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I just read ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
angua9's essay on Appropriating vs. Appreciating.
She talks mostly about Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, because those are her fandoms. But I've seen a lot of the 'Appropriating vs. Appreciating' attitudes in Atlantis fandom over the last six months - my own behaviour and the behaviours of the fans in my segment of the world included - so I think this is relevant for Atlantis fandom as well.
Really, read the whole thing, but take note of the conclusion!
"I somewhat sort of understand why people seek their own personal version of fictional works, tweaked to fit their own tastes and interests, but I don't think I'll ever understand the vengeful anger they often seem to feel when something goes wrong with this, to the point that they're actively and openly rooting for the movie to tank at the box office, the show to get cancelled, or the next book to get remaindered. I don't understand why they seem to want everyone to agree with them that the work they used to love totally sucks now, and - most of all - why they want and expect sympathy and understanding for their pain. For myself, I'm too busy feeling sympathy and understanding for the poor authors who tried to provide an entertaining and satisfying fictional experience only to see it hijacked, distorted, misunderstood, and misinterpreted to feel pain for people who were maximizing their own pleasure. They chose the pain when they chose the pleasure is my feeling."
angua9's essay on Appropriating vs. Appreciating.She talks mostly about Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, because those are her fandoms. But I've seen a lot of the 'Appropriating vs. Appreciating' attitudes in Atlantis fandom over the last six months - my own behaviour and the behaviours of the fans in my segment of the world included - so I think this is relevant for Atlantis fandom as well.
Really, read the whole thing, but take note of the conclusion!
"I somewhat sort of understand why people seek their own personal version of fictional works, tweaked to fit their own tastes and interests, but I don't think I'll ever understand the vengeful anger they often seem to feel when something goes wrong with this, to the point that they're actively and openly rooting for the movie to tank at the box office, the show to get cancelled, or the next book to get remaindered. I don't understand why they seem to want everyone to agree with them that the work they used to love totally sucks now, and - most of all - why they want and expect sympathy and understanding for their pain. For myself, I'm too busy feeling sympathy and understanding for the poor authors who tried to provide an entertaining and satisfying fictional experience only to see it hijacked, distorted, misunderstood, and misinterpreted to feel pain for people who were maximizing their own pleasure. They chose the pain when they chose the pleasure is my feeling."
no subject
It's when people really cannot draw the distinction between that personal cannon and the show itself - actual canon - where every interaction on the show has to mean something because of the personal canon of shippers, slashers and even those who just love one character, have adopted. SGA is often quite ambiguous and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Interpretation is great - it would be boring if we all saw the same and got the same things from SGA.
It is when these interpretations start impinging on my enjoyment of fandom - intentionally or not, that is when I start to have a problem with it. How people conduct their fandom life is not my business, nor is it for my judgement. However, too often in SGA as a fandom, people don't think about how negatively their appropriation - most often the forcing of a particular character relationships on others - affects those around them, be it largely unintentional.
I think to an extent, everyone in fandom 'appropriates'. Everyone has their ideas about the show they love, what they think works and what doesn't. That is fine, really, it is. I honestly don't think it's as straightforward as belonging to either the 'appreciating' or 'appropriating' camp anyway. I don't think appropriating characters for fan-fictional means necessarily negates the ability to appreciate a work for it's authorial canon. Concern about the direction of the show you love, to me, does not indicate appropriating behaviour either. People aren't feeling pain over certain S4 spoilers because of personal canon...
no subject
Oh, certainly. To write fanfic is to appropriate the original work - to co-opt it for one's own use and take the canon characters and scenarios beyond authorial intent.
I honestly don't think it's as straightforward as belonging to either the 'appreciating' or 'appropriating' camp anyway.
It definitely isn't. There's discussion about it in the comments - about the various degrees of appreciating and appropriating, being part of a continuum and related to how much the fan identifies (or over-identifies) with a character.
But some of the more obsessive Appropriating behaviours are definitely visible in SGA fandom right now.