a million times a trillion more (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dolorosa_12) wrote2011-06-27 03:05 pm
dolorosa_12) wrote2011-06-27 03:05 pm
For great (social) justice!
This rant has been building in me for quite some time. Three things, however, convinced me to finally write it.
First is the increased number of secrets posted on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fandomsecrets along the lines of 'social justice types are ruining fandom'.
Second is the number of people I've encountered over the years who react to any criticism of their favourite books/films etc with 'But it's just a story!!!!! Why can't you just ENJOY it?!?!'
Finally, every so often I'll be talking to my boyfriend about a particular book or series or whatever, and he'll say something like, 'I don't know how you can enjoy anything if you're always thinking about these sorts of things [meaning a combination of social justice issues and general thematic concerns]'.
I think he at least gets it now: that is precisely how I enjoy all texts. I can no more switch off that part of my brain than I could give up breathing. But I must confess that to the first two issues, I can say little more than 'huh?' Fandom, to me, seems to demonstrate that everything is interesting or enjoyable to at least someone. You like kids' tv shows from the early 90s? There's a comm for that. You want to make icons of a particularly obscure anime, or discuss continuity issues in Marvel comics or write porn about what band members get up to on tour? You'll fit right in somewhere. There's a corner of the internet for those who like men in tights, vampires who sparkle and knights who say 'Ni'. And if there isn't, you can make one.
But if everything is worthy of enjoyment or interest nothing is above - or beneath - criticism. And, shock horror, it is perfectly possible to like something without thinking it's a paragon of perfection. In fact, sometimes it can be more interesting to like things in spite of their flaws.
I enjoy some pretty problematic stuff. I love Supernatural, which has almost parodic levels of sexism, racism and the odd bit of homophobia. All its female characters end up either evil or fridged. Every PoC is evil. It is quintessential tale of a couple of White Dudes with Issues. And yet I find those White Dudes with Issues completely compelling. I love what it says about family, about sibling relationships, about how to be good (and, more importantly, to do good) in a bad world, about the tricksiness of words, about how to communicate when you mistrust the slipperiness of language and feelings. But the part of my brain that allows me to see and enjoy all these positive and interesting themes in Supernatural also enables me to see that there is much in the series that is deeply, deeply wrong and in need of criticism.
I see no contradiction in being able to adore Firefly for the way its characters talk, for the beauty in the relationship between Simon and River and for its story of a family that is made, not born, while at the same time taking issue with a universe dominated culturally by the US and China with no Asians, and being absolutely disgusted with everything to do with the characterisation of Inara. I can admit that Buffy got me through highschool and is to a large degree responsible for my feminism while at the same time acknowledging that there are things that happened in the series that (rightly) hurt a lot of queer people.
It is possible to love His Dark Materials because Pullman's language is beautiful and its characters are compelling and it gave me the words as a child to articulate my own atheism, while also noting that Pullman's depiction of organised religion is a parodic interpretation of the worst excesses of Catholicism. It's possible to enjoy The Vampire Diaries for its fantastic portrayal of female friendship, because Elena is just awesome and the series goes where Twilight feared to tread, while at the same time thinking that there's some dodgy stuff going on in terms of race and don't even get me started on the character of Damon.
Because nothing is 'just' a story. Stories do matter.
If you don't want social justice getting in the way of your squee, if thinking with some nuance about stories is so annoying that you can't enjoy them, well, fair enough. It's perfectly easy to avoid. Stay in the corner of fandom that suits you best. If you see someone criticising your beloved tv series, film or book, walk away. The internet is big enough for all of us.
But don't you dare tell me I'm ruining fandom by talking about these things, that I can't enjoy texts unless I encounter them passively without criticism. To me, the unexamined text is not worth reading (or watching). That's just how it works for me. You stick to your corner of the sandbox, and I'll stick to mine.
First is the increased number of secrets posted on
fandomsecrets along the lines of 'social justice types are ruining fandom'.Second is the number of people I've encountered over the years who react to any criticism of their favourite books/films etc with 'But it's just a story!!!!! Why can't you just ENJOY it?!?!'
Finally, every so often I'll be talking to my boyfriend about a particular book or series or whatever, and he'll say something like, 'I don't know how you can enjoy anything if you're always thinking about these sorts of things [meaning a combination of social justice issues and general thematic concerns]'.
I think he at least gets it now: that is precisely how I enjoy all texts. I can no more switch off that part of my brain than I could give up breathing. But I must confess that to the first two issues, I can say little more than 'huh?' Fandom, to me, seems to demonstrate that everything is interesting or enjoyable to at least someone. You like kids' tv shows from the early 90s? There's a comm for that. You want to make icons of a particularly obscure anime, or discuss continuity issues in Marvel comics or write porn about what band members get up to on tour? You'll fit right in somewhere. There's a corner of the internet for those who like men in tights, vampires who sparkle and knights who say 'Ni'. And if there isn't, you can make one.
But if everything is worthy of enjoyment or interest nothing is above - or beneath - criticism. And, shock horror, it is perfectly possible to like something without thinking it's a paragon of perfection. In fact, sometimes it can be more interesting to like things in spite of their flaws.
I enjoy some pretty problematic stuff. I love Supernatural, which has almost parodic levels of sexism, racism and the odd bit of homophobia. All its female characters end up either evil or fridged. Every PoC is evil. It is quintessential tale of a couple of White Dudes with Issues. And yet I find those White Dudes with Issues completely compelling. I love what it says about family, about sibling relationships, about how to be good (and, more importantly, to do good) in a bad world, about the tricksiness of words, about how to communicate when you mistrust the slipperiness of language and feelings. But the part of my brain that allows me to see and enjoy all these positive and interesting themes in Supernatural also enables me to see that there is much in the series that is deeply, deeply wrong and in need of criticism.
I see no contradiction in being able to adore Firefly for the way its characters talk, for the beauty in the relationship between Simon and River and for its story of a family that is made, not born, while at the same time taking issue with a universe dominated culturally by the US and China with no Asians, and being absolutely disgusted with everything to do with the characterisation of Inara. I can admit that Buffy got me through highschool and is to a large degree responsible for my feminism while at the same time acknowledging that there are things that happened in the series that (rightly) hurt a lot of queer people.
It is possible to love His Dark Materials because Pullman's language is beautiful and its characters are compelling and it gave me the words as a child to articulate my own atheism, while also noting that Pullman's depiction of organised religion is a parodic interpretation of the worst excesses of Catholicism. It's possible to enjoy The Vampire Diaries for its fantastic portrayal of female friendship, because Elena is just awesome and the series goes where Twilight feared to tread, while at the same time thinking that there's some dodgy stuff going on in terms of race and don't even get me started on the character of Damon.
Because nothing is 'just' a story. Stories do matter.
If you don't want social justice getting in the way of your squee, if thinking with some nuance about stories is so annoying that you can't enjoy them, well, fair enough. It's perfectly easy to avoid. Stay in the corner of fandom that suits you best. If you see someone criticising your beloved tv series, film or book, walk away. The internet is big enough for all of us.
But don't you dare tell me I'm ruining fandom by talking about these things, that I can't enjoy texts unless I encounter them passively without criticism. To me, the unexamined text is not worth reading (or watching). That's just how it works for me. You stick to your corner of the sandbox, and I'll stick to mine.
no subject
On the other hand, in regards to f!s and the SJ-wank? That's pushing it way, way past the boundaries of acceptable. 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. I'm not an active participator in fandom anymore, so I don't know what exactly the complaints are referencing, but if I had to guess, I'd assume that they're talking about the shit-stirring trolls that are using social justice issues as a front. If they're bitching about civil discussions of problematic themes...I have no words. There's no reason these things shouldn't be talked about.
no subject
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.
no subject
One thing that came to mind when I read your post was Mark Reads (http://markreads.net/reviews/)/Watches (http://markwatches.net/reviews/), because he takes into account a lot of social justice issues when he reviews things, and the entire site's heavily moderated to encourage civil discussion. You might enjoy his stuff :)
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One example that gets harped on incessantly is Orihime in Bleach. Yes, she's widely hated, but for some reason actual FANS of her are not allowed to criticize her or point out her flaws. Fans of other characters can criticize those characters, even to the point of outright insulting them. But when it comes to Orihime, if one is calling her anything short of a perfect, pure-hearted fairy princess who NEVER MAKES MISTAKES, one is labeled a hater and a basher. It irritates me so much. The character is interesting because she's flawed, but apparently "true" fans can only sit around talking about how cute she is while eating donuts, never anything about how her actions have changed her character for better or worse.
Sorry for the added rant.
no subject
I don't read or watch Bleach, although oddly enough I went through a phase of reading a lot of Bleach fanfic last year, so I am sort of dimly aware of the issues with Orihime. It's weird how she's the only one who can't be criticised (although I think there are shipping issues that affect this, am I right?). It seems that in many fandoms there's this really divisive character who creates drama like this (I'm thinking of Castiel in SPN, for example), and to be honest it's kind of depressing.
I think it's possible to like (and even love) something while recognising its flaws, but I think some fans have yet to make this connection.