It seems to me that the Boing-Boing argument is that fanfic is more that it relies *more* heavily on context than other works; while I agree that Apocalypse Now wouldn't work to someone unfamiliar with the basic tenants of the world, there's still context to guide you. In SGA fic, for example, there were a number of jokes about Rodney's allergy to citrus that weren't explained and didn't make sense to me when I first came into the fandom, because I started reading the fic before watching the show.
The problem is that I disagree with their implication that a heavier reliance on an existing framework makes for an objectively worse creation. There are any number of books that are part of a series, for example, and that build on each other; I think you need to read the Harry Potter books One and Two before reading "The Prisoner of Azkaban," in order to fully understand the references, but that doesn't mean "Prisoner" is a worse book than "Sorcerer's Stone." (Probably not a great example, but I'm just using the first example off the top of my head.) Works that depend on other works are not, in themselves, worse -- "Pride and Prejudice" sequels notwithstanding.
I was wondering, though, if you've seen anyone address what I think is the main problem most people have with fanfic -- mainly, that it's written and consumed almost exclusively by women. I know of one person on my flist who has self-defined as a man, and that's it; fanfic is not something that most men read or write in the context of livejournal, dw, ff.net, etc.
I think that the fact that fanfic is such a woman-dominated area is something very important when talking about how "bad" or how "pointless" it is. Whenever I read another screed against fanfic, it feels like it's being condemned primarily for being "girly" as well as morally bankrupt or what-not. I mean, all the comparisons to cross-stitching and knitting and such can't be coincidence, can they?
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The problem is that I disagree with their implication that a heavier reliance on an existing framework makes for an objectively worse creation. There are any number of books that are part of a series, for example, and that build on each other; I think you need to read the Harry Potter books One and Two before reading "The Prisoner of Azkaban," in order to fully understand the references, but that doesn't mean "Prisoner" is a worse book than "Sorcerer's Stone." (Probably not a great example, but I'm just using the first example off the top of my head.) Works that depend on other works are not, in themselves, worse -- "Pride and Prejudice" sequels notwithstanding.
I was wondering, though, if you've seen anyone address what I think is the main problem most people have with fanfic -- mainly, that it's written and consumed almost exclusively by women. I know of one person on my flist who has self-defined as a man, and that's it; fanfic is not something that most men read or write in the context of livejournal, dw, ff.net, etc.
I think that the fact that fanfic is such a woman-dominated area is something very important when talking about how "bad" or how "pointless" it is. Whenever I read another screed against fanfic, it feels like it's being condemned primarily for being "girly" as well as morally bankrupt or what-not. I mean, all the comparisons to cross-stitching and knitting and such can't be coincidence, can they?
Have you felt this at all, or am I just paranoid?