Fanfiction
I have another confession to make to you, my dear blog readers. I like fanfiction. Namely Harry Potter Fanfiction, but I've delved into Pride and Prejudice fanfiction, Labyrinth fanfiction and some Avatar: the Last Airbender fanfiction.
Really, it's just an extension of my love of reading and the fact that I do like fairytale and movie adaptions of books. I mean, there is no one way to tell a fairytale anyone who's seen a Disney movie (like Sleeping Beauty) and then read the Perrault version and then read Sun, Moon, and Talia is bound to either get very angry or come to accept that there's more than one way to tell a tale... even if one tale involves a fairy riding in a chariot of fire pulled by dragons.
That's right, still not over it.
Though, I think the moment when I first realized I had the ability was The Little Mermaid. I saw the movie a lot. I liked the idea of being a Mermaid and exploring the world beneath the waves when I was little. So the Disney Movie captivated my imagination. Then... Mom read me the book. Has anyone read the real story of The Little Mermaid, written by Hans Christian Anderson? Where she kills herself in the end? The one where the Sea Witch isn't exactly a bad guy? Has anyone seen a cartoon that tried to accurately depict it? I'm pretty sure I have a copy of it in my room... I'll have to rewatch those and do a comparative post for you some time...
Anyhow, Disney is fanfiction. Someone liked fairy tales enough to write a script and make storyboards translating the script into the visual medium retelling the tale with different characters. Ta-dah!
The only difference is... Disney made money off of it. Most fanfiction authors don't... unless they're ghost writers. Those are fanfiction writers with jobs in fanfiction. They never get acknowledged, but James Patterson wouldn't be so prolific without them.
So, now having explained to you that fanfiction is a valid form of entertainment enjoyed unknowingly by the masses; let's talk about the problem with fanfiction. There really is only one problem with fanfiction: a lot of it is complete and utter crap. Some fanfiction authors wouldn't know spelling and grammar if it came up and flashed them. Some fanfiction authors are only interested in imagining certain characters getting it on like rabbits. Some fanfiction authors don't realize that the reason the original author didn't write the kind of story they're writing is that the story they're writing is an awful, atrocious abomination to the laws of common sense and all that is good and holy. Some fanfiction authors simply have a lot to learn about writing.
This is a good thing so long as they don't make any money off of it. There's no real harm.
However, I can understand why an author would be shaky about fanfiction. Someone is taking the playground the author built from their own minds until it was perfect and messing around with that perfection to suit that someone's own needs. I don't let people walk around my house all willy-nilly. My stories come from my imagination, I don't want someone playing around in my head anymore than I want them coming into my house uninvited!
On the other hand, once a story is published, the author is essentially inviting people into a refined version of their imagination. They aren't walking into the house uninvited at all. The author let them in and told them to make themselves at home. Whenever I get done reading a book, my mind goes through all the possible what-ifs; I just don't write it down. I'm essentially playing in the playground alone while fanfiction authors are inviting all the kids to play with them.
I like playing with the fanfiction authors that are worth playing with. I like LessWrong's Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality. I like The Arc of Sacrifices by Lightning on the Wave. I like Her Kingdom is Great by Marble Glove. I like fanfiction and I'm proud of it. If they ever wrote a Hunger Games fanfiction where Katniss was genuinely asexual, I would definitely try to read it because I found the love triangle in that series rather stupid and ridiculous because it was obvious she'd end up with Peeta from the get-go so long as he didn't die. Why make it all complicated?
And if anyone wants to bring up the Marion Zimmer Bradley rebuttal or tell me about the horrors of Cassandra Clair(e), I'll tell you my views on those things, too, but they're part of the part of fanfiction that is bad.
So, go get down with your dirty self and read some fanfiction, supporting upstarting authors!
Really, it's just an extension of my love of reading and the fact that I do like fairytale and movie adaptions of books. I mean, there is no one way to tell a fairytale anyone who's seen a Disney movie (like Sleeping Beauty) and then read the Perrault version and then read Sun, Moon, and Talia is bound to either get very angry or come to accept that there's more than one way to tell a tale... even if one tale involves a fairy riding in a chariot of fire pulled by dragons.
That's right, still not over it.
Though, I think the moment when I first realized I had the ability was The Little Mermaid. I saw the movie a lot. I liked the idea of being a Mermaid and exploring the world beneath the waves when I was little. So the Disney Movie captivated my imagination. Then... Mom read me the book. Has anyone read the real story of The Little Mermaid, written by Hans Christian Anderson? Where she kills herself in the end? The one where the Sea Witch isn't exactly a bad guy? Has anyone seen a cartoon that tried to accurately depict it? I'm pretty sure I have a copy of it in my room... I'll have to rewatch those and do a comparative post for you some time...
Anyhow, Disney is fanfiction. Someone liked fairy tales enough to write a script and make storyboards translating the script into the visual medium retelling the tale with different characters. Ta-dah!
The only difference is... Disney made money off of it. Most fanfiction authors don't... unless they're ghost writers. Those are fanfiction writers with jobs in fanfiction. They never get acknowledged, but James Patterson wouldn't be so prolific without them.
So, now having explained to you that fanfiction is a valid form of entertainment enjoyed unknowingly by the masses; let's talk about the problem with fanfiction. There really is only one problem with fanfiction: a lot of it is complete and utter crap. Some fanfiction authors wouldn't know spelling and grammar if it came up and flashed them. Some fanfiction authors are only interested in imagining certain characters getting it on like rabbits. Some fanfiction authors don't realize that the reason the original author didn't write the kind of story they're writing is that the story they're writing is an awful, atrocious abomination to the laws of common sense and all that is good and holy. Some fanfiction authors simply have a lot to learn about writing.
This is a good thing so long as they don't make any money off of it. There's no real harm.
However, I can understand why an author would be shaky about fanfiction. Someone is taking the playground the author built from their own minds until it was perfect and messing around with that perfection to suit that someone's own needs. I don't let people walk around my house all willy-nilly. My stories come from my imagination, I don't want someone playing around in my head anymore than I want them coming into my house uninvited!
On the other hand, once a story is published, the author is essentially inviting people into a refined version of their imagination. They aren't walking into the house uninvited at all. The author let them in and told them to make themselves at home. Whenever I get done reading a book, my mind goes through all the possible what-ifs; I just don't write it down. I'm essentially playing in the playground alone while fanfiction authors are inviting all the kids to play with them.
I like playing with the fanfiction authors that are worth playing with. I like LessWrong's Harry Potter and Methods of Rationality. I like The Arc of Sacrifices by Lightning on the Wave. I like Her Kingdom is Great by Marble Glove. I like fanfiction and I'm proud of it. If they ever wrote a Hunger Games fanfiction where Katniss was genuinely asexual, I would definitely try to read it because I found the love triangle in that series rather stupid and ridiculous because it was obvious she'd end up with Peeta from the get-go so long as he didn't die. Why make it all complicated?
And if anyone wants to bring up the Marion Zimmer Bradley rebuttal or tell me about the horrors of Cassandra Clair(e), I'll tell you my views on those things, too, but they're part of the part of fanfiction that is bad.
So, go get down with your dirty self and read some fanfiction, supporting upstarting authors!
Comments
Post a Comment
Have something to say about this post? Write it here!