Vidding, fanfic and commercialism

[rdphantom]

So yesterday I posted a rant in my Last.fm journal about Today by The Smashing Pumpkins being used in a Visa commercial, and how I was disturbed by that.  I think my thoughts on that actually apply to fandom "coming out" to the public.

I finally truly understand the whole Fanlib.com fiasco and why that really bothered fans.  It wasn't just an

Comments

[rdphantom]

I'm sure I didn't cover the breadth of reasoning for why someone would vid; there are probably as many reasons as vidders. But whatever reason someone has for vidding it's personal, and that's where the allure comes from, for that person. If you manipulate the outcome you risk dampening the allure inherent in choosing to respond to the source in whatever way feels most inspirational.

I'm not opposed to all commercialism. I do realize that we live in a capitalist society, at least in the US, and the source creators do deserve to be rewarded for coming up with something that captures my imagination so well. If you look at the situation as a totem pole then we the fans are at the bottom, lesser beings than the writers, directors, actors, distribution companies, ect.. But a show only exists if we the fans support it with our money. They need us to continue to exist. What if the relationship is symbiotic, where each party benefits from the existence of the other? In that situation it would be foolish to alienate those that support you by destroying something that motivates them to continue to consume your product.

I don't think fan works hurt the shows we watch or the music we listen to. In fact I think they encourage us to keep watching and to explore other shows. But I see the move to commercialize fan works not as an inherent right so much as a way to make more money for themselves by controlling what we do to make it predictable and acceptable. They may actually pass laws that make fanworks illegal, but that would probably be more detrimental than helpful.

"I think it's important to keep some perspective and remember that our tools consist of somebody else's property... the possibility that I'm the one corrupting the source material through misinterpretation is never far from my mind when it comes to this discussion." I've never been on the other end of this equation so I can't say for sure how I'd feel or react, and I am sensitive to the fact that the creators probably have feelings about what we do. But I think it's a richer world because of the variety of ideas and interpretations the fans provide, and I'd really hate to see that diminished.

Thanks so much for reading and writing back!
RD