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maygraback in 2003 I wrote a rant about fannish entitlement that was prompted by an entirely other incident...but the end of it was rather weirdly echoing of what's going on both in regards to my previous post and of several discussions I've taken part of post the Asylum convention regarding fannish behavior.
The old rant is [[here]].
It's not flocked.
Whether its the hither and yon of asking actors and studio execs about fan fiction, the reposting of vids on you tube, the righteousness of fans telling other fans what they should and should not write, whether you think fanfic is willful but ultimately harmless infringement (I do) or a prime but untested case of "fair use", (I do this also) nobody but nobody can best us or top us when it comes to doing damage to each other both personally and culturally.
To some extent, that's a good thing, because social pressure, peer pressure can be a good thing when done in moderation. We have a loose social contract formed by a mostly common interest -- the extension of media sources beyond what is authorized and promoted and yes, part of a legal framework of ownership and economic viabilty. We are, collectively, mostly moderate and conservative in our ventures beyond the realms of fandom. We have worked for years to get fan fiction and fan culture into, not the mainstream of public consciousness, but into the somewhat more removed halls of academia and cultural studies. Some of us take our fan interactions very, very seriously and some of us flit and dance and don't take it seriously at all.
Usually, the commonality of being fans actually provides the ground zero for at least the basis of mutual enjoyment and if not actual friendship, at least civility.
But not always.
Basically, it comes down to this: despite every bugabear about studio smackdowns, despite every actual case of a C&D letter delivered and observed: in the end we are our own worst enemy.
And for those of you in denial about the frequency or efficacy of those C&D letters, please, get a grip. Corporations are perfectly capable of enforcing their copyrights and trademarks without any help from us. I'm sure they all know how to use google, and they can be completely arbitrary about where and when they choose to enforce those rights --I give Fanlib.com six months.
Really. We are. One fan has no more legal or moral or ethical authority than any other. And I'm not in any way missing the irony of me posting this, or any other rant I've posted, with that in mind.
Fans stepping into a situation and deciding to act on behalf of fandom, isn't anything new. Sometimes it's a sincere but misguided attempt to provide some benefit or even protection for fans. Sometimes it's a lot more personal and selfish. Sometimes it really is altruistic, and some times it's merely vicious.
But really, if you're going to do it? I've got a request of you, just two questions I want you to ask yourself:
Who or what are you trying to protect, and who and what are you trying to help?
And if neither of those questions actually apply to your intervention, then seriously, what are you doing? And why?
You'll notice I didn't ask anyone not to do it.
This post is not flocked.
Note: Also, please to be reading![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cesperanza [[here]], for lo, she is smart and her words are tasty.
The old rant is [[here]].
It's not flocked.
Whether its the hither and yon of asking actors and studio execs about fan fiction, the reposting of vids on you tube, the righteousness of fans telling other fans what they should and should not write, whether you think fanfic is willful but ultimately harmless infringement (I do) or a prime but untested case of "fair use", (I do this also) nobody but nobody can best us or top us when it comes to doing damage to each other both personally and culturally.
To some extent, that's a good thing, because social pressure, peer pressure can be a good thing when done in moderation. We have a loose social contract formed by a mostly common interest -- the extension of media sources beyond what is authorized and promoted and yes, part of a legal framework of ownership and economic viabilty. We are, collectively, mostly moderate and conservative in our ventures beyond the realms of fandom. We have worked for years to get fan fiction and fan culture into, not the mainstream of public consciousness, but into the somewhat more removed halls of academia and cultural studies. Some of us take our fan interactions very, very seriously and some of us flit and dance and don't take it seriously at all.
Usually, the commonality of being fans actually provides the ground zero for at least the basis of mutual enjoyment and if not actual friendship, at least civility.
But not always.
Basically, it comes down to this: despite every bugabear about studio smackdowns, despite every actual case of a C&D letter delivered and observed: in the end we are our own worst enemy.
And for those of you in denial about the frequency or efficacy of those C&D letters, please, get a grip. Corporations are perfectly capable of enforcing their copyrights and trademarks without any help from us. I'm sure they all know how to use google, and they can be completely arbitrary about where and when they choose to enforce those rights --I give Fanlib.com six months.
Really. We are. One fan has no more legal or moral or ethical authority than any other. And I'm not in any way missing the irony of me posting this, or any other rant I've posted, with that in mind.
Fans stepping into a situation and deciding to act on behalf of fandom, isn't anything new. Sometimes it's a sincere but misguided attempt to provide some benefit or even protection for fans. Sometimes it's a lot more personal and selfish. Sometimes it really is altruistic, and some times it's merely vicious.
But really, if you're going to do it? I've got a request of you, just two questions I want you to ask yourself:
Who or what are you trying to protect, and who and what are you trying to help?
And if neither of those questions actually apply to your intervention, then seriously, what are you doing? And why?
You'll notice I didn't ask anyone not to do it.
This post is not flocked.
Note: Also, please to be reading
cesperanza [[here]], for lo, she is smart and her words are tasty.
