Further on the most important element of the next Doctor Who episode, plus a request

[lizbee]

And I've lost the link, but there was also a picture of Jenny with a Silurian woman wearing much the same outfit.

ALL THE ADVENTURES, GUYS.



On a less awesome note, I've been struggling for a few days now to try and come up with a non-wanky way of saying this, but I keep coming back to the same thing:

The squee-harshing in my LJ and DW comments is really getting me down, and I want it to stop.

I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to say that, because I don't want to be silencing debate or choosing to maintain privilege by ignoring criticism. But it's not really a debate: people come into my posts, and, with or without even acknowledging what I've said, state their contradictory opinions as fact. And then, I've been told on Twitter, people disagree, but feel uncomfortable doing so in a third party's LJ, and then start to feel their own pleasure in the show is wrong, and so they keep silent. That's not a debate, that's a monologue. And it gives me the shits, because when I make my posts, I'm usually happy and squeeful, and within an hour that is inevitably brought crashing down by someone pissing in the metaphorical breakfast cereal.

None of these comments are anon, they all come from people with their own LJs, so they've got their own platforms on which to share opinions. I have a strict practice of not playing the Happiness Patrol when people aren't enjoying something, which means I don't come into personal LJs and tell you to shut up and start smiling. Please have the decency to do the same for me. At the very least, feel free to acknowledge my own opinions before talking back at me.

As for privilege/critique/etc, generally there comes a point where I do want to seek out critique, but I do it in my own time, when I feel ready and have the mental energy to apply myself. There's a meme going around Tumblr at the moment about how there is only one way to watch a problematic show, and if you don't do it right, you're part of the problem. And while there's merit in that, the current right way involves so much energy that, especially now when I'm on the edge of another arthritic flare-up, I'd find an evening of staring at a blank screen more restful than adhering to the strict guidelines of a Tumblr meme.

Also, if even reading discussion re: fail, *isms etc that have actually aired takes more energy than I can physically maintain, it takes a whole lot more to get outraged over things which haven't happened yet, which may not happen, are unlikely to happen at all given the nature and audience of the show, and frankly, if you have the time I'm happy for you, but I've got other things to do. And the implicit (or, occasionally, explicit) demand that I justify liking something, or even not hating it, or just hating it less than other people, is ridiculous.

In short, my feeling is this: I know you don't like it, I respect your right, and I don't really care. Except that I seem to be expected to care, and that just makes me cranky. So cranky I spend three whole days brooding on the topic and struggling to articulate the line between healthy debate and disagreement, and ... not.

I have a lot of friends who have either taken their fannish posts behind lock or stopped making them all together. I don't want to do that, but at the same time, there comes a point where the pleasure I get in making the posts is far outweighed by the frustration I feel over the next days.

Comments

[sohotrightnow]

Oh heavens I am now afraid to ask what I missed. Ughhhh fandom why are you so frustrating. >:( And for what it's worth, I don't think you're being unreasonable or flaunting your privilege at all (not least because there's a world of difference between asking someone to please not refer to Female Character X with a gendered slur and simply telling someone that their opinions are bad and they should feel bad).

Also,

There's a meme going around Tumblr at the moment about how there is only one way to watch a problematic show, and if you don't do it right, you're part of the problem.

WHAT. Goodness I am not sorry I'm not caught up on Tumblr post-vacation yet. IDEK how to begin with that.

Anyhoo, tl;dr you are not being unreasonable to ask people to please pee in people's cereal in their own bathroom rather than on your breakfast table, and I hope your poor joints feel better soon! ♥

[lizbee]

WHAT. Goodness I am not sorry I'm not caught up on Tumblr post-vacation yet. IDEK how to begin with that.

It was a really interesting meme -- well, "reblog this if you don't hate kittens", that's a kind of meme -- about how simply acknowledging that your source is problematic is not enough, you also have to actively seek out fanworks that fix the problems, and write them, and also find shows and books that don't have those problems...

And I do a lot of that stuff already, obviously, but put that way it just seemed like so much effort when I'm already running on limited time and energy.

I should go back and find the meme itself. It probably deserves a post of its own.

[jesuswasbatman]

I agree with the "find better stuff" because there is no point constantly watching/reading stuff you find politically repellent (that's why I've given up Joss Whedon crap and why I gave up Patricia D Cornwell years ago). But the "you must write fix-it fic" is... yeah, not everyone actually has the time and literary skill to do that. And I'm more than a bit unhappy about the idea you get among some politicised fans and external academic observers of fandom that all the best/most-interesting fanfic must be stuff that didactically critiques the politics of the source work. It just seems a bit joyless and reductive and instrumental.

[lizbee]

Agreed, and it also marginalises people whose fannish activities don't involve fic. Vidding and art obviously have room for critique, but I'd be curious to see how someone could incorporate it into, say, cosplay.

[jesuswasbatman]

Ooooo. Steampunk Mau-Mau rebels? The Sisters of Pythia here to take revenge on River-hating fanboys?

[lizbee]

Okay, those are both brilliant ideas. And now I want to do a mass Sisterhood of Karn cosplay.

[jesuswasbatman]

And you could probably argue that all the genderswap Doctor cosplays are protesting against the idea that the character has to be always male.

[lizbee]

You're right. In fact, one Australian con allegedly tried to ban crossplay, senior people being made uncomfortable by a six foot man in a Sailor Moon costume. So there's that.

[phosfate]

Isn't a six-foot man in a Sailor Moon costume one of the major reasons for going to cons in the first place?

[wolfy_writing]

It was a really interesting meme -- well, "reblog this if you don't hate kittens", that's a kind of meme -- about how simply acknowledging that your source is problematic is not enough, you also have to actively seek out fanworks that fix the problems, and write them, and also find shows and books that don't have those problems...

Wow, that seems like a massive chore! I like doing fic that addresses the problematic bit sometimes, but inspiration is capricious, and tedious "written because Tumblr says I have to do it or be a bad person" fic Making A Point about whatever issues are in canon are not likely to do any good. If anything, they're going to put people off thinking about social justice stuff at all, because they'll strengthen the whole "Social justice=replacing everything interesting with didactic lectures on prejudice" association. There are already a lot of people who avoid any fic with a whiff of making a social point because they're expecting it to be lectury crap, and this would just make it worse.

(Really, what I think people should do is not actively shout down people highlighting problematic bits, not jumping in all "No, you're wrong!" unless there's actual factual evidence to the contrary, and if they produce fic someone thinks has issues, try to avoid knee-jerk "You just called me racist!" reactions. Beyond that, everyone's free to decide if they want to approach fandom in a SJ way or not, and if so, when and how. It can be effort and take energy and time and it's only fair to acknowledge that.)