I ran into an article on Facebook today that hit a chord, especially since I am transitioning from your average 'fan' to one of the creators fans sometimes get mad at. I have no delusions. I know I face flamers, trolls, haters and what not ahead especially if the projects I am involved in gain any form of popularity. But I still needed to comment, and those that know me know I tend to keep rants to myself (though this may or may not gradually change with time). Any way the comment and article are reposted here below. Don't like rants? Move along.
My Facebook comment - https://www.facebook.com/Ryuyujin/posts/10207814569054513
Something creators (artistic, writers, whatever) and fans alike need to keep in mind. It's a balancing act. A certain amount of catering to the fans is needed if you wish to make money off your work but you still have to allow for creative freedoms and the artist's original intent if you want good quality works to continue to be produced. Right now it's woefully out of balance.
The author of the article mentions how fans have gone from supporting and defending their fandoms to wanting to shape and dictate the evaluation of them. The author mentions the uproar over all girls in the new Ghostbusters, people wanting Elsa in Frozen 2 to have a girlfriend, and Captain America being a Hydra in the comics. A point they miss or chose not to address just yet though is a large number (not all) of the the fans that try to 'shape' their fandom are pushing social or political agendas over quality and good storytelling. Now bare in mind social and political commentary has always been and will continue to be one of the common themes creators follow. But it really should not be at the expense of the creators creativity and the quality of the story.
Plus these increasingly rabid, scary fans make it hard for new fans to come into a fandom because they also attack each other, sometimes worse then they do the creators. It's one of the reasons (besides it just not being my cup of tea) that I never got into Harry Potter even though it had all the hallmarks of the stories I tended to gravitate to at the time. I use to work at the local university bookstore when I was in college. A fan purchasing the newest Harry Potter book went so far as to threaten death to me and my family because my last name is Riddle, same as the real name of the villain in Harry Potter. And they were serious, not playing around. Security had to be called. Admittedly that was an extreme case. But fandom bullying is real, especially if you have slightly different views or like a different character, and sours new and existing fans alike.
Sadly I agree with the author in that I do not see this bully trend getting better, and in fact getting worse. However, as I mentioned, social commentary is a mainstay of creative themes and stories and movies have been used to influence and change society and people. Perhaps creators can start steering fans in a better direction.
Original Article - http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/05/30/fandom-is-broken
No comments:
Post a Comment