Wow. This is some letter to SciFi!

[gategrrl]

I *think* I know who the letter writer is, but I'm not sure: Check it out - nialla42, you'll particularly like this - Alix blasts J Mallozzi in a letter to SciFi!

Here's the link:  http://www.scifi.com/sfw/letters/index.html

The letter in question is titled "Karma Will Come For Atlantis Execs"

Comments

[nialla]

As I said upthread, it's not what he's saying, it's how he's saying it.

Mallozzi seems to delight in taking every opportunity to take personal cracks at fans, even to the point of naming names in his blog recently, which I thought was very crass.

I've never, in my over a decade of being in online fandom, seen a member of TPTB repeatedly and purposely aggravate fans like Mallozzi does. Some have accidentally opened mouth and inserted foot (sometimes both feet and gone up to their knees), but they learn from it. Mallozzi doesn't, he seems to think it's the fault of the fans for not seeing him for the paragon of writers he thinks he is.

The more fans complain about his attitude, the more he complains about fans. It's a vicious cycle, and one played out several times before, sometimes ending with Mallozzi mysteriously going offline for a while, apparently muzzled by someone with more pull than he has. But now that he's a showrunner, there's very few who can put a muzzle on him.

[entil2001.livejournal.com]

OK...I see where you were coming from (the plural "you"). I guess I was detecting more disagreement and anger over the substance of the changes rather than the attitude regarding acceptance of the changes. And to me, the showrunner can do whatever he wants. It's up to the audience to accept that or not, you know?

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Well. Okay, I'm not an Atlantis fan. I watched it for a while and decided many of the stories were not very original, even as far as SF stories go (retreads of their own shows from SG1, for example) and that the characters had it too easy.

BUT there are fans of the show who are resentful and angry about the casting changes. Many fans of the show that *I* know started watching SGA partly because Tapping's Carter was NOT on SGA as a character. That hideaway from her character is now gone. And, there are many opinions (voiced by Alix, that letter writer) that I've heard in agreement with the letter-writer, that Tapping's experience on one show, doesn't translate into another show.

The producers for Stargate have the reputation for not trusting that the hit actors/characters on their show can carry the show - that their shows always need some sort of "magical" rescue. Usually that means bringing in someone from outside the show and letting them get top billing; and then writing the new characters/situations badly.

There's a LOT of resentment in the Stargate fanbase toward the producer/writers for screwing so much up, in the fans' opinions, of course.

[nialla]

If you haven't been around Mallozzi's comments before, it would simply appear to be fans upset about changes. There is that, certainly, especially with so many in a short amount of time, but if Mallozzi would either answer questions without malice towards fans or simply remain mum if it's something he can't answer, it would solve a lot of problems.

He seems to want to play in the same "fanbox" as fans, and gets offended by those making negative comments and lashes out. Most fans love to nitpick and discuss gripes -- it helps them understand the stories in greater depth. But that's generally not a conversation intended for TPTB's ears. If I was writing something intended for them, I would use a very different style of writing.

From what I can tell, Mallozzi takes fan crit very personally, even while saying fan comments and campaigns don't matter, and wants to dish out insults to retaliate. It's just not what any smart businessman does if they want to keep their customers, and they call it showbiz for a reason.