I discovered the most... um... fascinating? horrific? thing today: there are people more nostalgic about Secret Valley than I am. People who remember the theme song and even provide said song for download. People who lament the fact that the show is lost. People professing fascination with Spider McGlurk and proclaiming that they could really relate to him. People who actually tried the flour bombs. People complaining about what a wanker WW was. (Plus, gratuitous usage of the "ocker" Australian accent which the rest of the world seems to think is "normal".)
Am I the only one who finds this truly scary? Okay, I played at Secret Valley with my then-best-friend Jasmine, argued over who would play Marianne and pretended to ride four-wheel buggies, made our younger brothers play Spider and Snake and threw liquid amber pods (instead of rotten vegetables) at them to make them run away. (We also had a weird obsession with The Famous Five: her dog was named Timmy and we used to make our families act out scenes from the books.) But I wouldn't be truly obsessive about it now since, unlike Ulysses 31 or The Mysterious Cities of Gold, it was a crappy kids' drama. It's a step down from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, for fuck's sake, if that's even possible. While I will rush around looking for copies of Ulysses or Cities of Gold, The Goodies or the '80's remake of Astroboy, Voltron, Duckula and Danger Mouse, hell, even Degrassi and Biker Mice from Mars, I would never do so for Secret Valley, enjoy it as I did back then. These others are intelligent shows, entertaining for kids but with a depth of story and referentiality in them that an adult (for example, a parent) can also enjoy. But Secret Valley... this thing is brain-melting. It presupposes only a certain age group and intellectual capacity and requires a child of 7-12 to enjoy it. Hell, it's about as crappy as the stuff that they expect kids to watch today (without the imbecilic, patronising, smug, self-satisfied gimboid hired to talk down to kids and encourage them to sell their intellect for instant gratification. And yes, I'm talking about the ABC since it is the only channel to have any kids' shows these days.) Secret Valley is one of the few things from the 80's that should be forgotten, along with Ridgey Didge, Young Talent Time and Agro. Oh, and the fashions; those objects which are currently re-appearing, left, right and centre, in stores all over the country.
And can anyone explain to me why the damn kids in the camp kept a supply of rotten vegetables around, just quietly decaying, so that they could throw them at Spider, his gang and that stupid developer whenever they showed up? Seriously, why?
Am I the only one who finds this truly scary? Okay, I played at Secret Valley with my then-best-friend Jasmine, argued over who would play Marianne and pretended to ride four-wheel buggies, made our younger brothers play Spider and Snake and threw liquid amber pods (instead of rotten vegetables) at them to make them run away. (We also had a weird obsession with The Famous Five: her dog was named Timmy and we used to make our families act out scenes from the books.) But I wouldn't be truly obsessive about it now since, unlike Ulysses 31 or The Mysterious Cities of Gold, it was a crappy kids' drama. It's a step down from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, for fuck's sake, if that's even possible. While I will rush around looking for copies of Ulysses or Cities of Gold, The Goodies or the '80's remake of Astroboy, Voltron, Duckula and Danger Mouse, hell, even Degrassi and Biker Mice from Mars, I would never do so for Secret Valley, enjoy it as I did back then. These others are intelligent shows, entertaining for kids but with a depth of story and referentiality in them that an adult (for example, a parent) can also enjoy. But Secret Valley... this thing is brain-melting. It presupposes only a certain age group and intellectual capacity and requires a child of 7-12 to enjoy it. Hell, it's about as crappy as the stuff that they expect kids to watch today (without the imbecilic, patronising, smug, self-satisfied gimboid hired to talk down to kids and encourage them to sell their intellect for instant gratification. And yes, I'm talking about the ABC since it is the only channel to have any kids' shows these days.) Secret Valley is one of the few things from the 80's that should be forgotten, along with Ridgey Didge, Young Talent Time and Agro. Oh, and the fashions; those objects which are currently re-appearing, left, right and centre, in stores all over the country.
And can anyone explain to me why the damn kids in the camp kept a supply of rotten vegetables around, just quietly decaying, so that they could throw them at Spider, his gang and that stupid developer whenever they showed up? Seriously, why?
20 comments:
Y'know, I was a huge Power Ranger fan. And amusingly, liking it - and the moments that really made it awesome - helped me grow as a storyteller.
Strange, no?
ummm...aside from degrassi and the power rangers i'm completely lost....is this a n aussie thing? *jess gives her confused american look*
Yeah, Secret Valley was an Australian television show about a group of kids at a camp who rode around on quads alot. The bad guys were a developer who was trying to get the camp closed down and the kids he hired to bully the "good" kids, the leader of whom was Spider McGlurk. The "bad" guys used to attack the fort/camp and then the "good" guys would belt them with flour bombs and rotten vegetables.
As for the rest of them MCoG is French, I think, possibly Ulyssess 31 too. Duckula, The Goodies and Danger Mouse are all British, and Astroboy is Japanese. But I thought that Voltron and Bikers Mice were both American.
Ulysses and Voltron are both Japanese in their origin point, IIRC.
well that makes sense. most of the shows i grew up on were either american or canadian. none as bad as what you make secret valley out to be though.
Actually, from what I can find, Ulysses 31 is like MCoG: made in France with strong Japanese influence. But yes, Voltron is Japanese, however. I hadn't realised. Ta. Though the following 3 remakes (one of which comes out soon) are all American. And the first two were really crappy. (Sorry. If there was going to be debate, I figured I should actually look it up.)
Secret Valley wasn't really bad, it just wasn't great, or as good as the shows on about the same time. In reality, it's about the same quality as the stuff that is being shown now. Which is fine if it's a one off (as Secret Valley was when it showed on the ABC) but the same quality of thing, all day, every day, is just ridiculous and something should be done. Especially when the kids themselves are complaining about it and getting ignored. Secret Valley was entertaining for a child but it had no merit beyond that. It's like the Saddle Club only with a slightly wider audience. (And Psi says from behind me, "Talk about damning it with faint praise.")
well, i grew up on nickelodeon and nick and nite and such. so kids shows and classic t.v. from like fifties and sixties and such. some seventies.
then there were the shows we watched as a family. i guessmy tasts is wide since i grew up in front of a t.v. therefore not everything i watched was actually aimed only for kids. there were the bad t.v. movies late at night...
Oh, that's true for us too, hon. At least, it is for me. Just different shows. Still from as early as the sixties and not all aimed at kids. I'm just dealing with mostly kids shows at the moment.
Secret Valley is highly reminiscent of Skippy. Easily-produced common-Aussie, low-budget pap. Besides, I honestly prefer people's nostalgia being legitimately bad, because they're more likely to admit it. I'd lump it in the same category as Power Rangers and Star Wars, honestly. And I liked Power Rangers enough to actually actively approve of it and was well-informed enough to be able to tell you the good, adult points in it.
Y'know, both of them.
*chuckles* Hon, I do not question your right to like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as much as you like. Personally, I found nothing redeeming about it, but then I rarely watched it (it was somewhat after my time and I was working fulltime) so my perception is based on only a small exposure. For which I am profoundly grateful. This does not mean that you shouldn't like it as you see fit or that I think any less of you for doing so. Like away!
bad t.v. like bad movies inform everyone's life and intelliegence. tis the joy of growing up in a creative society. need i mention that the buffy movie is good kitch?
Is it just me or do Laurel-li's last post & the origional blog artical seriously conflict. Laurel-li you seem to be complaining there about people liking crap, but then go on to say waht you said to Talen. I see a certain inconsitency here.
BTW, never seen secret valley, no real opinion on it.
Hook: Amen. Yay nostalgia on general principle. This is why I have a complete collection of MCoG and Ulysses 31. (I'm in a happy place.)
Grumbler: Nups. I was being amazed that people were being as extremely nostalgic as they are over a resoundingly mediocre (and often enough downright crappy) show. I find it astounding. That doesn't mean I'll prevent anyone from doing so. Their choice. I just don't get it.
Jess: Not just good kitsch. Fucking hilarious: "Does Elvis talk to you? Does he tell you to do things? Do you... see spots?" *giggles*
'you threw a knife at my head!' 'yes but if you weren't the slayer.." "you...threw...a..knife...at...my ....head!"
"OK people, they are psyching you out. Let's not be so defensive out there, OK? Now what do we say on the court, repeat after me; 'I am a person, I have the right to the ball'."
i would quote more but it's been forever since i've seen the movie so i'll do the three things i do remember,
'get out of my facial'
'ahhh...oohhh...ahhh' peewee herman dying for like forty minutes.
'detention' stephen root(aka milton)slapping hilary swank on the forehead with a detention notice to shut her up. :)
My darling!
Only one more: "All I want to do is graduate from high school, move to Europe, marry Christian Slater, and die. Now that might not sound too great to a sconehead like you, but I think it's swell. And now you show up and tell me I'm a member of the hairy mole club so you can THROW things at me? I don't THINK so." *giggles* Okay, now it's out of my system.
The nostalgia thing gets voted down because you have to remember, a good 45% of the anime club members - not admin - are fricking idiots. They're the morons who think Daniel's funny, and Daniel himself. They're the ones who can't keep their mouths shut during musical montages in Miyazaki films. They're the ones who, god help them, started on Evangelion and DBZ, while you and I started on Robotech and 8-Man.
In the anime club at least, nostalgia needs a certain back pad to adjust to. You have to be at a point where you're getting dissatsified with what you have because it lacks something deeper than visual quality. You have to want the plot, the characters, the ideas that something you've already experienced had in it.
That said, the truly quality stuff that marries good plot with good animation almost categorically beats the living shit out of the old stuff. Superlink is miles better than G1 Transformers, and that's because in a lot of cases in the modern media of TV and movies, old is close to primitive. And primitive art, much like primitive science and primitive medicine, should be respected for its place, but not practiced.
As for the MMPR vs Star Wars, you know I don't like SW a whole lot. Bring on the goose. ;p The most significant thing about MMPR is that it let me recognise, as a maturing adult, bad construction. I could look at the show and recognise how they put it together from clips and half-pieces, and then, realise where the holes were. You could see the setups, but those things that made it amazing were those sparkling moments of continuity.
Beyond that, it was a 30-minute ad for some pretty kickass toys, which is roughly identical to Voltron, and at least Power Rangers had a pair of porn actors in it.
But then, what is "good" or "bad" in terms of any art is purely subjective: just because one person appreciates it, does not mean that another individual will, and vice versa. And isn't that the way it should be?
I figure that the only person you can change is you so if you don't like something that some one else does like, you can either try and see what they see it, put yourself in a place where you don't have to experience it, or grit your teeth and bear it until something you enjoy comes up. Sure, you could spend hours discussing or arguing about it, if you are that way inclined but, in the end, it's a matter of opinion and everyone is entitled to have a different one, even if you don't understand or can't see the reasoning behind it. It's up to you, the boundaries you draw. I, for example, can endure something really quite crappy (like B-grade teen horror - Valentine, for example) because it is entertaining and it is intended for a specific audience; in this case I can put my artistic prejudices aside. On the other hand, what I would consider poorly constructed literature (for example, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series) makes me want to tear my hair out in agony and frustration, while Matt really quite enjoys them. His choice, my choice. And we can still be friends, depite our (very strong) differences of opinion.
As for "primitive" art, personally I would rather have The Labyrinth as it is than with all the CGI and special effects in the world. And I will always choose modernism and Eliot (for example) over Postmodernism and Delilo.
And thank you, Talen and Hook, you have helped me gradually come to terms with a decision I had half made regarding something that is really upsetting me. Thanks.
Spider McGlurk and the gang...ah they were the days lol. Spider McGlurk !
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