Porn as Pot Noodle - Darkslash, Its Readers and Writers
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| Title: | Porn as Pot Noodle - Darkslash, Its Readers and Writers |
| Creator: | Sarah |
| Date(s): | December 28, 2006 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | Fanfiction, Slash |
| External Links: | Porn as Pot Noodle - Darkslash, Its Readers and Writers, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Porn as Pot Noodle - Darkslash, Its Readers and Writers is an essay by Sarah .
It is part of the Fanfic Symposium series.
Excerpts
This column arose from a mini survey I carried on amongst readers and writers of my acquaintance who were enjoying slash 'darkfic' at its darkest. For the purposes of this survey, I defined darkfic as anything from dubious non-con to out and out rape. There are, of course, many shades of darkfic, but I chose to concentrate on the darker end of the spectrum on this occasion.In his book, Pornocopia (Porn, Sex, Technology and Desire), Laurence O'Toole proffers the theory that pornography is like a Pot Noodle: "a... compressed parcel of data, which is in need of decompression through the addition of the viewer's own erotic potentiality, their cerebral activity, their art-work."
Whilst my survey wasn't about pornography, or not just pornography (sensitive readers please transplant the word 'erotica' if preferred), this was my main finding - the impact and 'meaning' (if any) of darkfic depends on the reader's interaction with it, what they bring to the fic as a fan, as a reader, and as an intellectual and sexual being.
Darkfic crosses fandom and it's clear that some readers will seek it out, regardless of whether or not it's written in their fandom(s) of choice. This pursuit may be prompted by a strong recommendation from a respected writer or reader, but it can be triggered by mood. Unanimously, readers insisted the fic must be well-written to hold their attention. The link cited between slash and darkfic is intriguing, as one reader put it, "Slash for me has always been about rebellion and secrecy, and serious kink just makes it better."
More than one reader who responded to my survey wanted to stress that reading darkfic did not stop her reading/writing/loving vanilla porn. The two extremes are by no means mutually exclusive. Contrary to popular myth, darkfic does not have the power to corrupt or obsess its readers or its writers. In my experience, fans of darkfic enjoy a broader canvas than those who insist on drawing lines around what they will and won't read/write.
When asked about their motivation for reading darkfic, a few said they used it to challenge their emotional and moral response to disturbing material. Another few said they read darkfic to get aroused. The majority occupied a more complex middle ground, liking darkfic for its unrivalled ability to explore and expose layers of intimacy between and within characters - breaking them down, building them back up again. Most people felt there was an enjoyable element of catharsis involved, for the readers as well as the characters. As one reader put it, "(Darkfic) takes one for an emotion ride and yet still leaves the reader content."