DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '05 I => Topic started by: Countess on April 06, 2005, 08:09:31 AM
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Do you tell people that you're addicted to DS or keep it as a secret guilty pleasure?
Countess (who never tells.... ;))
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My friends wish I would shut up about it, so I guess I don't keep it much of a secret!
Gerard
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I'm pretty open. My family knows I love it and so do my friends (a couple watched and liked it when it was airing on scifi). To anyone around me for any length of time, my interests are apparent, especially if they're in my personal space. My collectibles give it away. :)
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Nah, I openly boast about my affection for the show (partly in the hopes that someone will say, "Dark Shadows? Hey, that's one of my favorite shows too!"). Also, DS is such a big part of my life--whether it's attending the Festival, posting on the message boards, or interacting with friends that I've met through DS clubs and events--that it would be counterproductive to deny it. This is who I am, this is what I like to do. :)
ProfStokes
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When I was a teenager I was pretty quiet about my DS interest because most people from my generation seemed kind of clueless in Jr. high/High School. I figured they wouldn't "get" DS or understand or care about it.
Nowadays I'm open about my interests. Heck, I recently wore a Barnabas babydoll T-shirt to a rockabilly/psychobilly concert. I made the shirt myself out of the Basil Gogos Famous Monsters cover painting. Several of the people at the concert recognized the character and eagerly complimented me on the shirt.
Most folks I've talked to who are familiar with the show think it's pretty cool, at the very least in premise if they hadn't actually seen it. One friend, however, razzed me pretty viciously about DS a couple of years ago, saying the episodes made no sense and that the show was "old," "cheesy," "kind of stupid" and that it "sucks." Of course, these nasty remarks (meant to irritate me no doubt) succeeded only in making my Portuguese temper flare. Thus, I countered with my own derogatory references to his strong interests in juvenile one-dimesional teenybopper fare regarding some goofy, vapid valley girl who slays vampires, and a derivative yawn-inducing program about some moronic warrior woman (It was said partly in..uh.. self defense, so please don't kill me Buffy and Xena fans). He got really[/i] mad at that point and actually started shouting "Hey!! Why do you have to talk **** about Xena and Buffy?!!! What the **** does that have to do with anything?!!!" He was really POed! It seriously could have been a scene out of a Kevin Smith movie or something.
Once this War of Dorkiness subsided a few minutes later, we were both cracking up for geting so ridiculously peevish about our respective fave TV shows, and we hugged and made up. Hey, at this point my friends should know better than to diss DS when I'm around! He deserved it. ;)
~Penny Dreadful~
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Maybe I'm not the only one, but have any of your friends/family thought that you had some sick obsession with the occult or the dark side because you happen to like DS? My family seems to think that since I like to watch DS, watch fan-made videos of DS, and post on these DS boards that I have "some sick obsession with the occult or the dark side." :(
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"Dark Shadows" is pretty tame fare in the general scheme of things considered occult, dark or evil.
Once you get past the supernatural stuff (again, pretty tame) it's just another soap opera about "she wants him, but he wants HER and SHE wants somebody else"
My kid would have to be into something much darker and stranger than DS before I'd start to wonder.
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My mom used to get on my case about being obsessed with "dark things," and in particular DS (since that was my favorite "dark thing"). She liked DS when she was younger too, but said I was TOO into it and that it wasn't good to like occult-related things so much. So yeah, I got some flack for it too. ::)
Raineypark, I think it all depends on individual beliefs. Yeah, DS is tame compared to the Exorcist for example, but I hear a lot of people weren't thrilled when the show portrayed scenes like Nicholas Blair having his audience with Satan in Hell. It all depends on the person I suppose.
In the 60s there was some fundamentalist group decrying DS and had an ad which said: Dark Shadows: The Devil's Favorite TV Show and had a drawing of the devil gleefully watching a TV with the words "Dark Shadows" on the screen! LOL! I think they made a similar ad for Bewitched as well. Anyone have a copy of the DS one they can scan? I saw a copy years ago but have never seen it again. It was pretty funny actually.
~Penny Dreadful~
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Thankfully my family is as much into "dark" things as I am, my Mom bought me my first Edgar Allen Poe book when I was 9. (My favorite story was and still is The Black Cat). So I never got any flak for my obsession with DS.
The only time I ever had any problems with people was my first job up here in Maine at a bank. They actually gave me crap about reading Dracula on my lunch break. Thankfully I didn't work there long. I quit and basically told them to kiss my ass. I don't stand up for myself often, but I am proud of that time. I think it's hysterical when I go in there now to do banking for work and they act like we were all great friends. >:D
I never understood parents who give their kids trouble about the things they like. (Unless it was really dangerous or harmful or something). Parents should let their kids expand their horizons, it only makes them better people.
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My wife and kids already think I have issues so when I use to tape DS off of Sci-fi and watch it at night it never even fazed them. ;D
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My close family never gave me any trouble over my interests or any shows that I watched and loved. My mother was a fan when she was young, and we watched Buffy and X-Files together for years. My father just shakes his head at my addiction, but he loves sci-fi and fantasy so he's partly responsible for getting me into that.
I do have family members that would frown on my love for DS, but they would frown on almost anything I do or like, which is why I don't associate with them. :P
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I often wondered why intense fans of DS get flak from anyone. If you look at sport events, particularly football, many people paint themselves the colors of their team and do amazingly bizarre things on live television to encourage their team towards winning, particularly a championship. Prior to the event itself, sports fans will wear costumes to symbolize the team they support and carry on quite publicly. Why is wanting to be involved in a fandom any more bizarre than that kind of fan activity?
Nancy
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Because sports is current, DS is 40 years old.
Almost everyone I know doesn't understand my current involvement, but they don't judge me negatively for it.
And for the record, I'm not addicted. ;)
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I don't think age has that much to do with it. Fandoms like Buffy, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc, etc....can be (and sometimes are) looked at as a "weird" thing. And they are all very current.
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Because sports is current, DS is 40 years old.
Fans have been wearing sports jerseys and other emblems of their passion for decades - quite publicly and even daily during highly visible games. This is not a current activity on the part of sports fans - the tradition is long standing.
Nancy
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my friends and family totally know about the addiction.anyone who has been in my apartment and seen the pile-up of video tapes would have to notice.my building superintendant has even commented.
it's actually a source of some amusement with my co-workers.i've tried to get some friends into it.they watch a few episodes,claim to "like it",but that's the end of it.it takes a certain level if commitment to truly become involved.
but having people know about my addiction has worked out in my favor several times because if friends catch cheap d.s. items at junk-shops and tag-sales they often get them for me.that's how i came to own n.o.d.s. on video and several marilyn ross novels.
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Why is wanting to be involved in a fandom any more bizarre than that kind of fan activity?
The typical answer offered in published work on media fandom is that those events are perceived as being "real" as opposed to fictional. I've had students in class discussions insist on the same thing.
The problem with that argument is that sporting events are a tightly regulated form of "reality. The rules that dictate a sport are somewhat analagous to the conventions that govern a piece of fiction, and, ultimately, though we set aside time to find out whether or not Boston will end "the Curse" or to discover who shot J.R., neither of those events has much impact outside the realm of pop culture.
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If anyone trifles me about my DS addiction, I just whack them upside the head with my trusty Don Briscoe Mousepad.
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Maybe I'm not the only one, but have any of your friends/family thought that you had some sick obsession with the occult or the dark side because you happen to like DS? My family seems to think that since I like to watch DS, watch fan-made videos of DS, and post on these DS boards that I have "some sick obsession with the occult or the dark side." :(
Oh yes, ditto here. I get all the time how I've this show is so occult and blah blah blah. I don't think they know much better. They live in their ignorance. If they acutally watched the show instead of just fearing the show, they might realize it's a TV show that can be creepy, tell a good story every now and then, give me a really good belly ache from time to time, and has some really hot actors. And, hot is what it's all about. [firedevil]
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My best friend knows I watch it but that's about it. Dark Shadows has been mentioned in passing & everyone remembers it fondly but they don't have a desire to rewatch it. To them its just a pleasant childhood memory. I've taped it from the sci/fi channel & now I'm buying the DVDs. :-* I haven't watched it lately so I'm looking forward to doing that. Plus, I like to paint while I'm listening to it in the background. For a long time I couldn't paint unless DS was on. :-[
And I can remember the religious zealots making a fuss over it. In fact, I think DS was pulled before it ended because of the controversary. So I was delighted to find the tapes at the video store. I watched the series 5 times and there at the end the workers at the video store would comment on my watching it so often. Now I have my own copy and don't have to deal with their petty remarks. :D
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No, to the 'occult'; again my kids are 1990s, so a cheesy bat on a string...ya know?
Yes, my co-workers raz me a little bit, especially when I'm wearing my beautiful shirt designed by Castlebee.
My husband will telephone sometimes and say, "Hello, this is Quentin". (This is usually reserved for when he realllllllly is hoping to get lucky :P ).
My kids think I'm weird...but this is the closest to a 'hobby' as I've ever had, so oh well.
Patti
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Funny, don't remember being made fun of because of DS obsession. My friend and I didn't really know much of anyone who watched the show and we didn't feel a need to discuss it or bring it up with others. Family members didn't pay much attention but were quite accepting. My mother would sometimes have a cup of tea ready for me when I got home from school 'cause I always had a cup of tea in front of the show. It was a bummer when they moved the time slot from 4:00 to 3:30 'cause no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't make it from the bus stop into the house before 3:42 -- no time to make tea! Also very frustrating because you had to wait for the TV to warm up and the picture to come on. You could hear the sound but couldn't see ole Barn for at least 15 - 20 seconds. LOL
Actually, our mothers were pretty cool about the whole thing. I remember one time when Jonathan Frid was on the Dick Cavett morning show. We were allowed to ditch school that day in order to watch it. Quite an occasion! My friend slept over and we watched it together and taped it. (Audio tape of course - no such thing as a VCR back then).
;D
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I have tried to get my husband and sons involved but to no avail. However, no one makes fun of me. My husband even reads MB's info on computers so maybe if MB slips DS stuff into his technical stuff we can reel him in that way.
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I have tried to get my husband and sons involved but to no avail. However, no one makes fun of me. My husband even reads MB's info on computers so maybe if MB slips DS stuff into his technical stuff we can reel him in that way.
Onyx Treasure...my husband too! He has no desire for DS, but, he will read questions I ask to MB...!
[cheer] [cheer] [cheer]
Thanks o Great & Noble MB...
Patti
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My husband even reads MB's info on computers so maybe if MB slips DS stuff into his technical stuff we can reel him in that way.
Maybe I'll try that for you. [b003]
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Oh, I simply revel in my chosen role as a sick freak obsessed with the occult, the dark side, and Grayson Hall's culinary adventurousness.
If anybody tries to hassle me about it, I pull out this little wax doll I always carry and a black pin and say something like "You know what your problem is? You have too much time on your hands. Well, that can be remedied... but perhaps not as you would have chosen." By this time I'm cackling quietly with this really demented look in my eyes, and the poor imbecile is whimpering as he crawls towards the nearest exit.
I find that that stifles any adverse comment quite efficiently...
G.
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Oh, I simply revel in my chosen role as a sick freak obsessed with the occult, the dark side, and Grayson Hall's culinary adventurousness.
[hello]
(oops...Mr. Obsessed-With-The-Dark-Side Gothique HATES smilies)
:-*
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Oh, I simply revel in my chosen role as a sick freak obsessed with the occult, the dark side, and Grayson Hall's culinary adventurousness.
LOL... People up at school refer to her as "that face I draw." Me obsessed? Phht...
If anybody tries to hassle me about it, I pull out this little wax doll I always carry and a black pin and say something like "You know what your problem is? You have too much time on your hands. Well, that can be remedied... but perhaps not as you would have chosen." By this time I'm cackling quietly with this really demented look in my eyes, and the poor imbecile is whimpering as he crawls towards the nearest exit.
But on what part of the anatomy are you sticking that poor doll, Steve? *Grin*
Sigh...Oh, if I only had a little wax doll years ago... ;) You will lend make me one for a mometary fee, woncha hon? Make it a crafty event... ;D
I find that that stifles any adverse comment quite efficiently...
Sounds like a plan to me - LOL. Most of the people in my family don't mind my obsession, but most everyone else in the area thinks I'm nuts. I've always been a misfit, so...oh well. But I know I'll never forget the look on a former instructor's face when he said: "You watch THAT show??!" ::)
Anyway, My Julia doll hits people over the head with her oversized medallion when they get out of line...a hypo big enough for a dozen, her sleeks boots are ready for any ass-kicking if need be, and her slapping hand is always at the ready. Now if I only had a Barn or a Tom/Chris doll, things could get real interesting... >:D
(oops...Mr. Obsessed-With-The-Dark-Side Gothique HATES smilies)
But we're SPECIAL, Connie...that makes it okay... right hon? LOL :-*
Tired hugs,
Heather
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But we're SPECIAL, Connie...that makes it okay... right hon? LOL :-*
Who knows? [idontknow]
Too many smilies might prompt him to take out one of his wax dolls. LOL
Then again, perhaps some of us obsessed colleagues are exempt from his dark ways. >:D
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You two are on the way to being seriously disciplined with "frenetic" whipping with the Julia-medallion...
chuckling indulgently,
G.
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:o Oooooo! Watch me tremble! :o LOL
;)
(What the hell....tie me up, baby.)