Canon, fic and rps thoughts
Canon thoughts and how it affects my approach to fic
I see canon as being categorizable in three ways:
Complete -- all of it that there is going to be already exists, even if we don't necessarily have access to all of it (Dr Who Hartnell eps, a new Mozart score discovered, etc). B5, B7. Historical figures, finished series, like that.
A subset of this is 'I am only using Season One (or whatever breakpoint) not the (novels/second season....) fill in the blank. An artificial but not invalid choice, this is not (generally) the 'creators'' choice, but the fan's.
Incomplete/In Process -- the story is still being written/filmed/produced/whatever. The vision is not complete. Jossing is a real possibility. People who are still alive. Thus the book 'The Lord of the Rings' is complete, but the movie version is not.
Incompletable -- harder to define. The Star Trek universe fits the bill for me, as do things like ongoing comics 'universes.' Conflicting storylines, many, many creators, hetero-media formats, things like that that mean if you take a wide view of canon it cannot be reconciled to itself wholly, nor can it be considered 'finished' even if it 'stops'. Soap operas. Dr Who. The Marvel comics 'universe'. Star Wars, with the books and all, may be of this type.
How this affects my own writing and participation --
I tend to prefer work with 'complete' or 'incompletable' canon. (This despite the fact that my primary fandom is TPM -- technically an Incomplete canon. I chose to use the film of TPM only, somewhat informed by the other films, and influenced by a very small subset of the Extended Universe. I don't claim complete consistency :-))
I find that writing about historical people, or stories/scenes/whatever derived from material written by authors no longer with us is more acceptable/comfortable than fic about people currently alive, or derived from non-shared-world stories/series that are still being written (lit-fic). With tv or movies it depends on the specific thing.
RPS makes me uncomfortable most of the time, even (especially) when I happen across one that I like. RPF often makes me uncomfortable, but not always.
I had no problem with any of the Imaginary Cheeseboard stories I read (Galaxy Quest type situations, with actors finding themselves in the characters places, and vice versa).
There is an element of respect involved -- I want to see the original concept worked out to its completion in the best way possible: the creator's own vision as 'truly' as they may make it real. Thus I find very little B5 fic satisfying, and have no need to write any of my own because JMS gave me The Story. Tolkien gave me The Story, and PJ is giving me a whole new version of it. (That hasn't stopped the rabid plot bunny from savaging my ankle, but it is based in extended book-canon, with visuals provided by PJ...). Lucas, on the other hand....
I like to think that I respect the private lives (and I do believe they are entitled to private lives) of the actors and public figures that I admire (and even the ones I don't :-)). I would be horrified and appalled to discover I had been written about, and I had 'do unto others sufficiently drilled in to tweek my conscience on occasion. I recognize that others hold other opinions, and I respect that too.
I am personally uncomfortable with the idea of writing a story about characters created by people I know, unless it gets to a point where it is with their knowledge and consent (you all know who you are), and then it is a kind of co-creation, not derivative in the same sense. I also recognize this as a personal thing, and do not have a problem with people who choose otherwise.
Thoughts? Opinions? Critique of the theory of 3 'kinds' of canon?
I see canon as being categorizable in three ways:
Complete -- all of it that there is going to be already exists, even if we don't necessarily have access to all of it (Dr Who Hartnell eps, a new Mozart score discovered, etc). B5, B7. Historical figures, finished series, like that.
A subset of this is 'I am only using Season One (or whatever breakpoint) not the (novels/second season....) fill in the blank. An artificial but not invalid choice, this is not (generally) the 'creators'' choice, but the fan's.
Incomplete/In Process -- the story is still being written/filmed/produced/whatever. The vision is not complete. Jossing is a real possibility. People who are still alive. Thus the book 'The Lord of the Rings' is complete, but the movie version is not.
Incompletable -- harder to define. The Star Trek universe fits the bill for me, as do things like ongoing comics 'universes.' Conflicting storylines, many, many creators, hetero-media formats, things like that that mean if you take a wide view of canon it cannot be reconciled to itself wholly, nor can it be considered 'finished' even if it 'stops'. Soap operas. Dr Who. The Marvel comics 'universe'. Star Wars, with the books and all, may be of this type.
How this affects my own writing and participation --
I tend to prefer work with 'complete' or 'incompletable' canon. (This despite the fact that my primary fandom is TPM -- technically an Incomplete canon. I chose to use the film of TPM only, somewhat informed by the other films, and influenced by a very small subset of the Extended Universe. I don't claim complete consistency :-))
I find that writing about historical people, or stories/scenes/whatever derived from material written by authors no longer with us is more acceptable/comfortable than fic about people currently alive, or derived from non-shared-world stories/series that are still being written (lit-fic). With tv or movies it depends on the specific thing.
RPS makes me uncomfortable most of the time, even (especially) when I happen across one that I like. RPF often makes me uncomfortable, but not always.
I had no problem with any of the Imaginary Cheeseboard stories I read (Galaxy Quest type situations, with actors finding themselves in the characters places, and vice versa).
There is an element of respect involved -- I want to see the original concept worked out to its completion in the best way possible: the creator's own vision as 'truly' as they may make it real. Thus I find very little B5 fic satisfying, and have no need to write any of my own because JMS gave me The Story. Tolkien gave me The Story, and PJ is giving me a whole new version of it. (That hasn't stopped the rabid plot bunny from savaging my ankle, but it is based in extended book-canon, with visuals provided by PJ...). Lucas, on the other hand....
I like to think that I respect the private lives (and I do believe they are entitled to private lives) of the actors and public figures that I admire (and even the ones I don't :-)). I would be horrified and appalled to discover I had been written about, and I had 'do unto others sufficiently drilled in to tweek my conscience on occasion. I recognize that others hold other opinions, and I respect that too.
I am personally uncomfortable with the idea of writing a story about characters created by people I know, unless it gets to a point where it is with their knowledge and consent (you all know who you are), and then it is a kind of co-creation, not derivative in the same sense. I also recognize this as a personal thing, and do not have a problem with people who choose otherwise.
Thoughts? Opinions? Critique of the theory of 3 'kinds' of canon?