Yes, yes, that's right. I'm not dead. And neither is JAAIOB. I have made three promises involving JAAIOB to myself:
1. Before this blog ends, I will finish AIC (I'm not telling you when it ends, but I will say it's soon).
2. Before this blog ends, I will release the Top 100 AIO Episodes of All Time List I talked about earlier.
3. Before this blog ends, I will review all 12 episodes of Album 57.
PF recently dubbed this blog "Just Another Silent Black Hole". And he's right. But he also claims that Wooton has been greater than ever since the relaunch. And he's wrong. Or at least, that's what this post is trying to prove. So here it is, the Top 5 Reasons Why Wooton Must Change...
#5: He's lost much of his spirituality.
Many have pointed out that Wooton never bothered to ask Penny if she was a Christian when he became romantically involved with her. This is true, but it's only part of the reason why I believe he's lost his spirituality. When is the last time Wooton explicitly referenced God or Jesus? You know, it might have been in "The Highest Stakes", which was, what, 7 albums ago? I believe he's mentioned praying once in the post-50 episodes he's in, but I'm not sure that quite counts. I have no problem with Wooton not mentioning God in every episode he's in. He doesn't need to. In fact, I have no problem with Wooton mentioning God in every album he's in. But in a Christian radio drama, particularly when he used to be a very Christian character, it is a bit unacceptable. I don't believe AIO itself is lacking in spirituality, but the character of Wooton certainly is.
#4: He doesn't play a large-enough role in enough episodes.
Lately, Wooton has not exactly been involved in the plot of his episodes. He's certainly been involved in the episodes themselves, but as far as the plot, he could be taken out of the whole episode with little to no effect. Take "Opposite Day". What is Wooton's purpose? To talk to Barret about social networking, right? Well, I believe, in that particular episode, Whit talked to Barret as well about social networking, and warned him of the dangers of obsessing over it. Wooton did that a bit as well, but Whit did it better. If Wooton was removed, the only thing that would be removed with him is airtime. The plot would go along just as smoothly. Airtime is really the key here, obviously. What is Wooton now? Filler. This is the case for several other recent episodes: "Target of the Week", "Anger Mismanagement", "Something Old, Something New", "Home Again". Shall I go on? It's fine if the guy is a minor role in a few episodes, he just needs to be a major role in a few episodes as well.
#3: His jokes are not as... good.
I suppose I could've come up with a better word than "good", but whatever... Anyway, humor is a matter of opinion. That's true. But, as I will say in Reason #2, the general consensus is that Wooton's humor is far more juvenile than before. For examples, read my review of "Happy Hunting".
#2: More people think he was better before the hiatus than after.
This is self-explanatory. Now... PF, and apparently his siblings as well, are exceptions, but on message boards, blogs, and basically anywhere where AIO fans meet, complaints about the "new Wooton" are quite common. There aren't as many "Wooton Lovers" as there were 4 or 5 years ago, and AIO isn't reading off letters praising Wooton on OAIOP anymore.
#1: He was such a phenomenal character before.
This is the real reason, the #1 reason that we have a right to complain. Honestly, my complaints have more to do with the character Wooton was before than who he is now. He was ridiculous,. he was kind, caring, purposefully goofy, spiritual, clever, likeable, wise, spiritual, and, more than anything... hilarious. Those are the things we loved about him before, and most of them are basically absent. Or perhaps not absent, but just not done in the right way. He was goofy before, but now he's too goofy. He wasn't really supposed to be a cartoon character. He deserves to be multidimensional. Like he was... before.
I'll hopefully have a review and an AIC out tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!
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