Re: The Fugitive, Season Two Volume 1 - Reviews
Let me bring some much needed clarification to this thread (though
most of it has been correctly clarified already in the past few posts).
If anyone wishes to assume that our close relationship with the studios
puts us in the category of being "shills," then that is a very ill-perceived
assumption.
The truth of the matter is that this forum's first priority is towards the
free exchange of opinions whether it is in favor of a studio or not.
That being said, there are ground rules here for the way in which
we permit such discussion. While negative opinions are always
welcome, they are to be expressed in a polite and constructive manner.
In other words, if you have a problem with a studio's product it should
be presented in a factual manner that does not come off as being a
blatant attack. It should be criticism that invites intelligent follow-up
discussion.
In reality, that's not a lot to ask for.
And because this forum promotes that sort of philosophy in our
discussions, we have earned respect from the studios that not many
other similar discussion forums have. Absolutely, we work very
closely with the studios, but that enables us to keep a direct line of
communication open that would be normally be closed if we allowed
some of the nasty rhetoric that often gets posted on other sites.
The fact we get invited out to Hollywood in the first place is because
of our reputation for having professional relationships between our
membership and the studios. When our members meet with studio
executives their exchanges are professional. This is the same kind
of behavior we expect from every member, every day within this forum.
The reason our Moderators and I will often step up and defend
a particular studio when others feel disgruntled, is because we are
usually in a position to know more about the way the studios work
internally when it comes to particular issues and legalities. Based on
our experiences, when sudden changes are made to a DVD or
BD release, we tend to look at things from a studio point-of-view
and offer those opinions in hopes that the studios are represented
fairly since they will not openly come to this forum to comment.
In fact, if you gauge the opinions of most people who have gone
on our HTF MEETS over the past years and personally talked with
studio people, you'll find they understand this industry a lot better
than they used to. The reality is, studios can't simply slap everything
people want onto a disc with every release. The legalities involved
in getting many of these classic titles to the public is just astounding.
However, when the Moderators, informed members or I bring those
reasons to light, we are marked as "shills."
In the case of this very thread involving The Fugitive release, it
was obvious there was a major problem. It didn't help that someone was
posting rhetoric here towards Paramount and asking people to make
horrendously nasty calls to someone at the studio who had nothing to do
with the decision that was made.
Furthermore, when I step in and give my opinion on why the changes
to the music were probably made --- merely based on discussions I have
had with other studios regarding their television product --- a member
here goes back on his blog and takes my comments out of context to
create further sensationalism. And you know what? As much as I wanted
to remove that member for the misrepresented comments....I didn't.
So, let me discuss with you what kind of people are readily removed
from this forum....
Mainly, anyone who disrupts the professional environment we had
hoped to create here.
* Spammers
* Those with agendas to post negative post after negative post
in order to ensure their opinion is the one heard most.
* Those who rile up other members, encouraging them to write
nasty letters to a studio or manufacturer.
* Those who bring politics or religion into a discussion.
* Those who openly criticize our Moderators, owners or rules. Such
discussions should go private with any one of the staff members whose
email addresses are readily available.
And yes, we can pretty much do whatever we want around here to
enforce the rules. That being said, other than one individual at the
moment, I see very little complaining about the way we keep this
forum orderly. Our initial approach to online discussion was very
unique at a time when Internet discussion was untamed. We have been
around for over 11 years and boast a huge membership that continues to
grow at leaps and bounds. We must be doing something right.
)
