Comments | sabinelagrande: I'm proctoring. And by proctoring, I mean writing meta.

sabinelagrande

I'm proctoring. And by proctoring, I mean writing meta.

Dec 12, 2009 12:50

So here's the thing: I just can't read RPF.

( This is also, sadly, why there will never be a cheery con picture of me and my Space Boyfriend )

fandom, rpf, recommendations, meta

Comments 7

deelaundry December 12 2009, 19:07:39 UTC

My thoughts on yaoi RPF, let me show you them.

I enjoy RPF without ever once thinking of it as real person fic. I don't know the real people, and don't expect writers of RPF to know them either. (In fact, if the writer did know the real people, I would be horrified.)

For me, it's about fantasies about the persona that's presented to the public, not the actual person. The most blatant example of this is Eminem. He's clear that Eminem is not who he is -- that while fans may have some claim to Eminem, he considers them to have no claim to Marshall Mathers. Of course, he then loses credibility by referring to his wife (ex-wife? I've lost track) and daughter by their actual names instead of giving them personas, but my point remains.

sabinelagrande December 12 2009, 19:12:40 UTC

I can definitely understand that- which is sort of why I can understand bandfic more readily than actorfic. I think part of the thing is that I've never been in a fandom for anybody like that, who cultivated a strong public persona. Like, the SGA actors, for example, are mostly people who just kind of roll out of bed and make TV shows. And I know that the image of not having an image is also an image? But that many levels of complexity just make my brain ache a little.

gaffsie December 12 2009, 19:18:43 UTC

I can read RPF without any problems, because to me it's not really about the real persons. It's just fanfiction about actors' public images. I could never go take my picture with an actor at a con though. That's where *I* draw the line, because that would be interacting with the person behind the fantasy, and that would just be too weird for words.

aliaras December 12 2009, 20:23:55 UTC

It's like how I stopped being able to listen to the radio when I was a music major.

Oh man, I am trying *so hard* not to make this happen with me, sci-fi, and my physics major :(

almostnever December 13 2009, 04:47:46 UTC

I have this weird exception in my brain for the Mythbusters for some reason? I don't know why.

Interesting. Do you watch any other reality shows? Because maybe it's because Mythbusters is a reality show, so your experience of Jamie and Adam and the build team comes through something that's structured and edited to portray the kind of consistent personalities that you see fictional characters having and real people lacking.

(I think you may know some more complicated real people than me, though, because when I think about people I know... in broad strokes at least, they seem pretty consistent.)

sabinelagrande December 13 2009, 05:33:13 UTC

You know, I've been thinking about it, and I think that must be a large part of it. Like, I assume they must have lives outside of the show, cause I've seen Adam in real life, and somebody certainly knocked Kari up? But I have no real knowledge of or interest in it. For all I know, Jamie powers them all off at night and puts them in big tupperware bins labeled "Co-Host" and "Employees - Build Team".

(I honestly don't know if that's a me thing or not? I have mental drama that makes it hard for me to see people as anything but inconsistent. So my perceptions of this type of shit are usually a little... off, and I usually have no idea. ::handwavy::)

almostnever December 13 2009, 06:34:47 UTC

For all I know, Jamie powers them all off at night and puts them in big tupperware bins labeled "Co-Host" and "Employees - Build Team".

Ha! You should float that idea over at Myth Confirmed-- with the way Thingswithwings and Toft are tearing it up over there, chances are one of 'em will do a robot AU masterpiece by Valentines Day.