Hugo on the Brain and the Nature of Fandom
Catherynne M. Valente has weighed in on the Puppies and the Hugos this morning (edited to add: apparently this came out awhile ago but was being passed around FB yesterday). I haven't read all the words because I'm suffering a bit of Hugo neepery burnout. That doesn't mean I've stopped thinking about it. In fact, I'm having some thoughts about it that are probably... I'm not sure what, but no one on my "side" is talking about it as far as I can tell.
Obviously, everything about what the SP/RP did to this year's Hugo was wrong with wrong sauce. But, I've been thinking a lot about why anyone sympathize with them, ever, under any circumstances. I don't think it's as simple as a lot of people want to paint it. It's super-easy to decide the whole lot of them are racist (and in Beale/Vox's case, that's not at all unfounded.) But, if that were the only motivator, I don't see how they'd have quite as much traction. Okay, maybe I'm being naive here. Clearly race relations are broken in the US, so maybe that's enough to fuel this kind of thing... but, okay, really? I just want to talk about ANOTHER aspect.
In Larry Correia's back and forth with George R. R. Martin, Martin vehemently denies that there are 'cool kids' in SF/F. He's wrong. Because, of course there are. Whenever you get a group of people together, cliques happen. That's just the nature of humanity and group dynamics.
Correia whines a lot about feeling shut out, and, while I think it all amounts to a load of man pain, I actually sympathize with him a little, on a basic human level.
I GET feeling left out of that inner circle, particularly at somewhere as huge as a WorldCON. I spent all of 1998 Baltimore WorldCON feeling like I was forever just one step from the parties everyone was talking about the next day. You'd go to a panel the next morning and hear Gardner Dozois laughing about how Warren Lapine shot a pickle out his nose (or visa versa) and I'd think: What? Where? When? How come *I* wasn't invited!??
Baltimore, it should be noted, was particularly egregious that year because of some corkage law or other that messed up how and where alcohol could be served and so there were A LOT of rumors of "secret pro parities" where the free beer flowed freely. I was also, it turned out, just on the verge of making my first pro sale, but not there yet.*
But, this happened to me once I was established, too. In fact, the WorldCON I felt the worst at was the most recent ChiCON in 2012, when I had, what, fourteen books under my belt? I was on paneling and, therefor, very much part of the "in" crowd. I also got my very first ever invitation to a secret pro party (a party I later referred to as the f*cking boat) which was a cruise on the Chicago canals/out into Lake Michigan hosted by Random House (which was not even my publisher.) I have never felt more uncool, than I did at that WorldCON, despite everything, and it all had to do with the fact that my career was starting to sour. But, regardless, I felt left out and all the things that Correia complains about (except no one shouted at me that I was a liar and a misogynist, perhaps for obvious reasons. Though honestly? I might have believed everyone hated me, my mood was so foul. I felt very picked on during the one panel I was on, because it was about serial fiction and all my series had failed.)
Okay, so you see? We all feel this.
It's especially maddening when you're just starting out, because you finally broke in only to find that there's still barriers to being in the spotlight, and we ALL want to be in the spotlight.
Look, we're all divas. Correia is just saying out loud what lot of us feel: boo hoo, it's NOT all about me! (Pro tip: most of us don't say it out loud, because we realize how whiny and self-centered it makes us look.)
BUT... yes, okay? I actually sympathize a little with this. To say there aren't cool kid cliques is disingenuous too. There just are.
Also, this feeling of being shut out of WorldCON culture something that has happened to people on the left, too. Not that long ago (but apparently outside of the collective memory), there was a huge controversy around the London WorldCON about a cliquish inner circle of white guys (and GRRM is even pictured!)
Here's the thing I want to say about this: con culture is a thing. It's a thing everyone needs to learn how to negotiate.
I've even talked about this idea before on this blog because I came across someone on Twitter complaining about feeling left out/unwelcomed at a con. The thing I said to that person (who was decidedly on the left), is that we're all responsible for our own con experience. It's not the con's job to make you feel welcome. You have to learn the culture of cons and figure out how to fit in. Some conventions even have panels on the opening days ABOUT how to make inroads and make friends and be involved in a way that will let you leave the con feeling like you were part of it in a positive way. I was lucky because we have a lot of local cons to "practice" on, some of them are HUGE, so you can get something very akin to a WorldCON experience. I know for a fact that I bounced in and out of the first con I ever attended, which was a WisCON: 1984, when Elizabeth A. Lynn was one of the Guests of Honor.
I did that con and maybe hit an early MiniCON and thought, "Eh, not much for me here." It wasn't until much later when I was starting a writing career did I go back and really work to make in-roads by volunteering for panelling, etc.
TBF, the local fan scene is such that you did have to kind of know the right people or at least be known to them. I somehow got on Eric Heideman's radar, and that was panelling for me for life.
So, fandom as insider-y? Hella yeah.
Does it mean the Hugos are broken? I don't think so. Yeah, it's possible they've been out of touch, if only because WorldCON members are aging, etc., but as Cheryl Morgan talks about in her take on Puppygate-Winners and Losers, in many ways the Puppies have brought a renewed interest in the Hugos that you couldn't have bought and paid for, if you'd tried.
----
*Out of curiosity, I went to see which WorldCONs I've attended and they are: 1998 BucCONeer (Baltimore), 2000 ChiCON (Chicago), 2004 NoreasCON (Boston), and 2012 ChiCON (Chicago).
Obviously, everything about what the SP/RP did to this year's Hugo was wrong with wrong sauce. But, I've been thinking a lot about why anyone sympathize with them, ever, under any circumstances. I don't think it's as simple as a lot of people want to paint it. It's super-easy to decide the whole lot of them are racist (and in Beale/Vox's case, that's not at all unfounded.) But, if that were the only motivator, I don't see how they'd have quite as much traction. Okay, maybe I'm being naive here. Clearly race relations are broken in the US, so maybe that's enough to fuel this kind of thing... but, okay, really? I just want to talk about ANOTHER aspect.
In Larry Correia's back and forth with George R. R. Martin, Martin vehemently denies that there are 'cool kids' in SF/F. He's wrong. Because, of course there are. Whenever you get a group of people together, cliques happen. That's just the nature of humanity and group dynamics.
Correia whines a lot about feeling shut out, and, while I think it all amounts to a load of man pain, I actually sympathize with him a little, on a basic human level.
I GET feeling left out of that inner circle, particularly at somewhere as huge as a WorldCON. I spent all of 1998 Baltimore WorldCON feeling like I was forever just one step from the parties everyone was talking about the next day. You'd go to a panel the next morning and hear Gardner Dozois laughing about how Warren Lapine shot a pickle out his nose (or visa versa) and I'd think: What? Where? When? How come *I* wasn't invited!??
Baltimore, it should be noted, was particularly egregious that year because of some corkage law or other that messed up how and where alcohol could be served and so there were A LOT of rumors of "secret pro parities" where the free beer flowed freely. I was also, it turned out, just on the verge of making my first pro sale, but not there yet.*
But, this happened to me once I was established, too. In fact, the WorldCON I felt the worst at was the most recent ChiCON in 2012, when I had, what, fourteen books under my belt? I was on paneling and, therefor, very much part of the "in" crowd. I also got my very first ever invitation to a secret pro party (a party I later referred to as the f*cking boat) which was a cruise on the Chicago canals/out into Lake Michigan hosted by Random House (which was not even my publisher.) I have never felt more uncool, than I did at that WorldCON, despite everything, and it all had to do with the fact that my career was starting to sour. But, regardless, I felt left out and all the things that Correia complains about (except no one shouted at me that I was a liar and a misogynist, perhaps for obvious reasons. Though honestly? I might have believed everyone hated me, my mood was so foul. I felt very picked on during the one panel I was on, because it was about serial fiction and all my series had failed.)
Okay, so you see? We all feel this.
It's especially maddening when you're just starting out, because you finally broke in only to find that there's still barriers to being in the spotlight, and we ALL want to be in the spotlight.
Look, we're all divas. Correia is just saying out loud what lot of us feel: boo hoo, it's NOT all about me! (Pro tip: most of us don't say it out loud, because we realize how whiny and self-centered it makes us look.)
BUT... yes, okay? I actually sympathize a little with this. To say there aren't cool kid cliques is disingenuous too. There just are.
Also, this feeling of being shut out of WorldCON culture something that has happened to people on the left, too. Not that long ago (but apparently outside of the collective memory), there was a huge controversy around the London WorldCON about a cliquish inner circle of white guys (and GRRM is even pictured!)
Here's the thing I want to say about this: con culture is a thing. It's a thing everyone needs to learn how to negotiate.
I've even talked about this idea before on this blog because I came across someone on Twitter complaining about feeling left out/unwelcomed at a con. The thing I said to that person (who was decidedly on the left), is that we're all responsible for our own con experience. It's not the con's job to make you feel welcome. You have to learn the culture of cons and figure out how to fit in. Some conventions even have panels on the opening days ABOUT how to make inroads and make friends and be involved in a way that will let you leave the con feeling like you were part of it in a positive way. I was lucky because we have a lot of local cons to "practice" on, some of them are HUGE, so you can get something very akin to a WorldCON experience. I know for a fact that I bounced in and out of the first con I ever attended, which was a WisCON: 1984, when Elizabeth A. Lynn was one of the Guests of Honor.
I did that con and maybe hit an early MiniCON and thought, "Eh, not much for me here." It wasn't until much later when I was starting a writing career did I go back and really work to make in-roads by volunteering for panelling, etc.
TBF, the local fan scene is such that you did have to kind of know the right people or at least be known to them. I somehow got on Eric Heideman's radar, and that was panelling for me for life.
So, fandom as insider-y? Hella yeah.
Does it mean the Hugos are broken? I don't think so. Yeah, it's possible they've been out of touch, if only because WorldCON members are aging, etc., but as Cheryl Morgan talks about in her take on Puppygate-Winners and Losers, in many ways the Puppies have brought a renewed interest in the Hugos that you couldn't have bought and paid for, if you'd tried.
----
*Out of curiosity, I went to see which WorldCONs I've attended and they are: 1998 BucCONeer (Baltimore), 2000 ChiCON (Chicago), 2004 NoreasCON (Boston), and 2012 ChiCON (Chicago).