In a way I feel like I woke up and the TARDIS has touched down in 1997, and we're all having this ridiculous debate that I thought we were so done with, you know? This kind of broad-stroke, polarizing issue about whether we're going to be Supportive of Our Fic Writers or Mean Girls. People like you and I spent all these years trying to open up this middle space where we could say something isn't perfectly fabulous and the writer didn't pull it off well in a way that is respectful and honest -- and now I feel like the people who are doing that in *this* debate are being wholly ignored in the frenzy of "you're a mindless sheep and you like crappy fic" versus "you're socially retarded and you like tearing things down."
What both sides seem to have in common is that everyone is invoking We (including me, so take this complaint for what it's worth *g*). A lot of the frustration over "Arcana" comes out of this sense that it represents Us, and it's unelected representation that in fact runs counter to what we would like outsiders to know about Us, which is that we're fucking brilliant *g* A lot of the anger on the other side obviously comes out of this sense that We have not been consistent, that first We pulled Em into this, and then We turned on her.
Both sides are pretty much totally wrong, when you stop and think about it. "Arcana" is not the poster child for fanfic, and you're right, we're "policing our own" in a way that is, if nothing else, kind of irrelevant, treating it as if it were going to ruin our cherished reputations. Most people already think what we do doesn't live up to the quality of what pro writers do; if this story isn't one that's going to change people's minds, the idea that it's something that's going to make things somehow worse is pretty far-fetched. *Our* futures are not riding on this the way some people have managed to convince themselves they are. And on the other side, there's this anger because of a sense that *we* championed "Arcana" and then *we* flip-flopped and refused to stand behind it, when in reality I haven't seen anyone say they've changed positions over the course of this -- there were always people who thought it was a fine and reasonable nomination and there were always people who thought it was a totally inappropriate and ill-conceived nomination, and people in the latter category shouldn't have to bear the burden of arguing their own side and "standing behind" the opposition, too, just because both sides are fans.
I've never been in any community, ever, that didn't have to deal with this sometime: the natural desire for consensus, for all of us to be in this together and operating in unison, even if it has to be imposed or invented. It's impossible not to want that, and hard to fight it, but I think this is the perfect example of why you have to.
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Date: 2006-05-21 01:46 pm (UTC)From:What both sides seem to have in common is that everyone is invoking We (including me, so take this complaint for what it's worth *g*). A lot of the frustration over "Arcana" comes out of this sense that it represents Us, and it's unelected representation that in fact runs counter to what we would like outsiders to know about Us, which is that we're fucking brilliant *g* A lot of the anger on the other side obviously comes out of this sense that We have not been consistent, that first We pulled Em into this, and then We turned on her.
Both sides are pretty much totally wrong, when you stop and think about it. "Arcana" is not the poster child for fanfic, and you're right, we're "policing our own" in a way that is, if nothing else, kind of irrelevant, treating it as if it were going to ruin our cherished reputations. Most people already think what we do doesn't live up to the quality of what pro writers do; if this story isn't one that's going to change people's minds, the idea that it's something that's going to make things somehow worse is pretty far-fetched. *Our* futures are not riding on this the way some people have managed to convince themselves they are. And on the other side, there's this anger because of a sense that *we* championed "Arcana" and then *we* flip-flopped and refused to stand behind it, when in reality I haven't seen anyone say they've changed positions over the course of this -- there were always people who thought it was a fine and reasonable nomination and there were always people who thought it was a totally inappropriate and ill-conceived nomination, and people in the latter category shouldn't have to bear the burden of arguing their own side and "standing behind" the opposition, too, just because both sides are fans.
I've never been in any community, ever, that didn't have to deal with this sometime: the natural desire for consensus, for all of us to be in this together and operating in unison, even if it has to be imposed or invented. It's impossible not to want that, and hard to fight it, but I think this is the perfect example of why you have to.