It's no secret that a certain cowtown puppet show saved my life. I went somewhat in depth on the subject a few weeks ago on this very blog. What surprised me most was the overwhelming response I got from fellow MSTies and, even, some of the minds behind 'Mystery Science Theater' themselves. Not only was everyone receptive, it seemed that there were more than a few individuals who had experienced the same thing. One of the many who were good enough to read it commented that it was like the It Gets Better for geeks. With that in mind, I think I'd like to take it a step further.
I've always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to create or be a part of something hat would touch and inspire others...and I think this may be the opportunity I was hoping for. I want to create a book – a memoir/collection of stories and essays about how a TV show and the community that formed around it can save someone. So many of us have used this little show as a kind of therapy and I want to know about everyone's experiences, or, at least, the experiences of those who are willing to share. I want to compile and create a collection of essays, poems, tweets, blogs, postcards...anything that allows anyone to express how a collective of geeks and a little show that many people have never heard of saved them. My ultimate goal is to make a collection out of them to be published...but that will be down the road. Who knows, this idea might be terrible and crash and burn as soon as I try to act upon it...but I'm willing to give it a shot.
Take a moment and consider it, and if you'd like to be involved drop me a line at jvreeland87 AT gmail DOT com. Or you can connect to me through Twitter if you haven't already (@SpookyJanelle). Also, help me get the word out in any way you can, whether it's through Twitter, Facebook or the many MST3K-related forums and boards. There are thousands of us just waiting to find each other and share our experiences, so let's use the internets and social networks for some good, won't us?
This is a project that needs to happen. Godspeed :)
ReplyDeleteI wish you much luck. I may be able to scrabble a few words and thoughts together on it as it was sort of my uncovering of my sense of humor and finding a place.
ReplyDeleteYou rule, Spooky-J. You also rock.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a wonderful idea! MST3K owns me, but I'm not sure I have a story beyond just "Wow!" I'll give it some thought, though.
ReplyDeleteI'll start working on a poem for this collection leaning towards some precarious future publication date. Please keep us posted about how this meanders around the internets. Namaste.
ReplyDeleteFinding MST and knowing that being in Scotland meant I probably wouldn't meet anyone else who had even heard of it made it my wee thing. It helped so much in the development of my sense of humour. I'll try and write something for your project. It's a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to anything and everything everyone has to offer!
ReplyDeleteYES YES YES YES YES!!! You know, the first people I connected with on Twitter were MSTies. I think the tweet that did it was #badTV or #sadTV, and I did Mystery Science Theater 1000. I suddenly had this amazing community where none had been before. So, even in THAT way, it has changed my life. OK, I will save it for my email. :D
ReplyDeleteOh hell to THE YEAH
ReplyDeleteAnd for me the show was life changing on so many levels (she writes just before she is off to celebrate her marriage to a man she found because of an MST bumpersticker! Hollah!)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this was where I'm supposed to tell this tale, but
I don't know if I'm ready to attach a name to it on a site.
I grew up in a bad neighborhood where intelligence was looked down upon.
As a result, I spent a lot of time hiding my interests and ideas and tried to
fit in with the 'in' crowd where I was from.
I started drinking constantly and doing drugs and getting further away from who i really was with each passing day.
I met a girl much like that, too. She'd been immersed in the hardcore party
thing much longer however. Despite being out of it much of the time, I fell in love with her.
We moved away from where we grew up and lived together hundreds of miles from everything that was familiar. We didn't know anyone when we first moved there and since we didn't have much money, we lived in a bad area.
It didn't take me long to realize that her drinking was way beyond just parting for our age. There were signs earlier, of course, but I was always
drinking or stoned and I was pretty good at keeping a denial cloud over things back then. I loved her and I didn't want to see it.
Her drinking got progressively worse until she started getting sick. Tried rehab, didn't work for her. I stopped drinking and just got deeply depressed. I couldn't stand what was happening to her but I couldn't leave because I felt like I'd be abandoning her and I loved her.
About the time I stopped drinking, I discovered MST. I had stopped
going out and I completely lost myself in the show. I didn't have cable at the time, but a friend of mine would tape it for me, at the time it ws on every night late. It was probably the one thing I felt I could count on at the time. It also helped me to realize how wrong it had been for me to turn my back on intelligence and I loved it for that.
I eventually ended up having to flee the relationship a couple years later, realized I couldn't help and it would just get worse.
Through the years and everywhere I've gone since I've been a huge Mstie and continue to love the various shows and the spinoffs to this day.
Don't know if that was the type of story you were looking for and I'm sorry if it ran long. But the title of the thread made me think it applied.
Thanks.
vladdrac2003,
ReplyDeleteThat was perfect and it most certainly applies. Thank you for sharing.
2002 was a tough year. I hated my job as a medical proofreader and couldn't see a way out. My daughter had been born with several midline deformities that required multiple surgeries. And a bad president was just starting a war.
ReplyDeleteI had a number of newly taped MST3K episodes from the SciFi Channel years, and whenever things got to the tipping point, I put in a tape and let go. Watching them, just for a couple of hours, always brought me back down to earth.
Except for the war, everything has turned out okay. I didn't quit my job, and my daughter is a healthy 8-year-old. And I recently found out that I had worked with Andrea DuCane, the show's makeup artist, during a stint I did as an extra in an institutional video shoot several years ago. She was really nice.
MST3K may not have saved my life, but they did a great job on my sanity.
Thanks for reading. I wish you all the best in this inspiring endeavor.
My teenage years were the worst, My Brother in Law was overbearing, my mom believed everything he said about me, My father had died, And I was generally unhappy. then I saw Late Night with Conan O' Brien. Watching his and Andy's antics made me laugh again. when things got rough and the chips were down, I always had Conan. then he took over The Tonight Show. I was in Heaven, I watched him every night. I started a webshow with my friend inspired by him. Then he lost that show. He was not on TV anymore. I had no help for my depression. So to pay him back, I payed him back for all the years of happiness, I joined Team Conan, And followed his twitter, Now he is back and I have that familiar comedy, and a reason to laugh again. to feel good when things get bad. I will never forget what Conan, And Andy did for me. I will always be a Team Conan member.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds groovy, Janelle! If I can think of something to contribute, I will!
ReplyDeleteI worked from home for years, this is not a tale of self-pity, I didn't have any upsetting personal circumstance. Nothing to complain about (I'm British, I can make good of anything with a hot drink and a digestive biscuit). But I'll get to the relevance later.
ReplyDeleteIn 1996 I was two years into a computing degree and expecting first born child. I was never academic, I was more of a practical person, my first computer I built from a kit when just 11 years old. My teenage years were a blend of home-electronics, programming, astronomy and Monty Python. Well, my first born arrived, the pressure of that and studies really took it's toll so the studies were parked to spend time at home being a dad, the wife being something or a workaholic.
Long nights of trying to stay sane with mini-me, feeding, odd sleep patterns. This was pre-mass internet (all I used it for back then was email and usenet over expensive dial-up). The savior was the Sci-Fi channel's endless repeats of MSt3k, in Europe they didn't have the rights to all of the movies shown in the series, so they would cycle through the same movies. At 4am, just me and the baby, I grew to love Pumaman, the Terror from the Year 5000, Space Mutiny. They kept me sane.
The irony was lost on me till many years later. Here I am, working from home, kids all at school, alone again. The only buzz in my office comes from the PC fans and hard-drives. Alone in my ship once again with nothing but Mike/Joel and the bots for company. It's a show I can put on in the background and I can get on doing with what I need to do.
Not sure what lesson there is in that, if any. We are the crew of the SoL in our own ways, trying to find ways to stay sane while bombarded by things that seem illogical, insane and out of our control.
Well, if it wasn't Mystery Science, it would have been Star Trek. Oh goodness me, give me Crooooow, not Khaaaaan.
I will probably be watching these shows till I'm old and senile. Who are you people and where's my soup?
I did NOT find MST3K when it was still on TV. In fact, if it weren't for the efforts of the fans to keep 'circulating the tapes' online, I'd never have a chance to watch it all the way here in South East Asia. But I found it when I was in a dark place, and I can definitely say MST3K saved my life.
ReplyDeleteHey, Just found this.
ReplyDeleteMy story isn't sad, but my life was forever changed by MST.
I had a friend who knew a gal who liked MST as I did. A meeting was arranged, and she was afraid she'd be coming face-to-face with a SuperNerd. Little did I know that my friend talked up my MSTie-ness in such a way to make me seem obsessed. While that may be true, our lives were changed that day we met.
We still watch it often. We're even involved in a Fan Produced MST, and we never look back.
11 years of friendship, 6 of that dating, and 2 married. Life's pretty good.