...not earth logic
Aug. 25th, 2004 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaI guess I miss feeling that innocent atmosphere of -enjoyment- I remember from Nimbus last year; something separate from analysis or enjoyment of analysis-- it's what makes you want to -do- the analysis. Meh. There's a difference between discussing canon and feeling like you want to dictate where canon goes. Alternatively, people who are 100% sure of their canon interpretation also puzzle me in that sort of 'um, why....' sort of way. The least one can do is separate what's personal projection onto the characters and what's an objective-as-possible reading of what the text is saying 'as is'. Even then, hopefully it will remain in context of that particular reader's biases. Claim your bias!! Why does nearly no one do this? Why, why, why, why, why?
Seeing people judge characters as if they were real people outside their context and then compare them and claim they're 'better' (smarter, more deserving of love, anything other than 'more interesting to them as a reader', which is the honest thing to say)-- man. It just turns me off from fandom. All too often, 'discussion' is really an excuse to pick fictional(!) sides and 'put down the enemy', and what fun is that?
It's just a sad day for all involved when I, of all people, am moved to defend Hagrid. I don't even care about Hagrid. Or like, most of the minor characters. I don't even feel militant enough by nature to defend Harry most times. But the sheer amount of bashing and not-Earth logic, man.
I wish there were more people who saw the positive in any character, but that's just too good to be true, isn't it? Well, it still pisses me off.
When one goes from descriptive to prescriptive analysis-- that's where I feel it's not fun anymore, for me at least. That's where one starts feeling the seething bitterness and then what's the point of still reading/writing? It's just bad vibes if there isn't that layer of sheer fun, man.
If I can't get myself to believe I'll make a difference to the people who think Sirius is 'better' than Snape, how can I make a difference to JKR? So it's a choice, as I see it, to accept and outline one's discontent without passing judgment or to set yourself up for disappointment and bitterness.
Perhaps I can only say that because I'm only really invested (in terms of canon) in Harry, but I don't think that's true. I care what happens, I will just allow pretty much anything to happen, because I think when I 'bond' with a story, I'm open to it and allow it to sweep me along. If I enjoy it, I trust the author to entertain me, and if they don't, I stop reading. It all seems so simple, but fandom makes it so complicated....
I'm open to suggestion, I guess. I have no real desire for canon to go in any particular direction, and maybe that makes me a weirdo, I dunno.... All I can say is, I'm interested in the story, but I'm not the one telling it, and I wouldn't if I could. I write fanfic about characters, but these are -my- versions of Harry & Draco, not JKR's. JKR is writing about hers, and can do with them as she wills without drawing judgment from me on her choices until the end; after the end, I can, I suppose, call her a bad writer for said choices and detail where I think she went wrong, but even that won't be very earth-shaking as far as I can see.
I do -wish- to see Ron/Hermione and I -hope- Draco gets utilized and I -hope- Harry doesn't die, but all I really need is for the books to make sense within their own context. As long as I feel I'm reading the same story, it's good enough for me, 'cause that's what I signed up for. The story determines my expectations, and informs my responses. I only like Ron/Hermione or Harry (or Draco, or Snape) as a character 'cause JKR set the books up for me to do so. If she continues to write in a consistent manner, then logically speaking, I shall continue to enjoy it. Simple, no?
In fandom, nothing is ever simple, it seems, past the 'omg, SQUEE' stage. *sigh* Such is life. Maybe I should take another break.
Seeing people judge characters as if they were real people outside their context and then compare them and claim they're 'better' (smarter, more deserving of love, anything other than 'more interesting to them as a reader', which is the honest thing to say)-- man. It just turns me off from fandom. All too often, 'discussion' is really an excuse to pick fictional(!) sides and 'put down the enemy', and what fun is that?
It's just a sad day for all involved when I, of all people, am moved to defend Hagrid. I don't even care about Hagrid. Or like, most of the minor characters. I don't even feel militant enough by nature to defend Harry most times. But the sheer amount of bashing and not-Earth logic, man.
I wish there were more people who saw the positive in any character, but that's just too good to be true, isn't it? Well, it still pisses me off.
When one goes from descriptive to prescriptive analysis-- that's where I feel it's not fun anymore, for me at least. That's where one starts feeling the seething bitterness and then what's the point of still reading/writing? It's just bad vibes if there isn't that layer of sheer fun, man.
If I can't get myself to believe I'll make a difference to the people who think Sirius is 'better' than Snape, how can I make a difference to JKR? So it's a choice, as I see it, to accept and outline one's discontent without passing judgment or to set yourself up for disappointment and bitterness.
Perhaps I can only say that because I'm only really invested (in terms of canon) in Harry, but I don't think that's true. I care what happens, I will just allow pretty much anything to happen, because I think when I 'bond' with a story, I'm open to it and allow it to sweep me along. If I enjoy it, I trust the author to entertain me, and if they don't, I stop reading. It all seems so simple, but fandom makes it so complicated....
I'm open to suggestion, I guess. I have no real desire for canon to go in any particular direction, and maybe that makes me a weirdo, I dunno.... All I can say is, I'm interested in the story, but I'm not the one telling it, and I wouldn't if I could. I write fanfic about characters, but these are -my- versions of Harry & Draco, not JKR's. JKR is writing about hers, and can do with them as she wills without drawing judgment from me on her choices until the end; after the end, I can, I suppose, call her a bad writer for said choices and detail where I think she went wrong, but even that won't be very earth-shaking as far as I can see.
I do -wish- to see Ron/Hermione and I -hope- Draco gets utilized and I -hope- Harry doesn't die, but all I really need is for the books to make sense within their own context. As long as I feel I'm reading the same story, it's good enough for me, 'cause that's what I signed up for. The story determines my expectations, and informs my responses. I only like Ron/Hermione or Harry (or Draco, or Snape) as a character 'cause JKR set the books up for me to do so. If she continues to write in a consistent manner, then logically speaking, I shall continue to enjoy it. Simple, no?
In fandom, nothing is ever simple, it seems, past the 'omg, SQUEE' stage. *sigh* Such is life. Maybe I should take another break.
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Date: 2004-08-26 09:00 am (UTC)Then there's just the issue of accuracy, which I feel like these discussions really run roughshod over. I mean, I'm not particularly fond of Hagrid but I can see good things in him. Most of the things in the book are more, imo, about different types clashing in different ways rather than just one person being good and persecuted for no reason by the bad guy. And it does get tiring hearing somebody refuse to actually look at the clues we get to what's going on (because sometimes that's all we get are clues) and all the feelings involved because they've already got everything all figured out based on one thing. Like, with somebody like Sirius I know the impressions I got of his life from OotP, and it was sort of complicated. But all I can do is say, "See, this line here suggested this to me, and this line here made me think this..." but other people are like so ready to argue about exactly what the first 20 years of his life were like without us ever seeing a second of it. And of course it's always completely one-sided--either it was a living hell or he was a living hell and that's it. That's what drives me crazy, because even if the person is on my side in a general way, the argument just hurts the premise anyway.
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Date: 2004-08-26 05:42 pm (UTC)Yeah, and the accuracy issue is what drives me to the 'not Earth logic' frustration, 'cause now everyone and their brother has input, and a lot of times it's emotional-propaganda type input, and they don't even seem to have the basic self-awareness to realize that. The Sirius-Snape debates recently just kind of put the nail in the coffin, I thought. Really kind of pathetic. And just the feeling that most of the fandom hated OoTP and OoTP!Sirius and OoTP!Harry just upsets me on a consistent basis too, and makes me feel like we're not reading the same books at all, so what's the point...
I know! It's just... so much propaganda and pushing-your-own-agenda and jumping to conclusions and it seems like the meta aspect of fandom has gotten as loud and clamorous as the squeeing slash fangirls on ff.net sometimes. Heh. Most people seem to have a certain... uh... 'side' or angle they're pushing and they're -always- going to be pushing that same angle. It's like... so intellectually lazy and dishonest and just painful to watch a lot of times, especially when one is discussing such complex characters as Sirius....
And yeah, exactly-- I don't even -want- to agree with people who're using certain ideas to hammer home a whole dogmatic canon-reading they're using as some sort of Rosetta stone for everything. One size fits all! Wah. Although probably... it was probably only a matter of time before HP meta became wanky too, all things considered :/