Fan Fiction Friday
That's the basic concept of Fan Fiction Fridays (FFF), promising lots of hilarity. Because:
"for all the glories of this nerd age, we need to remember that there's a segment of nerd-dom that never will - nor should - be mainstream;"
This time it was a Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (Captain America/Ironman) fic about which the io9 blogger said:
"You want to write about Captain America and Iron Man boinking their brains out? Fine. Whatever. You want to write about Cap and Iron Man indulging in illegal fetishes, or kids' cartoon characters engaging in any kind of depravity? That's getting into creepy territory."
Hm.
I find the general tone of that column uncomfortable.
I know everyone in fandom has a different approach to it, but to me fanfiction is essentially porn for women. That doesn't excuse horribly bad fic :) but when I look at porn magazines the photographer's artistic techniques are not really my first concern. It's stuff I wank to. Now, to be good wanking material, the piece I am reading, should not be distractingly bad, but it doesn't need to be pulitzerprize-worthy either.
It's the same with porn magazine. No one needs first class photography, but if the chicks in that magazine look like zombies, and the guys doing them like Jabba The Hut it's not so much about quality control: it just gets in the way of wanking (except if you like zombies of course) and is distracting.
Mainstream porn as it usually exists in the context of a male-dominated society is geared towards the appetites of men, and as such I find most of it ... uninspiring.
Of course fan fiction can be much more. There are lots of fics written by incredibly talented writers, and some of them have more talent than the highly paid authors of the original books.
It's not always about erotica, so I am not saying that's all there is, in a general sense. It's just my personal approach: I am here because of the sex.
Anything else, like good story telling, characterisation, etc., is a bonus, but I won't read a fic just because of good story telling or great characterisation. I read it mainly because of the action. (Sorry.)
Maybe this is why I feel slightly bewildered when fan fiction is being mocked. I don't buy The Penthouse but I don't mock it either. Also taking only a few examples and then mocking the entire genre is a little cheap. Behind all that fingerpointing and laughing is also a very weird stance about feminine sexuality. The readership of written porn, erotica mostly consists of women and somehow that makes people uncomfortable. It's okay when Dad hides his lesbian porn mags under his bed. It's weird when Ma reads Slash on her Kindle.
The author does have a disclaimer ("I actually don't hate fan fiction. It's not my thing, but I'll fully admit that there's plenty of good fanfic out there.") but it reads half hearted and a bit insincere, which may be, because he uses a negative. Saying "Hey, I am not lying" just sounds a lot more insincere than "I am honest".
So, what are your thoughts on FFF?
ETA: Edited for judgemental remarks of my own making. Because, really, who am I to judge?
"for all the glories of this nerd age, we need to remember that there's a segment of nerd-dom that never will - nor should - be mainstream;"
This time it was a Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (Captain America/Ironman) fic about which the io9 blogger said:
"You want to write about Captain America and Iron Man boinking their brains out? Fine. Whatever. You want to write about Cap and Iron Man indulging in illegal fetishes, or kids' cartoon characters engaging in any kind of depravity? That's getting into creepy territory."
Hm.
I find the general tone of that column uncomfortable.
I know everyone in fandom has a different approach to it, but to me fanfiction is essentially porn for women. That doesn't excuse horribly bad fic :) but when I look at porn magazines the photographer's artistic techniques are not really my first concern. It's stuff I wank to. Now, to be good wanking material, the piece I am reading, should not be distractingly bad, but it doesn't need to be pulitzerprize-worthy either.
It's the same with porn magazine. No one needs first class photography, but if the chicks in that magazine look like zombies, and the guys doing them like Jabba The Hut it's not so much about quality control: it just gets in the way of wanking (except if you like zombies of course) and is distracting.
Mainstream porn as it usually exists in the context of a male-dominated society is geared towards the appetites of men, and as such I find most of it ... uninspiring.
Of course fan fiction can be much more. There are lots of fics written by incredibly talented writers, and some of them have more talent than the highly paid authors of the original books.
It's not always about erotica, so I am not saying that's all there is, in a general sense. It's just my personal approach: I am here because of the sex.
Anything else, like good story telling, characterisation, etc., is a bonus, but I won't read a fic just because of good story telling or great characterisation. I read it mainly because of the action. (Sorry.)
Maybe this is why I feel slightly bewildered when fan fiction is being mocked. I don't buy The Penthouse but I don't mock it either. Also taking only a few examples and then mocking the entire genre is a little cheap. Behind all that fingerpointing and laughing is also a very weird stance about feminine sexuality. The readership of written porn, erotica mostly consists of women and somehow that makes people uncomfortable. It's okay when Dad hides his lesbian porn mags under his bed. It's weird when Ma reads Slash on her Kindle.
The author does have a disclaimer ("I actually don't hate fan fiction. It's not my thing, but I'll fully admit that there's plenty of good fanfic out there.") but it reads half hearted and a bit insincere, which may be, because he uses a negative. Saying "Hey, I am not lying" just sounds a lot more insincere than "I am honest".
So, what are your thoughts on FFF?
ETA: Edited for judgemental remarks of my own making. Because, really, who am I to judge?