WTF, Fandom?
If you have any opportunity to see The Dark Knight in IMAX, go. It’s really just completely amazing; it feels like you’re in Gotham City.
I liked it better the second time. The pacing felt really weird the first time–why are we spending so much time on Harvey Dent? Where’s the Joker? Is it done yet? Are they setting up a sequel? Now that I know it’s more “the tragic fall of Harvey Dent” than the story of Batman and the Joker, I was able to appreciate it a lot more. It really is very well done, and I love the study of human nature, and of how everyone has a breaking point, and of how people react when pushed beyond their limits.
And Heath Ledger really is absolutely riveting for every moment that he’s on screen.
Still really pissed off about the women in refrigerators thing, though. Rachel’s death should have been about her, not just about what she represented to Harvey and Bruce.
***
I’ve been following the recent fannish wank with an increasing sense of WTF. I mean, first a crazy chick outs other fans in real life as an attention ploy, which, okay, at least she’s getting the shunning she deserves.
Then “cult of nice” vs “cult of mean,” round 4938394, which I can see both sides of, though I firmly believe fandom is a better place when we can talk openly about our reactions to a work, whether it’s created by a professional or a fan. IMO it’s more respectful to treat fanfiction as deserving of serious critical analysis (both positive and negative), and it’s disrespectful to assume that all fic writers are speshul snowflakes who can’t take anything but unreserved praise. And sometimes it’s not about the writer at all; it’s about the community being able to learn and grow and understand itself better through discussion and analysis of fanwork and fannish trends.
But now the SPN wank just has me boggled. Can someone in SPN please explain this to me? A bunch of fans of one of the actors started a campaign about him being retarded and illiterate? And they were surprised when his management sent them a C&D? And they’re wanking about their hurt feelings? But they’re his fans? And this is how they showed their fannishness? Why? I’m … confused. Just … incredibly confused.
Current Mood: 
confused
10 Responses to “WTF, Fandom?”
a_white_rain on July 30, 2008 5:07 pm | Link
OH SPN FANDOM. There is something that’s a special snowflake.
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rusty-halo on July 30, 2008 5:27 pm | Link
Pretty much all I know about that fandom comes from fandom_wank, so I don’t want to judge it unfairly or anything, but sheesh. The proportion of “batshit crazy” to “sane and interesting” seems a bit out of whack… although that could just be because I find the canon unbearably bad and don’t see the redeeming value that actual fans would see…
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Kita on July 30, 2008 5:14 pm | Link
I think the website was a response to his insane fans. Think Marsters fen, like twenty times over. It was tongue in cheek. And I have yet to see proof that the C&D is actually legit. Unless the man has absolutely no sense of humor and his agent no sense of career preservation, I would hope it’s much ado about nothing.
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rusty-halo on July 30, 2008 5:25 pm | Link
But… wouldn’t you make a website mocking the insane fans? (And then laugh your ass off when they threaten to sue you.) Why would you make a website calling the actor retarded?
I guess I just… really don’t get the culture of SPN fandom. They’re definitely not doing themselves any favors by whining about how Jensen has OMG BETRAYED THEIR LOVE, though….
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Kita on July 30, 2008 5:27 pm | Link
I’m not sure.
I mean, there was a time when Marsters’ fen annoyed me enough that even though I loved the guy I had an anti-icon.
Fandom makes you do the whacky?
I’m not sure.
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rusty-halo on July 30, 2008 5:36 pm | Link
Hmm. I can sort of see that. Marsters’ crazy fans didn’t do any favors for my feelings about the guy! (Though my dislike of him ultimately comes from, y’know, him.)
I still don’t get the “we made a website about the guy being retarded BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM SO MUCH,” though. I’d have made a website mocking the crazy fans, because 1) there’s less legal risk and 2) it’s funnier. :P
I guess his management looked at it and didn’t see the humor? I mean, even as a fannish person, looking at it from outside of SPN fandom, I can’t figure out what it’s supposed to be a satire of or how it’s funny. It just looks like some crazy obsessed people on the internet spreading negative rumors for inexplicable reasons.
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Kita on July 30, 2008 5:38 pm | Link
I dunno, I never saw it. I just saw the fallout from it. Satire is complicated and debatable, so I don’t know that even if I HAD seen it, I could agree.
And I still doubt the legitimacy of the entire C&D thing. Some of the details are…not legally sound.
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rusty-halo on July 30, 2008 5:45 pm | Link
It does sound like it’s getting blown out of proportion by either hysteria or deliberate wankiness.
There’s screencaps/links to the site in Google’s cache at the fandom_wank entry.
I’m not saying I think it’s 100% wrong and deserved to be taken down by legal measures. I’m mostly just … incredibly confused why anyone would do it in the first place. And amused at the fans wailing that Jensen has betrayed them, when, y’know, it was probably some intern at his lawyer’s office.
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txvoodoo on July 30, 2008 8:57 pm | Link
It’s the histrionics floating all over my flist now that have me laughing and rolling my eyes.
SPN is a fandom I’m glad I’ve avoided :D
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rusty-halo on July 30, 2008 11:54 pm | Link
Yes. Whatever core of a point they may have had has certainly been lost amidst all the melodrama!
I’d say I want to be in a fandom that’s not wanky, but then I’d probably get bored pretty quick. :P SPN, though, is definitely way too silly for me.
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