the viewers and yank it away by repeatedly stalling it, you'd understand why The Simpsons would never try such a thing :-) (ETA: And there's a pretty good chance that people will understand references to "getting to the fireworks factory", like this one :-)) When it comes to travel episodes, you expect to see the characters we love get into fun situations outside their usual places, and with unique characters and a whole continent to deal with, just imagine (pun!) the possibilities for Mac and Bloo :-)
(An aside: I'm old enough to remember when the site I just linked to was located at a domain called SNPP, for Springfield Nuclear Power Plant :-))
(ETA)
Plenty more positive comments in that same thread (even at least one that acknowledges how bad the ending was for Mac), but another one from the big-name fan OneRadicalDude sticks out in particular: "Even though I felt what Madame Foster did at the final act was cruel, it was very smart. Expect the unexpected with Madame F." It's one thing to have her do something unexpected... but it's another to have her do something that flies in the face of how she let Mac regularly visit her house over Herriman's objections back in the first episode :-\
(/ETA)
(Another ETA)
Here's another one I just remembered: Over at DeviantArt, a user posted his grades about S3 episodes, and listed "Europe" as a Good Episode (!) (And he also ranked that other much-disliked episode with Goofball as a Meh Episode, which is still well above the ranking most other fans would give it) Asked about it, he replied...
"The way I see it, it's just their typical act of 'Torture Porn Done Right' (Every character steps on each other's toes to accomplish their own reasonable goals; see "Store Wars"/"Crime After Crime"), with only the sense of 'Your Title is a Lie' dragging it back. It only got really frustrating for me in the third act, once the writers started grasping at the straws for failure (They all had to use the bathroom twice, apparently), but I still had fun for most of the ride.
Besides, even if they did go to Europe, knowing this show, something would have just gone horribly wrong there, anyway, so the apparent mean-spiritedness "problem" wouldn't change."
1. This torture's a bit different from "Store Wars" though, since in "Store Wars" it comes in the natural course of the plot (the gang tags along to the mall with Frankie, and wreak havoc there as a result :-D), while most of the plot of "Europe" is spent on waiting for the expected plot/the trip to get going, and "the sense of 'Your Title is a Lie'" is more of an issue to most of us than the DA user seems to have with it... (By that analogy, it'd be something like making "Store Wars" about the gang repeatedly being delayed from getting to the mall instead of actually showing them wreaking havoc at the mall)
2. "Even if they did go to Europe, knowing this show, something would have just gone horribly wrong there": That's exactly what we were expecting to see, and there's so much they could have done there, like, as one Anime Superhero poster suggested while complaining about the bait-and-switch issue, Bloo offending the locals with his broken French :-)
Seems like one could defend the biggest issues with "Europe" with a simple "But that's the joke": Bait-and-switch title? But that's the joke. Everyone blaming Mac when they should be shouldering the blame? But that's the joke. Revealing that the kindly Madame Foster stole the tickets, even though that should be well below her? But that's the joke :-\
(/ETA)
Now we get to the reviews that outright criticize fans who didn't like the episode:
Another positive review from TV.com was headlined (all mistakes as originally posted) "Every one who gave this episode a incredibly low score(like 0.something or 1)are wimps." And the first sentence of the review reads: "I mean the episode can't end happily all the time people. Some times there are gonna be episodes which don't end the way you want them too."
Well, with shows like this, we expect things to at least end fairly, and it's exactly that kind of episode that people generally dislike (and this show alone is not lacking in that kind of episode) But sure, call us wimps for finding it unfair for Frankie to miss her concert and have it be justified on a technicality, or in this case, for finding the whole mess at the end mean-spirited... And at least to me, it was never about just the ending, it was also about the bait-and-switch, which makes for a perfect segue into the worst positive review of the episode I've ever seen, from Fireden's 4chan archives (figures ;-))
">This is considered one of the worst episodes by fans
The fans are retards, then. This episode was great. The bait-and-switch of calling the episode "Foster's Goes to Europe" and then having it be about them trying (and failing) to get to the airport is genius. Only people who could hate this classic are fags who can't take a joke."
Not only does the review use pretty triggering language against the fandom as a whole (again, it's 4chan; but then again, I've seen other threads there that do give the episode well-deserved criticism), but also after that nasty start, he declares the whole bait-and-switch thing, one of the biggest things many fans hate the episode for, as "genius", calls the episode a classic and reinforces his criticism with even more hateful language... It's not that we can't take a joke, it's that there's much more comedic potential in getting the gang into all sort of situations across Europe (or heck, even the airport), than contriving one reason after another for them not to even make it out the front door, which bothers me about as much (well, sure, I suppose it could be done right, but we've seen plenty of the gang getting into crazy swipes in and around the house, so why not a change of scenery? Besides, look at the comedic potential being left on the table)
On top of that, one of the replies in that same thread has a similar attitude (though thankfully less offensive language) towards the plot: "While I do have my own personal gripes with the episode. I have to admit, the writers pulled a pretty funny joke by having the episode be called Foster's Goes to Europe and then having the Foster's gang not going to Europe." Well, the lack of the expected transcontinental shenanigans would be a pretty big gripe to me, and the joke probably would have ceased to be funny when it became clear that that would be the bulk of the episode instead :-\
You know you've got a great concept when you've been doing art about it for about 11 years :-) For this one, I decided to drop Bloo and his Euro scooter somewhere in Tuscany... It was much easier to vector-ify Bloo and the bike than to find a suitable view in Street View that screamed Tuscany... Eventually found this one right outside the mountain town of Monticchiello :-)
And now, a bonus section (warning for language and incendiary comments)
There will always be reviews that disagree with the majority opinion, and it's no exception when it comes to the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode that inspired this series of fan arts :-) In this bonus section, I try to make the case that the fandom's negative opinion should at least be acknowledged and respected :-)
Full disclosure: I got off the Foster's bandwagon before S3, so I was spared from experiencing the disappointment/anger first-hand... This Anime Superhero Forums (previously Toonzone Forums) thread is where I first heard about it (and even then, seems like people were more against Madame Foster stealing the tix instead of the bait-and-switch plot)
OneRadicalDude (one of the big-name Foster's fans, and as such, the only reviewer I'll name) posted a review at TV.com headlined (emphasis mine): "This was a great episode, though not my favorite. Lots of twists here. I don't know why so many people loathed 'Foster's Goes to Europe.'" Relevant excerpt: "I also felt a lot of sympathy towards Mac. He didn't deserved to be blamed for what happened, but I'm sure a lot of people would be crushed, after going through all the trouble to be prepared for a vacation. Life isn't perfect, you know."
Well, yeah, life isn't perfect, but it seems callous to use that to excuse an ending like this, especially with shows like Foster's, where things always work out fairly in the end (or at least they should) This excerpt hits the nail right on the head on one of the reasons why people disliked the episode, and yet after all that, he still ends his review with "Still, I cannot figure out some of the negative feedback." I don't want to come across as being too critical of these reviews, but if you feel "a lot of sympathy towards Mac" about the ending, then how do you not understand that's a major part of why most fans don't like the episode? (Seems his review doesn't even take the episode title, and the basic expectations that come with it, into account :-\)
(ETA)
Here's one from Anime Superhero Forums' talkback for the episode:
"I dont know why everyone disliked the ending I thought it was a good twist. And it's really ironic."
If you're talking about (seemingly) having Mac of all characters derail the trip by losing the tickets, that's more than cancelled out by the others having the temerity to tell him off for it... If you're talking about the Madame Foster part, though, let's segue into the next review :-)
(/ETA)
Another one of the positive reviews at TV.com was mainly about how great EuroTrish was, but here's the relevant excerpt:
"I didn't mind Mac and the others missing out on a free trip to Europe for two reasons:
1) Madame Foster isn't right in the head. She can't help it.
2) If Madame Foster didn't steal the tickets EuroTrish wouldn't have been able to go back home."
Well, I'm pretty sure most of us DID mind for two reasons:
1) Madame Foster may not be right in the head, but I would expect her to at the very least care about Mac or Frankie, AKA her own granddaughter, and how they'd feel about missing the trip (... and yes, I'm perfectly aware of a later episode involving her plot to steal Frankie's movie tickets, that even references this episode's events)
2) I don't think EuroTrish getting to go home was remotely as important as having the kid who won the free trip to Europe actually getting to go on said trip (ETA: Also, looks like this same person made the "EuroTrish going home" argument in the AS talkback as well)
Might as well add a few more reasons while we're at it:
3) Imagine yourself excitedly looking forward to your first-ever plane trip overseas for weeks on end, just to have it fall through on the day of departure through no fault of your own (for some, that may well have become easier since last year)... Now try saying you don't mind it happening to Mac (also, imagine viewers expecting to vicariously experience Europe through Mac's eyes and getting this mess instead)
4) It's not just them missing the trip, it's how the rest of them (especially Bloo) tell off Mac for it, when he was the only one who did his due diligence... note he shows up at the Foster's door with a suitcase already packed, speaking of which...
5) It doesn't make sense anyway that the rest of the entourage isn't ready on the day of departure... yes, I get that's the point of the plot, but surely in the days leading up to the trip, Mac should have helped them get ready during his daily visits?
(ETA)
6) And speaking of those daily visits, between the disappointment of missing the vacation of a lifetime (or at least his childhood) and the anguish from the others unfairly telling him off, Mac would have a very good reason to no longer visit Foster's :-\
(/ETA)
Here's another one from a dedicated Foster's discussion board:
"I personally thought that this episode was one of the best of the series that I have seen thus far, I mean how many people out there have tried to write a "travel show" with little or no actual travel within the course the episode. Not even the Simpson's writers are that gutsy, usually when someone on that show says "The Simpsons are going to _____" they are usually there before the first commercial break."
Well, given that one of that particular show's most famous episodes gives an in-show example of what happens when you dangle an interesting plot in front of the viewers and yank it away by repeatedly stalling it, you'd understand why The Simpsons would never try such a thing :-) (ETA: And there's a pretty good chance that people will understand references to "getting to the fireworks factory", like this one :-)) When it comes to travel episodes, you expect to see the characters we love get into fun situations outside their usual places, and with unique characters and a whole continent to deal with, just imagine (pun!) the possibilities for Mac and Bloo :-)
(An aside: I'm old enough to remember when the site I just linked to was located at a domain called SNPP, for Springfield Nuclear Power Plant :-))
(ETA)
Plenty more positive comments in that same thread (even at least one that acknowledges how bad the ending was for Mac), but another one from the big-name fan OneRadicalDude sticks out in particular: "Even though I felt what Madame Foster did at the final act was cruel, it was very smart. Expect the unexpected with Madame F." It's one thing to have her do something unexpected... but it's another to have her do something that flies in the face of how she let Mac regularly visit her house over Herriman's objections back in the first episode :-\
(/ETA)
(Another ETA)
Here's another one I just remembered: Over at DeviantArt, a user posted his grades about S3 episodes, and listed "Europe" as a Good Episode (!) (And he also ranked that other much-disliked episode with Goofball as a Meh Episode, which is still well above the ranking most other fans would give it) Asked about it, he replied...
"The way I see it, it's just their typical act of 'Torture Porn Done Right' (Every character steps on each other's toes to accomplish their own reasonable goals; see "Store Wars"/"Crime After Crime"), with only the sense of 'Your Title is a Lie' dragging it back. It only got really frustrating for me in the third act, once the writers started grasping at the straws for failure (They all had to use the bathroom twice, apparently), but I still had fun for most of the ride.
Besides, even if they did go to Europe, knowing this show, something would have just gone horribly wrong there, anyway, so the apparent mean-spiritedness "problem" wouldn't change."
1. This torture's a bit different from "Store Wars" though, since in "Store Wars" it comes in the natural course of the plot (the gang tags along to the mall with Frankie, and wreak havoc there as a result :-D), while most of the plot of "Europe" is spent on waiting for the expected plot/the trip to get going, and "the sense of 'Your Title is a Lie'" is more of an issue to most of us than the DA user seems to have with it... (By that analogy, it'd be something like making "Store Wars" about the gang repeatedly being delayed from getting to the mall instead of actually showing them wreaking havoc at the mall)
2. "Even if they did go to Europe, knowing this show, something would have just gone horribly wrong there": That's exactly what we were expecting to see, and there's so much they could have done there, like, as one Anime Superhero poster suggested while complaining about the bait-and-switch issue, Bloo offending the locals with his broken French :-)
Seems like one could defend the biggest issues with "Europe" with a simple "But that's the joke": Bait-and-switch title? But that's the joke. Everyone blaming Mac when they should be shouldering the blame? But that's the joke. Revealing that the kindly Madame Foster stole the tickets, even though that should be well below her? But that's the joke :-\
(/ETA)
Now we get to the reviews that outright criticize fans who didn't like the episode:
Another positive review from TV.com was headlined (all mistakes as originally posted) "Every one who gave this episode a incredibly low score(like 0.something or 1)are wimps." And the first sentence of the review reads: "I mean the episode can't end happily all the time people. Some times there are gonna be episodes which don't end the way you want them too."
Well, with shows like this, we expect things to at least end fairly, and it's exactly that kind of episode that people generally dislike (and this show alone is not lacking in that kind of episode) But sure, call us wimps for finding it unfair for Frankie to miss her concert and have it be justified on a technicality, or in this case, for finding the whole mess at the end mean-spirited... And at least to me, it was never about just the ending, it was also about the bait-and-switch, which makes for a perfect segue into the worst positive review of the episode I've ever seen, from Fireden's 4chan archives (figures ;-))
">This is considered one of the worst episodes by fans
The fans are retards, then. This episode was great. The bait-and-switch of calling the episode "Foster's Goes to Europe" and then having it be about them trying (and failing) to get to the airport is genius. Only people who could hate this classic are fags who can't take a joke."
Not only does the review use pretty triggering language against the fandom as a whole (again, it's 4chan; but then again, I've seen other threads there that do give the episode well-deserved criticism), but also after that nasty start, he declares the whole bait-and-switch thing, one of the biggest things many fans hate the episode for, as "genius", calls the episode a classic and reinforces his criticism with even more hateful language... It's not that we can't take a joke, it's that there's much more comedic potential in getting the gang into all sort of situations across Europe (or heck, even the airport), than contriving one reason after another for them not to even make it out the front door, which bothers me about as much (well, sure, I suppose it could be done right, but we've seen plenty of the gang getting into crazy swipes in and around the house, so why not a change of scenery? Besides, look at the comedic potential being left on the table)
On top of that, one of the replies in that same thread has a similar attitude (though thankfully less offensive language) towards the plot: "While I do have my own personal gripes with the episode. I have to admit, the writers pulled a pretty funny joke by having the episode be called Foster's Goes to Europe and then having the Foster's gang not going to Europe." Well, the lack of the expected transcontinental shenanigans would be a pretty big gripe to me, and the joke probably would have ceased to be funny when it became clear that that would be the bulk of the episode instead :-\