Dear Fandom Bitches (yeah how's it sound directed right at you)

[rispacooper]

I'm not one to judge (okay, actually I am, but moving on). Fandom is a crazy, crazy place. Just like the real world in fact, though people like to pretend the two are different and completely separate. And in the real world fandom people of all varieties live their lives and, yes, perhaps, express their secret delights and perversions a little more openly than they would when not staring at a computer moniter.

I've been in fandom a long time now. Counting the nerdy junior high fan discussions my friends and I had before the advent of the internets, and then all those early MASH groups and alt/wesleycrusherdiediedie forums, I'd say, oh, fifteen years. So I've learned a few things, like take it easy on other people's OTPs no matter how weird or batshit they are (because an OTP is a reflection of that person and on some level they know that), that fandom storms only seem to be over, and that for the most part, live and let live is a good policy regarding other people's kinks. So trust me when I say, I don't care if you think hentai is sexy (okay, sometimes it kind of is) or you like Elricest, or if you think Benton Fraser would like a good pegging from Thatcher (first Due South fic I ever read, not kidding). I. Really. Don't. Care. Fandom is, on some level, fantasy, like reading a book or watching TV.

But (and yeah, so obviously about to say that). But To say it's on some level fantasy is not to say that like all art, or works of fiction, that it does not reflect reality or have a place in the real world. As a writer I'm telling you it's the responsibility of writers and artists to be aware of that. Say whatever the hell you want, create whatever monsters or heroes you want, but don't claim innocence or ignorance when I say that your creation says something about you, and about the world as you see it, and those who adore your work obviously share the same view. If you're any good as a writer at all, you should already fucking well know that. If you don't, get out of the game.

So, to all those members of a certain fandom that, for a certain show that, admittedly, I have never seen, but who are currently embroiled in a war over the show's misogynistic overtones: Whatever it is, own up to it and own up to it for the right reasons. Either it's sexist or it's not. If you're comfortable with it being anti-woman and want to keep watching for the hawt brother-love, then go right ahead, but please don't try to sugar-coat it. ---"It's a part of that character" "It makes sense he'd be sexist after his mother abandoned him"--- That's all (if you'll pardon me) bullshit. BULLSHIT. And I call shenanigans on anyone claiming that as though this show exists in a vacuum. As though this show doesn't exist in a world where misogyny (and violence against women) is a real problem. As though this character hasn't faced and been given choices and opportunities to change his worldview in the (4??) years this show has been on the air and the writers and producers have determined that it's not as profitable to take the focus away from dead girls and female-hating language. As though it's a legitimate and original creative decision to make a character be about as sexist as every other man on mainstream TV. As though if a TV character says it, it didn't come from anywhere and doesn't end up etched into your brain.

I'm not going to go all radical on you. There are many, like dear MissKittie who loved this show but couldn't take it anymore for the reasons I just stated and so who quietly just stopped watching. That you want to continue watching, that's your choice, and it's cool, baby. But honestly, please, don't give me anymore of those crap reasons about why it's cool for you. It's your show, it's your fantasy, and you, like the show, do not exist in pure fantasy but also in the real world, and you have to own up to the fact that this says something about you. Own it, and move on, but don't tell the people see who that fantasy and reality are connected to shut up.

Feel free to defriend me if I just pissed you off.

Comments

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Yep. Agree.

[rispacooper.livejournal.com]

It's just bugs the crap out of me. :)

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

I know, but after the POTC nightmare, I'm convinced that fandom often trumps normal moral parameters. The participation and love of "whatever' is much more important that what the specific show or movie is saying. God forbid you have to choose between your tv show and a moral or ethical choice, but they dealt the play. I mean think about it. You keep watching the show, the sponsors keep making money off of the commercials. It all feeds into someone's pocket. That you don't say, "This is wrong." They don't expect you to. They expect you to hang around because now it's cool and hip. That it's now full of shit shouldn't matter. But I think it does, and if people are willing to park their values in front of their television screen, fine. But don't expect me to read it or applaud you.

[rispacooper.livejournal.com]

Then you get those fanfic writers who like a character but not all aspects of that character, so suddenly they're watered down in a story. And you're like, no honey, if you want that guy, you wanted the jerk parts of him too, deal with it.

(I sound like a mean old woman. GASP! My dream of turning into Miss Weezer from Steel Magnolias has been acheived!)

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

It happens to the best of us.