oh fandom, NO!
Jul. 28th, 2009 08:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rmhttp://community.livejournal.com/jackxianto/3668643.html
in which someone says something that sounds an awful lot like "die-hard SF/F fans are an oppressed minority."
http://community.livejournal.com/jackxianto/3668643.html?view=12636067#t12636067
In which I yell.
thanks for the heads-up from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
starstealingirl
Subcutlures, because they are by definitions not the mainstream dominant culture, are technically minorities.
But here's the deal, I'm a minority because I'm queer, because I'm Jewish, because I am not as white as look.
Engaging with enterainment in a non-culturally dominant way may be responsible for affecting the tone of huge swathes of my life, but it doesn't define it. Being a member of an actual minority does.
I am not a minority because I like SF/F or because I cried and cried and cried for Ianto or even because I have an unpopular fannish opinion in the sense that I'm not all worked up about RTD and whether he respects fandom or not -- I don't care, I don't need his approval.
Believe me, I get what you are saying. For older fen in particular, there is this very real sense of being in this small, sort of looked down upon subculture and since many of us interact with the world differently than the mainstream (there are studies on the high incidence of the non-neurotypical in the fannish community), I do sort of get why you chose this angle to frame your point.
But with things like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Comic Con, Dragon*Con, and, yes, the Children of Earth miniseries, fannishness is now a pretty nearly mainstream activity.
But more than that: no one ever threw beer bottles at me for being fannish. No one ever threatened to rape me for being fannish. No one fucking threatened to beat my face in with a brick for being fannish. They have (the first two) because I was gay and (the third) because I'm Jewish.
Considering one of the biggest plot points and now fandom controversies relates to the show's handling of Ianto's sexuality, you really might want to check yourself here.
I am a minority and it's not because I loved a man who never was, even though I did.
in which someone says something that sounds an awful lot like "die-hard SF/F fans are an oppressed minority."
http://community.livejournal.com/jackxianto/3668643.html?view=12636067#t12636067
In which I yell.
thanks for the heads-up from
starstealingirlSubcutlures, because they are by definitions not the mainstream dominant culture, are technically minorities.
But here's the deal, I'm a minority because I'm queer, because I'm Jewish, because I am not as white as look.
Engaging with enterainment in a non-culturally dominant way may be responsible for affecting the tone of huge swathes of my life, but it doesn't define it. Being a member of an actual minority does.
I am not a minority because I like SF/F or because I cried and cried and cried for Ianto or even because I have an unpopular fannish opinion in the sense that I'm not all worked up about RTD and whether he respects fandom or not -- I don't care, I don't need his approval.
Believe me, I get what you are saying. For older fen in particular, there is this very real sense of being in this small, sort of looked down upon subculture and since many of us interact with the world differently than the mainstream (there are studies on the high incidence of the non-neurotypical in the fannish community), I do sort of get why you chose this angle to frame your point.
But with things like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Comic Con, Dragon*Con, and, yes, the Children of Earth miniseries, fannishness is now a pretty nearly mainstream activity.
But more than that: no one ever threw beer bottles at me for being fannish. No one ever threatened to rape me for being fannish. No one fucking threatened to beat my face in with a brick for being fannish. They have (the first two) because I was gay and (the third) because I'm Jewish.
Considering one of the biggest plot points and now fandom controversies relates to the show's handling of Ianto's sexuality, you really might want to check yourself here.
I am a minority and it's not because I loved a man who never was, even though I did.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
*respectfully disagrees* (pt 2 of 2)
Date: 2009-07-29 02:50 am (UTC)5) Buses show up at the schools. With armed soldiers. And armed military vehicles. And a Bad Attitude. This is the stupidest tactic I can think of, because it completely gives lie to the "this is a simple inoculation" propaganda. It alerts mothers and children and fathers that Something Very Wrong is about to occur. Instead of continuing the chill factor started in the cabinet meeting -- letting smiling, patriotic mothers wave their children goodbye, thinking they'd done their civic duty for Queen and country -- RTD moves the soldiers in. Takes the children, kicking and screaming. Fights the mothers.
Why do I disagree? It's too soon. This much emotion this quickly? It's the soap-opera pastiche of emotion. It forces mothers to have a sense of dread where they should have very little. It compels soldiers to act under duress in ways that I just don't find believable. Everything is crying and tantrums and a knowledge of Wrongness where there should be none.
My advice? Let the mothers let their children go, even if some have misgivings. Have "doctors" and "nurses", who the audience know are actually trained military personnel, to smile and guide the kids aboard while choking back their own concerns.
RTD often makes the mistake of giving himself no place to go. He's already blown the wad, so to speak, in the above instance and thus when I'm asked to show more emotion later as Gwen and everyone are running literally for their lives, it feels like the retread of a previous scene, instead of the heart-wrenching climax it NEEDS to be. There's no pacing. None of the finesse I saw in the first three days. None of the fulfillment of the promise of the premise that the other writers and Euros Lynn delivered. (Not to mention that the cast has never been better.)
In short, I feel that the writing shows the same superficial understanding of the real emotions and motivations of people that RTD himself displayed in person. Is he under attack? Hell yeah. Is he reacting defensively as a result? I'm sure he is a bit. Does he deserve the scrutiny and condemnation? Perhaps not to the insane degree that some are going, but the mess he made was one of his own choosing, and in dismissing the shock and grief of fans as a "fangirl" and "internet" response of only a few is to denigrate his fans. Regardless of ratings, I have yet to hear anyone defend days four and five. (The trailers for days 4 and 5 were actively booed.)
If I were RTD, knowing that fans are arguing at all about whether his were appropriate responses would make me look at myself. Question what I'd done and said. Then I'd go public. Make peace with those I could. Agree to disagree with those I couldn't. But in the end, I would do what both DT and JB did, which is to come back to gratitude and respect. "Thank you for being so passionate in your love for what I do."
Agree or disagree, if I'd at least felt valued as a fan, I would've forgiven RTD everything else. The sad thing? I WANTED to. I was hoping he'd have his day in public, and we'd see it was all a stupid bit of fandom wank, and I could go home feeling good about having supported him, even if I STILL think he made stupid choices.
Unfortunately, that's not what happened.