This was a good scene. [Drake and Justin] Yet I am disappointed on a few levels here. My main hopefully constructive criticism would be that this may be Drake's last scene in this round of shoots. And yet we never got any update from him on he has been doing in his life since he left. Of course we have very positive regard for him from when he was here before. He was one of the few models who posted in the forum. Yet even though he chose not to jump back into the forum (and I don't fault him for this) I was still hoping for something...Anything!...to help humanize him again for the fans beyond just his handsome face and nice body.
I realize that the scenes are not usually shown in exact chronological order. So there may be a scene or two left where the opening banter might show where he is officially welcomed back on camera and where he may actually share something interesting for his fans beyond just platitudes of being on a "hiatus" before returning here, happy to be back, yada yada. If I have missed a video where a more personal update was asked of and shared by him, I will profusely apologize. That said, is there nothing more to learn about him since he's been away for so long? He's back to being a near stranger to us and yet there was nothing shared about him personally. Is he happy in life? Did he get a new car? Did he have a move into a new place that he's really proud of? Did he start taking any college classes? Has he taken any fun trips abroad? Did he pick up any new hobbies that he enjoys? Is he dating anyone? Did he have any family drama that he would have been comfortable sharing with us? I'm not looking to be rude, nosy or get stalkerish intel on him. I was just looking for something that would help re-establish the human connection I felt for him before.
I didn't expect them to make a whole new BTS vid for an already established BSB model. Yet I hoped we'd get some kind of interesting updates from him personally in at least one of the intros to the vids. He came back to us almost a stranger again. And it seems he's left us knowing no more about him than before he returned. Is that all we get from a model who's been away for so long? Why couldn't he have been asked beforehand to share something (of his choosing) in the intro to the videos? With the new members as well as his established fans? For new members of the forum in particular he's a total stranger. I have not been able to enjoy his scenes as much this time around because he has gone back to being a two dimensional porn model on my computer. He's handsome and beautiful of course. But on BSB I'm spoiled by usually getting a better understanding and appreciation of the person than just that.
I'm sorry if I got too rambling and repetitive here. haha
I had posted this to the Drake and Justin thread a while back. I hope that others will not think it vain of me to quote myself. I just wanted to give my next post here the context that would save me having to completely re-write and re-explain my perspective.
I know that there probably has not been enough time to implement my suggestion above, if there was a desire to do so. So I'm not bringing this up to scold anyone for possibly ignoring my suggestion. But I am bringing it up again to point out that the pretty much the same thing has happened in the most recent scene with Zach. I was pleased that Sha officially welcomed Zach back on camera. I feel that that's a classy and polite thing to do for models who have been away for almost a year or more. Even if the staff has already literally hugged and welcomed Zach or other models back in private off camera, I see it as a polite thing for it still to be done at least once
on camera. Why? Because I feel it's the fans and audience who are being vicariously represented by the staff. Whether it's articulated as such, I still see it as, "On behalf of all the members and fans who have missed you while you were away...I/we welcome you back [Model X]."
So yes. Zach was welcomed back officially on camera. Thank you!
And perhaps in future vids of this latest series he will be allowed to open up and share something about himself on camera that will humanize him and give newer members to whom he is a stranger, an appreciation of him as a real person. That said, the rest of the conversation with Zach in his comeback video (if indeed this
was his first video filmed since returning) was really just inane filler and small talk.
Is Zach to be one more model who returned after being away for quite a while, and then leaves us again knowing nothing more new about him than we already knew before he returned?
If more substantive conversation is being avoided in the intro to the vids so as not sabotage the "fluffing" phase of the scene...then with use of editing and splicing, why not film part of the opening interview with a model who's been away for a long time (and his scene partner on the bed with him)
before the fluffing and practice run of the scene? It's just a thought. I can see that if a model chooses to share something serious or sad going on in his life, that you don't want both models' semi-hardons that they've worked on beforehand, to shrivel up to nothing right before going into the scene.
In the past Sha has asked certain models to share stories on camera which they shared with him in the house off camera. It would be great if we could get back to some of that again. (With the model's uncoerced consent of course.) The introductory BTS's are great and all. But after about 6 months or so, memories fade and the models start slipping away from us as real people unless we have the reinforcement of at least
some ongoing substantive conversation.
