when fandom breaks your heart
The Writer Who Made Me To Love Comics Taught Me To Hate Them
Just finished reading this opinion piece from Polygon about Frank Miller and his history of writing big comics but also how, as the years went on, it became clear he had issues with women, among other things.
I think this is an issue many of us in fandom, especially women and LGBTQ people, deal with all the time. We fall in love with a part fandom as a kid, we adore it and then, as we get older, we start to see the flaws and the cracks. Sometimes, we can shrug it off but other times it really begins to hurt our ability to enjoy those original works and things to come. We keep following the fandom, but in our heart of hearts, we are a little disgusted that we ever liked it in the first place.
I think the fandom I am most forgiving to and I am willing to turn the other cheek is probably the original 'Star Wars'. I think it is because it relies so heavily on the hero myth, I let it get away with things and because it was the "first" movie of it's kind (I'm not so nice to the prequels, enough time had passed for things to be updated.) There will always be the "metal bikini problem", among other things, but in the end I can still watch Star Wars and love it.
But I've definitely started using a keener eye when looking at representation of any kind in my stories now. I haven't revisited too many things from my past to see how they fair, though I do remember starting to show Sylvia 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and getting turned off when they started to call each other 'fags' anytime they showed affection for each other.
I'm sure I could think of more if I ponder for awhile. What about you guys? Any writers, actors, musicians that you were a big fan of as a kid but then you found out more and became aware that the person behind the stories wasn't all that great?
Just finished reading this opinion piece from Polygon about Frank Miller and his history of writing big comics but also how, as the years went on, it became clear he had issues with women, among other things.
I think this is an issue many of us in fandom, especially women and LGBTQ people, deal with all the time. We fall in love with a part fandom as a kid, we adore it and then, as we get older, we start to see the flaws and the cracks. Sometimes, we can shrug it off but other times it really begins to hurt our ability to enjoy those original works and things to come. We keep following the fandom, but in our heart of hearts, we are a little disgusted that we ever liked it in the first place.
I think the fandom I am most forgiving to and I am willing to turn the other cheek is probably the original 'Star Wars'. I think it is because it relies so heavily on the hero myth, I let it get away with things and because it was the "first" movie of it's kind (I'm not so nice to the prequels, enough time had passed for things to be updated.) There will always be the "metal bikini problem", among other things, but in the end I can still watch Star Wars and love it.
But I've definitely started using a keener eye when looking at representation of any kind in my stories now. I haven't revisited too many things from my past to see how they fair, though I do remember starting to show Sylvia 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and getting turned off when they started to call each other 'fags' anytime they showed affection for each other.
I'm sure I could think of more if I ponder for awhile. What about you guys? Any writers, actors, musicians that you were a big fan of as a kid but then you found out more and became aware that the person behind the stories wasn't all that great?