Media References to Fanfic, the week ending 2/14/15
I don’t often include Fifty Shades of Grey-related refs; this week, though, they’re impossible to ignore. So, here goes.
For The Boston Globe, Beth Teitell wrote It’s hard to remember, but a few years ago, few people had heard of E.L. James, the former British TV executive who jumped off “Twilight” to write her own story, a kinky fan fiction tale about a billionaire CEO, Christian Grey, and Anastasia Steele, the virginal college student who falls for him.
NPR’s Neda Ulaby discussed the movie’s ficcy origins.
For The West Australian, Kate Emery and Phoebe Wearne wrote The novels started as fan-fiction featuring characters from another blockbuster book series - Stephanie Meyers' Twilight - re-imagined in a BDSM (a broad term that covers bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism) relationship.
In a review for The Telegraph, Tim Robey wrote that the build-up for the film adaptation is Not bad for a book that started out as Twilight fan-fiction, and whose prose style might charitably be described as unspeakable.
For Mirror, Alistair McGeorge reported that Robert Pattinson thinks Fifty Shades of Grey will be 'very different' to Twilight despite fan-fiction roots.
Richard Lawson began a Vanity Fair review What a fun, sexy time young Anastasia Steele is having in Fifty Shades of Grey, director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s surprisingly winning adaptation of the runaway Twilight-fan-fiction-turned-bondage-fantasy novel. And, according to the magazine's Shana Ting Lipton, Literary agents and publishers are scouring fan fiction sites for the next Fifty Shades of Grey.
News Talk 980’s Deborah Shawcross interviewed a random Fan fiction writer [who] hopes 50 Shades brings attention to other authors (and who seemingly knows nothing about 50SoG, BID).
For The Washington Post, Christina Mulligan wrote Aside from saying that “Fifty Shades” is “too smutty” for her tastes, Meyer hasn’t taken any action against E.L. James. (The “Twilight” author has generally not objected to fan fiction based on her novels.) But Meyer never affirmatively granted James a license to write a novel derivative of “Twilight,” either. So “Fifty Shades” may be an infringing derivative work. Copyright protection lasts a long time, and Meyer’s heirs might have different opinions. And, the paper's Alyssa Rosenberg wrote For all the Christian of the novel comes across as a stalker - a characteristic that probably stems from his origins as a fan fiction riff on “Twilight” vampire Edward Cullen - when it comes to the contract, he repeatedly makes clear that he wants Ana to know what she’s getting into.
For the Associated Press, Lindsey Bahr wrote Whether or not you’re one of the 100 million who bought, and presumably read, E L James’ kinky book, the buzz alone surrounding this “Twilight” fan fiction turned international phenomenon is enough to pique the interest of a rock. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is inherently spectacle.
From Emma Green in The Atlantic: The Fifty Shades trilogy is a fantasy born of the Internet age. In 2009, a London television executive named Erika Leonard began writing fan fiction on a website devoted to Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. Well, no. From Amanda Michelle Steiner in People: Fifty Shades of Grey and 9 More Examples of When Fan Fiction Became Blockbusters. And, from Alynda Wheat: What the film gets spot-on is the essence of E.L. James's wildly successful stab at Twilight fan fiction: the frisson of excitement when naïve college senior Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) embarks on an affair with wealthy CEO Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). From Olivia Foster in The Daily Mail: The Duchess of Cambridge becomes a seductress, Rihanna has a lesbian fling and Taylor Swift romances her dancers: The racy fan fiction that makes Fifty Shades look like Tolstoy. From Gina Barreca in The Hartford Courant: “Fifty Shades” is truly a form of residue: It’s what’s left over when you extract the intelligence, wit, energy and originality from a book. The forthcoming movie is based on a book, which itself was based on a blog, which was actually written as fan fiction for a novel called “Twilight” in which feminine subjugation, abjection and erasure of the feminine self are central. And, from Adam Elwell in The Advocate: If you’re the person who read “Twilight” and loved it, and then heard about some hybrid erotica/fan fiction and were thrilled about this movie, then, congratulations: This is everything you’ve ever hoped for.
In a review for The New York Times, A. O. Scott wrote “Fifty Shades” may have begun as “Twilight” fan fiction, but [Director Sam] Taylor-Johnson wittily notes its kinship with “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Omaha World-Herald’s Micah Mertes noted that Its journey from self-published fan fiction to best-seller couldn’t have happened 10 years ago.
The New York Post’s Kyle Smith opined that E.L. James’ novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” began as fan fiction derived from the “Twilight” saga, but based on the movie out today, it appears James had another story in the back of her mind: “Fifty Shades of Grey” is pretty much an R-rated version of “Superman: The Movie.”
Indiana Daily Student’s Madison Hogan wrote that Honestly, if you want to read smut about characters that are carbon copies from another piece of work, you can just log on to Fan Fiction. (Having BTDT, I’m blaming her editor for the end of this sentence.)
In ‘British DIY Store Chain Sends Memo To Prepare Workers For Onslaught Of Demanding ‘Fifty Shades’ Fans’ for The Consumerist, Mary Beth Quirk wrote Though staff were urged to keep the content of the briefing to themselves, apparently someone just couldn’t contain their excitement, as it’s now been shared with the world. If, that is, it’s real and not some hoax designed to make us all giggle about sexy stuff originally written as Twilight fan fiction.
Finally, for TechDirt, Jonathan Band wrote Fifty Shades Of Fair Use.
In other news… in piece for The Guardian, Damien Walter wrote Much of Wattpad’s popularity is based on fan fiction, but after a month sifting through the platform’s original fiction categories I suspect that - while I didn’t find the next Hilary Mantel or Donna Tartt - in popular genres like sci-fi, fantasy and young adult, Wattpad’s best contributors are more than good enough to match their professionally published counterparts.
For Out, Michelle Ehrhardt reported that PBS Talks Korra, Fan Fiction & LGBT Representation.
Lauren Johnson wrote Sour Patch Kids Taps Fan Fiction Writers to Woo Teens on Valentine's Day for Adweek.
From an Otago Daily Times piece on the upcoming Dunedin Fringe Festival by David Loughrey: Show titles range from Crossing Sounds with the Mentalist Collective, to Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die, the story of a control-freak actor, a sex-crazed celebrity obsessive and an anti-social fan-fiction writer.
In a Daily Times piece about Saudi Arabia, Zaair Hussain wrote This is a state that maintains an anti-witchcraft unit. An actual unit exists, in this day and age, to arrest and punish people for the crime of malicious magic, a sentence that should exist nowhere outside terrible Harry Potter fan fiction.
For Nouse, Rosemary Collins wrote, of the upcoming To Kill a Mockingbird sequel by Harper Lee, In some ways, Watchman is a novel of the modern day, where popular fictional franchises often live on in books, films, TV series, comics, games and fan fiction simultaneously.
Finally, Chicago Tribune’s Rex Huppke wrote that Rarely are we as good as we think at juggling work, home, friends, volunteer work, our Star Wars fan fiction blog, the oil painting class we signed up for and our daily 5 a.m. CrossFit class.
For The Boston Globe, Beth Teitell wrote It’s hard to remember, but a few years ago, few people had heard of E.L. James, the former British TV executive who jumped off “Twilight” to write her own story, a kinky fan fiction tale about a billionaire CEO, Christian Grey, and Anastasia Steele, the virginal college student who falls for him.
NPR’s Neda Ulaby discussed the movie’s ficcy origins.
For The West Australian, Kate Emery and Phoebe Wearne wrote The novels started as fan-fiction featuring characters from another blockbuster book series - Stephanie Meyers' Twilight - re-imagined in a BDSM (a broad term that covers bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism) relationship.
In a review for The Telegraph, Tim Robey wrote that the build-up for the film adaptation is Not bad for a book that started out as Twilight fan-fiction, and whose prose style might charitably be described as unspeakable.
For Mirror, Alistair McGeorge reported that Robert Pattinson thinks Fifty Shades of Grey will be 'very different' to Twilight despite fan-fiction roots.
Richard Lawson began a Vanity Fair review What a fun, sexy time young Anastasia Steele is having in Fifty Shades of Grey, director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s surprisingly winning adaptation of the runaway Twilight-fan-fiction-turned-bondage-fantasy novel. And, according to the magazine's Shana Ting Lipton, Literary agents and publishers are scouring fan fiction sites for the next Fifty Shades of Grey.
News Talk 980’s Deborah Shawcross interviewed a random Fan fiction writer [who] hopes 50 Shades brings attention to other authors (and who seemingly knows nothing about 50SoG, BID).
For The Washington Post, Christina Mulligan wrote Aside from saying that “Fifty Shades” is “too smutty” for her tastes, Meyer hasn’t taken any action against E.L. James. (The “Twilight” author has generally not objected to fan fiction based on her novels.) But Meyer never affirmatively granted James a license to write a novel derivative of “Twilight,” either. So “Fifty Shades” may be an infringing derivative work. Copyright protection lasts a long time, and Meyer’s heirs might have different opinions. And, the paper's Alyssa Rosenberg wrote For all the Christian of the novel comes across as a stalker - a characteristic that probably stems from his origins as a fan fiction riff on “Twilight” vampire Edward Cullen - when it comes to the contract, he repeatedly makes clear that he wants Ana to know what she’s getting into.
For the Associated Press, Lindsey Bahr wrote Whether or not you’re one of the 100 million who bought, and presumably read, E L James’ kinky book, the buzz alone surrounding this “Twilight” fan fiction turned international phenomenon is enough to pique the interest of a rock. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is inherently spectacle.
From Emma Green in The Atlantic: The Fifty Shades trilogy is a fantasy born of the Internet age. In 2009, a London television executive named Erika Leonard began writing fan fiction on a website devoted to Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. Well, no. From Amanda Michelle Steiner in People: Fifty Shades of Grey and 9 More Examples of When Fan Fiction Became Blockbusters. And, from Alynda Wheat: What the film gets spot-on is the essence of E.L. James's wildly successful stab at Twilight fan fiction: the frisson of excitement when naïve college senior Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) embarks on an affair with wealthy CEO Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). From Olivia Foster in The Daily Mail: The Duchess of Cambridge becomes a seductress, Rihanna has a lesbian fling and Taylor Swift romances her dancers: The racy fan fiction that makes Fifty Shades look like Tolstoy. From Gina Barreca in The Hartford Courant: “Fifty Shades” is truly a form of residue: It’s what’s left over when you extract the intelligence, wit, energy and originality from a book. The forthcoming movie is based on a book, which itself was based on a blog, which was actually written as fan fiction for a novel called “Twilight” in which feminine subjugation, abjection and erasure of the feminine self are central. And, from Adam Elwell in The Advocate: If you’re the person who read “Twilight” and loved it, and then heard about some hybrid erotica/fan fiction and were thrilled about this movie, then, congratulations: This is everything you’ve ever hoped for.
In a review for The New York Times, A. O. Scott wrote “Fifty Shades” may have begun as “Twilight” fan fiction, but [Director Sam] Taylor-Johnson wittily notes its kinship with “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Omaha World-Herald’s Micah Mertes noted that Its journey from self-published fan fiction to best-seller couldn’t have happened 10 years ago.
The New York Post’s Kyle Smith opined that E.L. James’ novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” began as fan fiction derived from the “Twilight” saga, but based on the movie out today, it appears James had another story in the back of her mind: “Fifty Shades of Grey” is pretty much an R-rated version of “Superman: The Movie.”
Indiana Daily Student’s Madison Hogan wrote that Honestly, if you want to read smut about characters that are carbon copies from another piece of work, you can just log on to Fan Fiction. (Having BTDT, I’m blaming her editor for the end of this sentence.)
In ‘British DIY Store Chain Sends Memo To Prepare Workers For Onslaught Of Demanding ‘Fifty Shades’ Fans’ for The Consumerist, Mary Beth Quirk wrote Though staff were urged to keep the content of the briefing to themselves, apparently someone just couldn’t contain their excitement, as it’s now been shared with the world. If, that is, it’s real and not some hoax designed to make us all giggle about sexy stuff originally written as Twilight fan fiction.
Finally, for TechDirt, Jonathan Band wrote Fifty Shades Of Fair Use.
In other news… in piece for The Guardian, Damien Walter wrote Much of Wattpad’s popularity is based on fan fiction, but after a month sifting through the platform’s original fiction categories I suspect that - while I didn’t find the next Hilary Mantel or Donna Tartt - in popular genres like sci-fi, fantasy and young adult, Wattpad’s best contributors are more than good enough to match their professionally published counterparts.
For Out, Michelle Ehrhardt reported that PBS Talks Korra, Fan Fiction & LGBT Representation.
Lauren Johnson wrote Sour Patch Kids Taps Fan Fiction Writers to Woo Teens on Valentine's Day for Adweek.
From an Otago Daily Times piece on the upcoming Dunedin Fringe Festival by David Loughrey: Show titles range from Crossing Sounds with the Mentalist Collective, to Benedict Cumberbatch Must Die, the story of a control-freak actor, a sex-crazed celebrity obsessive and an anti-social fan-fiction writer.
In a Daily Times piece about Saudi Arabia, Zaair Hussain wrote This is a state that maintains an anti-witchcraft unit. An actual unit exists, in this day and age, to arrest and punish people for the crime of malicious magic, a sentence that should exist nowhere outside terrible Harry Potter fan fiction.
For Nouse, Rosemary Collins wrote, of the upcoming To Kill a Mockingbird sequel by Harper Lee, In some ways, Watchman is a novel of the modern day, where popular fictional franchises often live on in books, films, TV series, comics, games and fan fiction simultaneously.
Finally, Chicago Tribune’s Rex Huppke wrote that Rarely are we as good as we think at juggling work, home, friends, volunteer work, our Star Wars fan fiction blog, the oil painting class we signed up for and our daily 5 a.m. CrossFit class.