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emerald_skiesAll right, I know a bunch of you have probably heard enough (or too much) about this already, but damn it, I just can't stand it. I need to say something.
Supernatural fandom, I'd like a word with you. Or, rather, a select few of you (I know full well that a large portion of the fandom is both sane and awesome).
I.
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amazonziti wrote an excellent recap before I even knew anything about this, so y'all are welcome to read that or my Cliff's Notes version)
A specific author wrote a J2 RPS fic for the fandom's big bang challenge -- this isn't the part I have a problem with (it would be sort of hypocritical for me to judge anyone for RPS considering my Starsgard shipperdom). Here are the parts I do have a problem with:
1) This fic is a doctor AU set against the backdrop of the recent earthquake disaster in Haiti. Which, for the record, was less than 6 months ago. The summary (included in my link) is pretty eye-poppingly racist and minimizes the tragedy in a really startling way. In the summary. So we're already off to a bad start.
2) The eye-popping racism continues into the story (and picks up some imperialist overtones along the way). Check out some choice quotes from the story if you don't believe me. I wouldn't recommend drinking or eating anything while doing so, you'll either choke on it or fling something at the screen.
3) The illustrator/artist for this fic used photos of actual survivors (it's long gone now but really? Really?) In what universe would this ever be even remotely close to okay?
4) When the fandom responds, the author falls back on her intentions. Because intentions are magical (thanks tochristinathena for the link). Y'all know the old saying about the road to hell, right?
5) The author disabled all the comments on her story posts and issued a fairly uncompelling apology. I read it and got the sense that it was posted out of a desire to make the shitstorm stop rather than out of much actual contrition. As a bonus, she locked comments on said apology.
6) The original story post was edited to include this little gem:
A/N: Please note that some readers have found offense in both the setting and characterizations in this story.
I...I just can't. I tried a few times to come up with an appropriate response to this, but I couldn't come up with anything that wasn't horribly immature, so I'll just leave the A/N as food for thought.
7) The story post was removed from the big bang community (taking the comments with it) and the author's personal journal and a second apology was issued. Intentions come up again, and it still seems rather passive-aggressive to me, but this may be because I'm still struggling to maintain control of my temper. I'll be the first to admit that my temper can color my judgment of things pretty easily, so please forgive me if y'all get a different, less cynical impression from it than me.
8) And, on a somewhat tangential note (as this has nothing to do with the author herself), don't even get me started on all the things wrong with this comment. Because we should all just apparently get over it and move on, y'all.
I'm not sure how to respond to that because a) I'm not sure how to phrase it and b) as much as the comment enrages me, I'm white and privileged. There are facets of this situation that I'll never be able to understand just for that second point, and I don't want to insult anyone by trying and either missing the point entirely or not doing it proper justice. However, I will state for the record that I am, to put it mildly, unamused.
II.
- I'm not sure what worries me more; the fact that the author doesn't really seem to get what she did wrong (see my previous point re: just saying it to make all this go away), or that the story (art included) passed in front of so many different pairs of eyes before finally being posted.
- Actually (and please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm still very new to this fandom), the fact that virtually no one appears to be calling out the people who saw this and let it pass (betas, mods, etc.) is pretty damn worrisome too. It's tempting to blame just one person -- it just seems simpler, I guess -- but let's not forget that the author wasn't alone in this. The culpability is not hers alone.
- I'm also extremely troubled by the amount of "get over it and move on" comments I've seen. Just...no. If anything, getting over and moving on from other instances of similar problems is partly what got us to this point in the first place. I hate to state the obvious, but something needs to change (to put it mildly), and that's not going to happen if everyone just pretends the problem isn't there.
III. It's unfortunate that it takes something as cataclysmically ugly as this to make us all sit back and take a long, hard look at ourselves and the world around us. That is to say, those of us who are willing to look (instead of taking the simplistic, privileged approach of "get over it and move on" or "it's just fiction"). But I suppose there is some good in this in that people are talking about it in a (mostly) constructive way, so I hope that that leads to some sort productive character development.
Furthermore, I know that I'm probably not saying anything new, and that what I am saying probably sounds incredibly trite at points, but I had to say something. Also, if I offended anyone at any point in this discussion, please know that I'm sorry for it and it was entirely accidental (I checked over it repeatedly but I may have missed something). My emotions tend to color my thoughts sometimes, and I'm aware of the sensitive nature of this topic so I tried to tread as carefully as possible while still being frank.
Blergh. Crap like this is why I laugh my fool head off whenever I run across the phrase "post-racial America"/"post-racial society".
As I happen to be sick (the flu, I suspect) and fuzzed up on medicine accordingly, this post will probably go through lots and lots of edits, but know that my basic points remain the same. What are y'all's thoughts on the matter?
ETA: I encourage anyone who wants to to comment and spread the word wherever they see fit. My only request is to try to avoid bullying/personal attacks as much as possible.
---
"The first wealth is health..." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
---
Cheers.
P.S - Thanks toeviinsanemonkey for the heads up about this in the first place
Supernatural fandom, I'd like a word with you. Or, rather, a select few of you (I know full well that a large portion of the fandom is both sane and awesome).
I.
(
amazonziti wrote an excellent recap before I even knew anything about this, so y'all are welcome to read that or my Cliff's Notes version)A specific author wrote a J2 RPS fic for the fandom's big bang challenge -- this isn't the part I have a problem with (it would be sort of hypocritical for me to judge anyone for RPS considering my Starsgard shipperdom). Here are the parts I do have a problem with:
1) This fic is a doctor AU set against the backdrop of the recent earthquake disaster in Haiti. Which, for the record, was less than 6 months ago. The summary (included in my link) is pretty eye-poppingly racist and minimizes the tragedy in a really startling way. In the summary. So we're already off to a bad start.
2) The eye-popping racism continues into the story (and picks up some imperialist overtones along the way). Check out some choice quotes from the story if you don't believe me. I wouldn't recommend drinking or eating anything while doing so, you'll either choke on it or fling something at the screen.
3) The illustrator/artist for this fic used photos of actual survivors (it's long gone now but really? Really?) In what universe would this ever be even remotely close to okay?
4) When the fandom responds, the author falls back on her intentions. Because intentions are magical (thanks to
christinathena for the link). Y'all know the old saying about the road to hell, right?5) The author disabled all the comments on her story posts and issued a fairly uncompelling apology. I read it and got the sense that it was posted out of a desire to make the shitstorm stop rather than out of much actual contrition. As a bonus, she locked comments on said apology.
6) The original story post was edited to include this little gem:
A/N: Please note that some readers have found offense in both the setting and characterizations in this story.
I...I just can't. I tried a few times to come up with an appropriate response to this, but I couldn't come up with anything that wasn't horribly immature, so I'll just leave the A/N as food for thought.
7) The story post was removed from the big bang community (taking the comments with it) and the author's personal journal and a second apology was issued. Intentions come up again, and it still seems rather passive-aggressive to me, but this may be because I'm still struggling to maintain control of my temper. I'll be the first to admit that my temper can color my judgment of things pretty easily, so please forgive me if y'all get a different, less cynical impression from it than me.
8) And, on a somewhat tangential note (as this has nothing to do with the author herself), don't even get me started on all the things wrong with this comment. Because we should all just apparently get over it and move on, y'all.
I'm not sure how to respond to that because a) I'm not sure how to phrase it and b) as much as the comment enrages me, I'm white and privileged. There are facets of this situation that I'll never be able to understand just for that second point, and I don't want to insult anyone by trying and either missing the point entirely or not doing it proper justice. However, I will state for the record that I am, to put it mildly, unamused.
II.
- I'm not sure what worries me more; the fact that the author doesn't really seem to get what she did wrong (see my previous point re: just saying it to make all this go away), or that the story (art included) passed in front of so many different pairs of eyes before finally being posted.
- Actually (and please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm still very new to this fandom), the fact that virtually no one appears to be calling out the people who saw this and let it pass (betas, mods, etc.) is pretty damn worrisome too. It's tempting to blame just one person -- it just seems simpler, I guess -- but let's not forget that the author wasn't alone in this. The culpability is not hers alone.
- I'm also extremely troubled by the amount of "get over it and move on" comments I've seen. Just...no. If anything, getting over and moving on from other instances of similar problems is partly what got us to this point in the first place. I hate to state the obvious, but something needs to change (to put it mildly), and that's not going to happen if everyone just pretends the problem isn't there.
III. It's unfortunate that it takes something as cataclysmically ugly as this to make us all sit back and take a long, hard look at ourselves and the world around us. That is to say, those of us who are willing to look (instead of taking the simplistic, privileged approach of "get over it and move on" or "it's just fiction"). But I suppose there is some good in this in that people are talking about it in a (mostly) constructive way, so I hope that that leads to some sort productive character development.
Furthermore, I know that I'm probably not saying anything new, and that what I am saying probably sounds incredibly trite at points, but I had to say something. Also, if I offended anyone at any point in this discussion, please know that I'm sorry for it and it was entirely accidental (I checked over it repeatedly but I may have missed something). My emotions tend to color my thoughts sometimes, and I'm aware of the sensitive nature of this topic so I tried to tread as carefully as possible while still being frank.
Blergh. Crap like this is why I laugh my fool head off whenever I run across the phrase "post-racial America"/"post-racial society".
As I happen to be sick (the flu, I suspect) and fuzzed up on medicine accordingly, this post will probably go through lots and lots of edits, but know that my basic points remain the same. What are y'all's thoughts on the matter?
ETA: I encourage anyone who wants to to comment and spread the word wherever they see fit. My only request is to try to avoid bullying/personal attacks as much as possible.
---
"The first wealth is health..." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
---
Cheers.
P.S - Thanks to
eviinsanemonkey for the heads up about this in the first place
Tags:
- are you kidding me?,
- holy shit it's not a stark post,
- i can't make this up,
- i hate people,
- i have no words,
- is this real life?,
- it's raining tags (hallelujah),
- lol @ "post-racial" anything,
- politique!,
- sick,
- srs bznss,
- the internet makes me tired,
- the tags they breed,
- thinky thoughts hurt my brains,
- too many words not enough gifs,
- what is this fuckery?,
- what is this i don't even,
- where's a cluebat when i need one?
