"That Would Never Happen in My Fandom"

Meta
Title:	"That Would Never Happen in My Fandom"
Creator:	Merlin Missy
Date(s):	May 23, 2008
Medium:
Fandom:	multifandom
Topic:
External Links:	"That Would Never Happen in My Fandom"
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"That Would Never Happen in My Fandom"' is a 2009 essay by Merlin Missy.

Series

This essay is part of a series called Dr. Merlin's Soapbox.

Some Topics Discussed

• "Why, when someone brings up a problematic aspect with the series in question, does it elicit such quick, vehement, and negative responses?"
• some typical responses to criticism about a show are not helpful, such as "It's just a TV show!" and "You have too much time on your hands," and "You can find a problem like that in any show, so why are you complaining?" and "If it bothers you so much, stop watching."
• fans are, by definition, VERY invested in their shows
• our love of shows, flaws and all, feel like it might reflect upon us as persons, and reflect upon our own fanworks
• fans don't like to hear criticism about their shows, and they tend to want to kill the messenger
• we want our idols to be perfect, and it's disappointing when creators of our canon lose their way or make mistakes or are tone-deaf, or worse, outwardly offensive
• sometimes it's best to step away from your fandom and think about something else
• do your own research about people's statements about a show, understand the context
• comments on The Shield
• don't assume bad intent when a fan comments about problematic content and portrayals
• accept that your fandom might have issues, and strive to do better

From the Essay

Recently, Dr. Merlin was surfing around her favorite websites, and found a link to an essay regarding the unfortunate portrayal of race issues in a particular fandom. Having had those same thoughts about the fandom in question, Dr. Merlin also clicked on a discussion elsewhere about the essay, hoping it would spark conversations about the subject and perhaps even in some small way influence the direction of that fandom. Instead, she found dozens of comments attacking minor points of canon in the essay (something that happened in one season instead of another) and many others caught between, "I never saw a problem," and, "Why did the writer have to pick on our fandom when it's clearly a societal issue?" There was even a comment suggesting the author should have gone after the entertainment industry at large rather than criticizing a single series.

When someone points out something unsavory about one's favorite show, it's hard. As fans, we love our shows. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here reading and discussing them all the time.

[...]

Sometimes we squee about two characters being on-screen together. Sometimes we analyze the fire imagery as it builds over a season-long arc. Sometimes we look for symbolism in the clothing during a particular episode of a cartoon because we have free time and someone dared us to. For the most part, this process of analysis and squee is highly enjoyable. There are going to be a few "get a life"ers, but there always are. Responses usually tend to be in the range of sharing the squee to pointing out even more details that support the theory, to the simple but gratifying, "Wow, I never looked at it that way before."

When someone takes the thing that we love and calls it less than beautiful (even a fractured, flawed beauty -- again note the '80s cartoons motif in my household) we often see the description as applying to our own work and our own efforts. If the underlying canon has racist subtext, that means my fanfiction might have racist subtext because I am using the same background material. If my fanfiction has racist subtext, that means I'm a racist. And I know I'm not a racist. I wouldn't enjoy canon that was racist, either. So the canon can't be racist. So you're wrong. *insert extra ad hominem attacks as necessary* If you've just shown me that the show I like is sexist, but I still like it and didn't notice, then you're really saying I'm sexist. And I can't be sexist because I'm female / a nice guy. So you're wrong. And so on.

It's even harder when one is dealing with a writer (or writing staff) who gets so much right, who makes important points and tells important stories and represents groups who otherwise get overlooked. One wants to cheer when Joss represents for feminism or when Rusty writes canon gay and bisexual characters kicking ass. How much harder then it is to step back and say, "Dudes, your track record on characters of color sucks rocks." It means we haven't found the One True Writer. It means that no matter how much one writer might show his credentials for creating interesting, racially diverse casts, he still can drop the ball on female characters. It also means that despite liking Aaron Sorkin's work quite a lot, some of us who are me still want to punch him in the groin for his potshots at fandom, but I digress.

First, decide if you can handle the discussion. Seriously. There are times when the subjects under debate are going to be very triggery. Fandom is there for your fun and enjoyment. Is there anything in this discussion that's going to give you panic attacks, flashbacks, or other damage to your ability to function in the real world? If so, think about stepping back and away. Don't announce it to the world (though you may want to drop a line to your friends in case they worry) just walk away from the computer or go elsewhere online for a while.

Don't assume intent. If a fellow fan is describing something she finds skeevy in the canon, don't assume she's just saying it to stir things up. If you look back at her previous posts, she was probably just as squeeful as you about another aspect of the show. When we care so very much about our canon, it hurts when canon betrays our trust. When characters of color are written out or killed, when female characters are treated in gender-specific derogatory ways (such as making the majority of female characters prostitutes, thus giving rise to the Frank Miller test), when gay and bi characters randomly go evil and get killed, we cringe.

If you learn something from the process, say so. Maybe you never realized that the crows in "Dumbo" or the blackfish character in "The Little Mermaid" were drawn from stereotypes until you looked closer into the early history of animated portrayals of African Americans. Now you notice. That's a step. When someone else from TLM fandom comes along to say "I didn't notice," you can pass her the info. Maybe you accepted the high scantily-clad-female bodycount in your favorite show from the '80s because you liked the other characters, and later learned about how violence is sexualized in the media. Use that knowledge to see how far TV has come, and how much further we have yet to go, and yes, complain when you see it happening again. Praise and celebrate the good things, sure, always. That's why we're here. But also push the show to do better next time and say thanks when it does.

Fan Comments

[Kathleen Sweeney]: Thought provoking - very well reasoned and I liked the practical suggestions on how to react and act!

[Leva Cygnet]: Awesome essay as usual. Just to throw my .02 in here, however, is that I think sometimes fen confuse a flawed character with (rac)(misogyn)(sex)(whatever)ist writing. It is entirely possible to have a character who's got issues of his own, but is still a hero ... nobody's perfect. And the best characters are flawed. And ideally, those character flaws trigger the sorts of discussions we SEE in fandom, and open people's eyes ... and yet, you can still be entertained by the whateverist character as long as his/her issues are handled in a way that doesn't glorify them. (And I swear I'm writing fanfic where some chick he rescues calls Dean Winchester to task on his attitude towards wimmin ...)

[Merlin Missy, the essay's author]: I think the issue is the lack of a textual balancing POV. You can present a flawed character and show attitudes we don't like, and yes, that can spark important discussions about the place of bigotry in society at large, but on the series and in the canon itself, is there a voice standing back to call the character on it and provide valid counterexamples? Is there an indication that someone involved in the creation and writing of this character is aware of how repugnant s/he's acting? As a fanfic writer, you can create that balance, but if there isn't anything in the actual canon to contradict him (all the women DO live down to his insults, he gets cheered on instead of smacked upside the head) then that's an issue with the canon itself. An example that's been brought up elsewhere is Mal from Firefly. He's a flawed character but the other characters, each in their own fashion, will point this out to him. The canon presents him but does not necessarily approve. Jayne is an even clearer case from the same series: he exhibits frankly abhorrent attitudes while being sympathetically portrayed, but no one is going to mistake him for the moral center of the series. If Jayne *were* the star of the show, and all the women presented were prostitutes or villains, and no one was telling him to drop the Neandertal routine because he was always proven right, then we wouldn't call it a portrayal of a flawed character, we'd say, "Oh John Ringo, no!" and walk quickly away. The question is always, what is the canon telling us is okay and can we live with that?

[Elais]:It can be tough. I enjoy the tv show Supernatural, but after seeing a video of clips from the show that depicted the amazing amount of violence perpetuated against women on the show really disturbed me. It's up to me and others to take this up as a challenge to the writers to show some degree of gender balance or at least cut back on using women as victims so many times.