I do see your point. I must admit I'm reacting more to the people who see stuff like Racebending.com and go, 'well, what's the problem? It's just a story' (as though stories are trivial, as though representation is not a problem and doesn't matter) or who react to criticism (or even just analysis) of their beloved texts with guns blazing*: 'but it's just a story, can't you just enjoy it?' (as though stories are trivial, as though it is impossible to enjoy things if they are not trivial). I'm talking about the kind of analysis that goes on at places like Tiger Beatdown (http://tigerbeatdown.com/) and The Hathor Legacy (http://thehathorlegacy.com/), where people talk about fannish things, about pop-culture, in a way that is both critical and full of enjoyment.
There was a lot of, "I think you're X if you like Y," type stuff flying around, and yeah, that's not cool. There are a lot of people who can recognize where and why something is problematic and enjoy it anyway. It's one thing to discuss the problems that arise, but when it turns into relentless judging/shaming/mocking of the fans, it's lost its purpose.
This is what I was trying to address in the paragraphs about Supernatural, the Whedonverse etc. I myself don't know the exact context either, as I tend to hover on the fringes of fandom myself (in places like the aforementioned Tiger Beatdown). Of course people shouldn't be shamed for enjoying something, but it's been my experience in the few cases that these issues have arisen to be much more along the lines of 'there are possibly some troubling issues relating to race in this text' 'HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A RACIST???', which is something different entirely. There needs to be a space within fandom for people to raise concerns about potentially problematic issues.
Does that make sense?
__________________________________ *To be fair, I used to be one of those people. One of these days I must post the contents of this ridiculously pompous letter I sent the children's books editor of a newspaper about her (slightly critical) review of The Amber Spyglass. It's cringeworthy.
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There was a lot of, "I think you're X if you like Y," type stuff flying around, and yeah, that's not cool. There are a lot of people who can recognize where and why something is problematic and enjoy it anyway. It's one thing to discuss the problems that arise, but when it turns into relentless judging/shaming/mocking of the fans, it's lost its purpose.
This is what I was trying to address in the paragraphs about Supernatural, the Whedonverse etc. I myself don't know the exact context either, as I tend to hover on the fringes of fandom myself (in places like the aforementioned Tiger Beatdown). Of course people shouldn't be shamed for enjoying something, but it's been my experience in the few cases that these issues have arisen to be much more along the lines of 'there are possibly some troubling issues relating to race in this text' 'HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A RACIST???', which is something different entirely. There needs to be a space within fandom for people to raise concerns about potentially problematic issues.
Does that make sense?
__________________________________
*To be fair, I used to be one of those people. One of these days I must post the contents of this ridiculously pompous letter I sent the children's books editor of a newspaper about her (slightly critical) review of The Amber Spyglass. It's cringeworthy.