meta rec - I probably shouldn't post about this, but... (Merlin fandom)

I probably shouldn't post about this, but . . . by linaerys regarding the Merlin fandom in response to thingswithwings post on Merlin (linked in entry).



This is pretty much a lot of what I wanted to say on the subject after reading thingswithwings's post, but a.) I am not even in the Merlin fandom and have only watched a little of the show, so authority, see I have none and b.) I'm not terribly objective since I was in comments there and being sane, I'm not going to post on something when my feelings are hurt or blah blah whineycakes.

It's more--I'm not sure I have the right to take it personally when I think there was actual escalation involved, and I'm not entirely sure I'm not to blame for getting frustrated with the concept that seemed to be running through the essay and much more specifically in comments regarding a social obligation not to be fannish on source text that's problematic. So, yeah. I'm still reading through it to make sure I didn't misinterpret, but it's still bothering me, because a.) really, no, fans are not now responsible for the creators actions and b.) I'm not comfortable fans themselves be judged by what they are fannish about. I know there are exceptions to this--I can think of several off the top of my head I'd find problematic, like fangirling Nazis, because it's not a good post unless I can Godwin it--but I'm also extremely wary of skating toward your kink is not okay.

Like I said, linaerys said it far better and more clearly than I can.

Comments

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Is it really that hard to think "this show is awesome because..." and "this show is problematic because..." at the same time, to like something while also being critical of the parts that suck? It really seems to be a difficult concept to grasp for some people.

That does throw me, because the assumption that we aren't thinking critically is just ridiculous. I have to admit, I don't record every single critical thought on every show, and in some, I don't think I've ever even mentioned them in LJ. Because really. I also don't mention how many times a day I brush my teeth, so assuming I am a hater of toothpaste from that is just unreal.

[liraelsays.livejournal.com]

There's just so many reasons why someone would not write about a show's skanky issues with /insert -ism or prejudice of your choice/, and yes, sometimes that is because they don't notice them and sometimes it's because they don't think it's that big a deal, but it could also be because they want their journal to be a positive space or because they have ranted about said skanky issues so many times they assume everyone reading their journal already know how they feel or maybe they feel other people in fandom are saying what they're thinking better or or or a gazillion other reasons.

Besides, if all we could watch and be fannish about were skanky-issues-free shows there'd be nothing for us to watch, not even the shows of the revered St. Joss.

[niqaeli]

Actually, I think we could watch Criminal Minds. Most weeks, anyway. They get race and gender balance and presentation as right as anyone I've ever seen has.

Of course they're not *perfect* at it, so it is entirely possible we couldn't even watch them.

Also there's that part where it is all about hunting down skeevy-ass serial killers.

[liraelsays.livejournal.com]

They're certainly better than Stargate Atlantis, Supernatural and Merlin combined, that's for sure, but the bosses (Hotch, Gideon, what's-his-name) are all white men, Morgan doesn't take center stage as often as he should, Penelope could be said to fall into the quirky fat chick-role and there are no queer characters. Which probably means it's not non-skanky enough. I don't know. Personally I love Criminal Minds.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

Penelope could be said to fall into the quirky fat chick-role

And the only time she had an actual hot guy be attracted to her, he turned out to be Evil. When they brought on Nicholas Brandon to be her occasionally-appearing canonical boyfriend (presumably so that viewers would not take the flirting between her and Morgan seriously) they even went so far as to put him in nerd glasses and ugly-ass shirts just to make certain -- so far as I can tell -- that nobody in the audience actually thought for a minute that a quirky fat chick deserved/could ever have a boyfriend whose hotness level exceeded her own.

[liraelsays.livejournal.com]

Yes. That too. Much as I like the relationship between Penelope and whatever-Brandon's-character-is-called there's something about it that makes me twitch.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Okay, that wasn't my imagination. Nicholas Brandon is hot. I kept looking at him going "...something is wrong here." And I couldnt' work it out.

That was a deliberate choice? Dear God.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

That was a deliberate choice? Dear God.

They certainly don't pay their costume designers money to do that sort of thing accidentally.

[liraelsays.livejournal.com]

Not to mention (and I hope you don't mind me ranting in your lj when you've already moved on to other things, but I couldn't stop thinking about this last night) that this really is one of those times when we're all sitting in glass houses. There are no "perfect" shows, only a lot of more or less "imperfect" shows and we all make compromises. We all tell ourselves that where show X is concerned the love I have for characters A and B outweigh the skanky issues re: /insert -isms and prejudices that I care about/ so I'll keep watching, but when it comes to show Y it doesn't matter how much I love ship C/D I still can't watch it because of its skanky issues, and so on. We all do this all the time, and just because other people doesn't make the same choices that I make that gives me no right to judge them because their compromises are different from mine. *fumes*