ignorance is not an excuse. ever.

[that_september]

Has anyone else been following the fall-out that has resulted from the spn_j2_bigbang  fic Caught Between the Earth and SkyThis isn't just a fandom issue. It doesn't matter if you're in Supernatural fandom, if you like fanfic, or if you know what J2 is. This something that must be discussed by everyone, because it's a problem that arises in writing and movies

Comments

[sonni89]

Holy shit. I'm not into this fandom at all, but I just read some of this and.... seriously? The amount of racism in this is ridiculous. I can't believe it took a long time for people to call the author out on it, and that not even her beta realized what a bad idea this was.
Seriously, though? I don't even have words. This is just too horrific.

[that_september]

It's really quite horrifying.

I'm with you--I can't believe no one involved in the creation of this realized it was a bad idea. I take comfort in the fact that the author and artist both issued apologies, but still.

*sigh*

[deternot]

Oh god, I saw this on sf_drama and I just am so mad at all the people involved in this, the author, the beta, the artists, holy crap. The racism is so repugnant. I get the whole charitable hero shtick but holy crap there is a way to do it with out a) being totally racist and b) co-opting a tragedy that is STILL ongoing, where families are STILL in mourning and are STILL trying to pull theirs lives back together. Admittedly, it's kind of personal for me since a really close family friend is a Hatian immigrant and he lost a lot of family - not as many as could be, since they lived in part of a shanty town area, which actually got off easily because of the kind of ground it was built on, but losing any is really too much and were so scared for over a month because they couldn't get in contact with the rest of the family to find out what was happening with them and looking at the news pictures, hoping like hell they wouldn't recognize bodies.... to use that as a backdrop for two white guys to get over their sad pasts and fall in love? I

[that_september]

Yesyesyes, a thousand times yes. I just do not understand, either. It just glamorizes and idealizes tragedy to a ridiculous amount. I'm so sorry to hear that your friend lost family--that's heartbreaking. I can't imagine what that must have been like to go through, and not even being able to get in touch with them to see if they were okay...my God. That's awful.

The people still defending it baffle me. When the author and artist straight-up say they made a mistake and apologize, I think that should be a sign there's something seriously wrong with the work. I hatehatehate how people are using the tone argument left and right: "HOW DARE YOU BE SO MEAN TO THIS POOR AUTHOR WHO DIDN'T EVEN KNOW SHE WAS RACIST OKAY. YOUR ANGER DOES NOT HELP ANYTHING STOP ~LYNCHING~ HER. D: D: D:"

Just...what the hell. Or the people who say that yeah, it sucked, but move on! Live and let live! Where do these people come from? Are they living in a magical bubble where racism and oppression doesn't exist and these silly, silly PoC and their allies are just

[lukecanwaltz88]

I'm with sonni89, I've never seen an episode of Supernatural but OMG that's ridiculous. Where was the logic here? What got me was the "Hey, I was going to do something different, then Haiti happened, and I got inspired!" That's so horrible... staying far, far away...

[that_september]

I know exactly what you mean--when she said Haiti "inspired" her and it seemed like "the greatest idea ever," that just blew me away. I can't imagine there ever being a day when a terrible catastrophe would inspire me to write a piece of romantic fanfiction.

It's disgraceful.

[penny_lane_42]

OH WOW.

I've somehow managed to miss this (I guess I haven't been on metafandom or linkspam in the last few days?), and I'm so glad you've brought it to my attention. I can't wait to check out the links you've provided, but first I want to say thanks for talking about this, thanks for not flinching away from it.

Fandom is so, so often casually sexist or racist in ways we like to think we're beyond. Because we're ~fandom. We're all about the underdogs! We're transgressive!

Except that we're mired in the same *ism-ridden mire that the rest of our society is. I absolutely believe that fandom can be a community that works to really be more enlightened than the rest of our culture. But we have to be willing to admit when we're wrong and to TRY HARDER and to not make excuses when we (inevitably) fail.

[that_september]

I felt like I'd missed it, too, honestly--I'd had that story in my tabs since I saw it was posted, and then all of a sudden, there was epic fail and everyone was yelling and I was like, "Oh God, when did this happen?"

I know exactly what you mean about fandom. There seems to be this idea that we're kind of above all of this, that it couldn't happen here, oh goodness, no. But it does. It will continue to. I just wish people would begin to think, to educate themselves before doing things like this.

I absolutely believe that fandom can be a community that works to really be more enlightened than the rest of our culture. But we have to be willing to admit when we're wrong and to TRY HARDER and to not make excuses when we (inevitably) fail.

This, exactly this.

[mrssnape13]

I've never seen Supernatural, and I don't follow those comms, but I have to admit I'm gobsmacked! In what universe would someone think it was ok to post a story like that?! :(

I generally use fandom as an escape of sorts from stress, or deadlines, or what have you, so it's always jarring to see real world/serious issues and intrude and really ruin things for people. A reader shouldn't have to dive into someone's fic hoping not to be offended by whatever ignorant hogwash the author has posted.

It bothers me that it took awhile for someone to speak up. These sorts of things should be fought from the start. >.

[that_september]

I generally use fandom as an escape of sorts from stress, or deadlines, or what have you, so it's always jarring to see real world/serious issues and intrude and really ruin things for people. A reader shouldn't have to dive into someone's fic hoping not to be offended by whatever ignorant hogwash the author has posted.

Precisely. Stumbling on such blatant and hurtful racism while looking for some fic to read is just so wrong.

It bothers me that so many people didn't seem to notice anything right off the bat and appeared to be taken in by the quality of her writing. What does give me hope is that when one person stepped forward, many many more seemed to follow suit. The outrage from fandom (and people not in fandom at all) has been overwhelming. For every person who seems to say, "HEY WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO MEAN IT WAS A MISTAKE OKAY," there are ten more people to explain why no, really, it is not okay.

ETA: Sorry for the edits! My goodness, I'm tired.

[mrssnape13]

That's ok! It's sort of late here, so I keep having to make sure I'm spelling things right and actually writing in English. XD