It has deeply concerned me recently this wave of "anime hysteria" which has been sweeping through anime fandom across the country.
| Open Letter | |
|---|---|
| Title: | It has deeply concerned me recently this wave of "anime hysteria" which has been sweeping through anime fandom across the country. |
| From: | Marianne Popa |
| Addressed To: | Boston Japanimation Society |
| Date(s): | Sept-Oct 1990 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Anime |
| Topic: | Piracy |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Final Stop section of Issue 44 of Final Stop Andromeda (Sep/Oct 1991) included a statement on the recent activity of Randall S. Stukey, onetime leader of the C/FO. Stukey had been outspoken on the subject of copying tapes, which he considered a threat to all of anime fandom.
Marianne Popa of the Boston Japanimation Society criticized Stukey's influence on fandom:
It has deeply concerned me recently this wave of "anime hysteria" which has been sweeping through anime fandom across the country. Japanese animation has been shown in con video rooms across this land for years (starting in the late 1970's) and to my knowledge NOT ONE individual, club or con committee has been shut down, arrested or sued because of it!If the Japanese were so concerned over this issue, believe me, they would have shut down fandom long ago and would not have waited until 1989-1990!! Through my contacts in the Japanese community, I have learned that the Japanese do not see see this as important an issue as Randall Stukey would have as believe! "You don't bite the hand that feeds you!"
If we all believe that logic, then Paramount Studios would have to shut down ALL STAR TREK CLUBS. They would be shooting themselves in the foot financially, if they did! There are NO Japanimation police!!!
Stukey and people like him DO NOT represent any anime studio or government agency. This hysteria is a one man crusade designed for the glorification of his ego; and his hopes for unification of all anime fandom under his rule. This policy is very destructive and left unchecked will not bring anime fandom into the SF mainstream, but will ultimately drive anime further underground.
A letter writer added,
[...] Randall Stukey's conspiracy of anime hysteria has got to be the greatest hoax since Orson Wells' War of the Worlds broadcast! ...The Japanese, trust me, are well cognizant that they need fandom's support in order to break into the American market. Stukey's flowing praise of Chicago Megazone and his own organization's unmitigated hypocrisy (the biggest and most exclusive tape trading organization giving the bum's rush at Gen Con to an alleged tape pirate and telling us to collect only traded tapes, which they won't trade with us) is more than a little frightening.