Read this entry in isagel's journal now. Read the discussion that follows and tell me if they aren't talking about our fandom with all it's love for happy!fluffy! stories.
I've seen quite a few of them in fanficrants. Scully, of course. Buffy and all the women in Buffyverse. Eowyn and Arwen in LOTR. And don't get me started on my poor Hermione - she's bashed because she's studious, she's smart (and the boys, as much as I love them, are dorks), she's *not pretty*... A couple of days ago I came across a thread in the FAP forums where the posters declared how jealous they were of Hermione because she gets to be paired with all the nice, eligible boys (and men) in fanon. In the last book, Ginny Weasley emerged as yet another kick-ass girl, so she's now 'JKR's own Mary Sue'. *headdesk*
On a different but related topic there is a new essay in fanfic symposium (I don't have the link on hand) on the sexism involved in slaming bad slash because it feminizes one or both of the two men.
I think I read that essay. Was it this (http://www.trickster.org/symposium/symp140.html) one?
They are talking about teenage wizards who fly through the air on broomsticks, talk to ghosts, live in a castle with moving staircases, take lessons in spell casting and potions making, and are invovled in an epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil - and someone is worried about whether or not they are realistically gay teenagers? What part of 'fantasy world' did these people miss?
Heh. I think they were talking about a particular author's characterization. I haven't read her works (I don't read Harry/Draco unless I'm forced to). I'll have to say that sometimes the characterizations in some slash fics seriously put me off. Poor Remus Lupin becomes this weak, physically and emotionally fragile wimp who needs Macho!Sirius to help him through his problems - although in canon he's this very, very resilient, well-balanced and possesses amazing mental strength. The same goes with the Harry/Draco pairing (with Wimp!Harry and Spike!Draco). If the characters have to be OOC in order make the story 'realistically gay', well then, I'd rather not have them gay at all. And it's odd why people chose to resort to that particular device, because the slash is there - and it can be written without reducing the characters to something they're not.
I'll have to say that sometimes the characterizations in some slash fics seriously put me off. Poor Remus Lupin becomes this weak, physically and emotionally fragile wimp who needs Macho!Sirius to help him through his problems - although in canon he's this very, very resilient, well-balanced and possesses amazing mental strength. The same goes with the Harry/Draco pairing (with Wimp!Harry and Spike!Draco).
Make that all pairings/relationship fic and I'll bite.
Because you could just substitute Nikita and Michael for Lupin and Sirius, or Harry and Draco.... Like this:
Poor Nikita becomes this weak, physically and emotionally fragile wimp who needs Macho!Michael to help her through her problems - although in canon she's very, very resilient, well-balanced and possesses amazing mental strength.
And you have exactly why I dislike so much of the fic that qualifies as HR.
Bah. Maybe the problem is the classic (if you can say that about a genre that is less than a century old) 'romance' formula of strong!macho + weak!clingy = hawt romance. Ick ick ick.
Make that all pairings/relationship fic and I'll bite.
Exactly. I fail to understand why it is important to oversimplify these relationships by putting them in the classic formula - when it is clearly quite different in canon. I would have never been attracted to LFN had it not been for the complexity of the show. And it makes me wonder if these fans were attracted by some other aspect of the show - some aspect I (and most other fans I've interacted with in the FFMB) clearly don't see.
I guess it all again comes back to the author's personal beliefs - maybe the person finds herself most comfortable when dealing with the 'classical' conditions of romance, and therefore keeps on incorporating those in her fan fiction. Sometimes it's unconscious, more often it's not. That it doesn't go with the canon of the show is not important, because it's just fan fiction.
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branchandroot
Yeah...(r)
Date: 2004-02-25 05:58 pm (UTC)On a different but related topic there is a new essay in fanfic symposium (I don't have the link on hand) on the sexism involved in slaming bad slash because it feminizes one or both of the two men.
I think I read that essay. Was it this (http://www.trickster.org/symposium/symp140.html) one?
They are talking about teenage wizards who fly through the air on broomsticks, talk to ghosts, live in a castle with moving staircases, take lessons in spell casting and potions making, and are invovled in an epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil - and someone is worried about whether or not they are realistically gay teenagers? What part of 'fantasy world' did these people miss?
Heh. I think they were talking about a particular author's characterization. I haven't read her works (I don't read Harry/Draco unless I'm forced to). I'll have to say that sometimes the characterizations in some slash fics seriously put me off. Poor Remus Lupin becomes this weak, physically and emotionally fragile wimp who needs Macho!Sirius to help him through his problems - although in canon he's this very, very resilient, well-balanced and possesses amazing mental strength. The same goes with the Harry/Draco pairing (with Wimp!Harry and Spike!Draco). If the characters have to be OOC in order make the story 'realistically gay', well then, I'd rather not have them gay at all. And it's odd why people chose to resort to that particular device, because the slash is there - and it can be written without reducing the characters to something they're not.
Swatkat
no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 09:05 pm (UTC)Make that all pairings/relationship fic and I'll bite.
Because you could just substitute Nikita and Michael for Lupin and Sirius, or Harry and Draco.... Like this:
Poor Nikita becomes this weak, physically and emotionally fragile wimp who needs Macho!Michael to help her through her problems - although in canon she's very, very resilient, well-balanced and possesses amazing mental strength.
And you have exactly why I dislike so much of the fic that qualifies as HR.
Bah. Maybe the problem is the classic (if you can say that about a genre that is less than a century old) 'romance' formula of strong!macho + weak!clingy = hawt romance. Ick ick ick.
Nell
no subject
Date: 2004-02-26 05:00 pm (UTC)Exactly. I fail to understand why it is important to oversimplify these relationships by putting them in the classic formula - when it is clearly quite different in canon. I would have never been attracted to LFN had it not been for the complexity of the show. And it makes me wonder if these fans were attracted by some other aspect of the show - some aspect I (and most other fans I've interacted with in the FFMB) clearly don't see.
I guess it all again comes back to the author's personal beliefs - maybe the person finds herself most comfortable when dealing with the 'classical' conditions of romance, and therefore keeps on incorporating those in her fan fiction. Sometimes it's unconscious, more often it's not. That it doesn't go with the canon of the show is not important, because it's just fan fiction.
Swatkat