Sometimes I'm Ashamed of Fandom
Recently, a show I rather like did it's third season as a 5-episode miniseries. It was intense, it was dark, it was bloody, and (in my opinion) brilliant.
A character, one popular with the fandom, died. Hard choices were made. Some of them were pragmatic and less than heroic. At the end, it's all fallen down and few are still standing.
I mentioned it was dark, yeah?
But fandom's reaction...
For the most part, it's been good. Many liked it, and most of those who don't are reasonable about it. Everyone's got their critiques. But some lodge them with the creators with unnecessary vigor. That is, by writing vitriolic hate mail and accusing them of contempt, homophobia, and hurting the viewers with overly dark stories.
You can read the details at James Moran's blog, here. Moran was on the writing staff for this show, and was friendly enough with fandom to dicuss the process of writing the show as it aired, on his blog. And this is what he gets for it.
Now, one less writer blogging about his work is no great loss to the world at large. But it is the sort of thing fandom runs on: the discussion of our stories, and the connection between the creators and their most fervent audience.
It's not just this fandom. It happens in others. Pair the wrong characters, kill a beloved mentor, make someone queer... And someone, somewhere will take it as a personal attack.
Goddamn, people. "Fiction." Look it up. Then compare with "Reality."
I don't mean to make light of anyone's reactions to fiction. If it hurts to read, if it brings on joy or horror it's doing its job. That's the way it should work, and if you feel these emotions because of it, it just means that you're reading with an open heart.
It isn't personal, though. The creators aren't writing it for you. They're writing it for them, for their muse, and sometimes for the money. If it hurts you, it's not an attack, no more than it would be a love letter were it to arouse you.
It's art. That's what it does.
A character, one popular with the fandom, died. Hard choices were made. Some of them were pragmatic and less than heroic. At the end, it's all fallen down and few are still standing.
I mentioned it was dark, yeah?
But fandom's reaction...
For the most part, it's been good. Many liked it, and most of those who don't are reasonable about it. Everyone's got their critiques. But some lodge them with the creators with unnecessary vigor. That is, by writing vitriolic hate mail and accusing them of contempt, homophobia, and hurting the viewers with overly dark stories.
You can read the details at James Moran's blog, here. Moran was on the writing staff for this show, and was friendly enough with fandom to dicuss the process of writing the show as it aired, on his blog. And this is what he gets for it.
Now, one less writer blogging about his work is no great loss to the world at large. But it is the sort of thing fandom runs on: the discussion of our stories, and the connection between the creators and their most fervent audience.
It's not just this fandom. It happens in others. Pair the wrong characters, kill a beloved mentor, make someone queer... And someone, somewhere will take it as a personal attack.
Goddamn, people. "Fiction." Look it up. Then compare with "Reality."
I don't mean to make light of anyone's reactions to fiction. If it hurts to read, if it brings on joy or horror it's doing its job. That's the way it should work, and if you feel these emotions because of it, it just means that you're reading with an open heart.
It isn't personal, though. The creators aren't writing it for you. They're writing it for them, for their muse, and sometimes for the money. If it hurts you, it's not an attack, no more than it would be a love letter were it to arouse you.
It's art. That's what it does.