Fannish opinions, of the unpopular kind.

[rogueslayer452]

author_by_night has given some fandom writing prompts that I thought would be interesting to answer, at least one of them for now.


Unpopular opinions (this doesn't need to be fandom specific)

(I'm just doing a few that have been on my mind lately, as I have a lot of unpopular opinions for specific fandoms but that would take forever.)

** This was talked about this recently, but I wanted to reiterate with more depth: as much as I love Firefly, I have long made my peace with its cancellation. I can understand the initial reaction since I was also with the "Firefly deserved another season" train for a while there as well, but over the years I've come to terms with it, especially since the reason why it rose in popularity was because of its premature cancellation and the dedicated fan campaigns that helped get it noticed. It not only got a feature film made because of that, but it also has merchandise and a series of comics that continue the story. That is more than any cancelled show has ever gotten. If the show had gotten more seasons, I don't think it would've been nearly as well-known or recognized as it is today. Firefly's success came from its cancellation. I don't want a second season, nor do I think it needs to have a revival or reinvention. If there is another attempt to bring it back on television, I would rather it be in the form of an expanded universe like Stargate, having cameos from the original cast but focusing on an entirely new story with a brand new crew. Otherwise, we should just leave it be. Moreover, I think many fans who still obsess over its cancellation need to let it go.

** I couldn't care less for the MCU or the DCEU. Aside from a few films I don't really care or connect with them. Marvel television, on the other hand, I actually really love a whole lot, I feel the majority of them have been underrated, since I feel more attached and connected with the characters and their stories, and it's why I'm incredibly bitter and pissed off that they basically cancelled it in favor of their MCU-based shows on Disney+.

** I'm just so tired of faux "woke culture" trying to push and dictate what I should consume and enjoy, this goes for fan culture and mainstream media, to the point when anyone claims that something is so diverse or progressive that you absolutely have to watch it (often with the "or else" implied to guilt you into seeing it otherwise you're not "woke" enough), I immediately get wary because oftentimes when you have to sell it that hard it's probably not as progressive as you think it is. Mind you, I used to fall into this trap as well. It's good to want to be inclusive and to promote and advocate visibility of marginalized groups in various entertainment mediums, we need more of this and to seek it out, however it's completely different when it's entirely performative where it's just ticking off a checklist to get praise and pats on the back for doing barely anything at all. Nowadays it just seems like there's this forced narrative for a certain level of "wokeness" that is very performative and manipulative to audiences, and in my opinion it's both counterproductive and insulting to actual genuine representation and equality in media.

Comments

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I also don't think Firefly was the genius all the fans said. *Ducks and stays ducked for a minute* Look, don't get me wrong - I think it was good, I still love the show and the universe, and there was a lot of potential it never got to reach, but I think you're also right that its' being cancelled was partly what made it successful. Also, there are elements that make absolutely no damn sense. Maybe some of those things would've made more sense with time to explain them, but for instance, why were some parts of the society so Jane Austen or even Medieval? And the lack of Asian characters on a show where they speak Mandarin? Weird. This was partly rectified in my mind because I always thought Summer Glau was Asian, but she's not.

I would definitely love an expanded universe! Especially one that addressed the questions I raised above.

Mind you, I used to fall into this trap as well. It's good to want to be inclusive and to promote and advocate visibility of marginalized groups in various entertainment mediums, we need more of this and to seek it out, however it's completely different when it's entirely performative where it's just ticking off a checklist to get praise and pats on the back for doing barely anything at all.

Yeah, I agree. There's honestly something problematic about that. I read a book that wanted so badly to be progressive and diverse, except the white character spent the whole time - or at least the time I gave the book, which wasn't much - going "I'm white, am I thinking about these people of color fairly?" It was kind of gross and racist in an attempt to not be gross or racist. It would have made more sense if she'd been confronted with privilege, or if she realized she hadn't known something quite obvious in hindsight. Instead, we get reminder after reminder that she's white and the other characters are not. That's definitely performative, especially as the writer decided to cast her non-white characters as "other" and the white character as White McWhiterson. So she was being racist in trying to not be racist.

(For the record, I do have diversity in my current WIP, but it really wasn't even an effort? The characters just came to me as they were, because surprise surprise, I like writing about people, and... people come from all different walks of life.)

ETA: That being said, I do think an effort for diversity is important. Also, sensitivity readers are important. But I also think a sensitivity reader will tell you whether you're truly giving fair representation in your work, or if you're coming across as performative.

It can also get tiring in fan discourse. I'll admit I like examining the problematic elements in works, I think it's important and I think that we do need to discuss those things so we do better in future works. Also, sometimes you just can't ignore it, and sometimes the medium itself was trying to get a message across, so it's as much a contemporary "woke" approach as it is an examination of that deeper message. For instance, Joss Whedon wanted Buffy to be feminist, so discussions of how it... failed in some areas are incredibly relevant. And there's a lot of ableism I've been pleased to hear called out, because Joss Whedon really liked throwing around terms like "r___ded" and "special." Definitely call that crap out. However, sometimes I think people find things where there's really nothing, and sometimes I feel we forget it's okay to just enjoy a thing, too.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Firefly is one of those shows that had an interesting concept and showed potential, but unfortunately didn't get enough time to fully flesh out that world-building. I watched all the behind-the-scenes stuff too, and I understand what they were going for, but as a whole it didn't really land as solidly as it could have, y'know? It was definitely unique and creative for the time it premiered no doubt, especially the western in space aspect, but since then there have been plenty of other scifi shows, some most likely inspired I'm sure, that did it much better.

I would definitely love an expanded universe! Especially one that addressed the questions I raised above.

I haven't read much of the comics so I don't know if there's been any expansion of the world-building especially after the events of the movie, but an expanded universe is definitely something that I would totally get behind. I think, given the time they've had, the world can further be examined and we can get into what was initially setup in more detail.

Instead, we get reminder after reminder that she's white and the other characters are not. That's definitely performative

Yeah, this whole aspect of constantly reminding the audience of these things comes across not only performative but also incredibly tone deaf as well. We don't need to be preached at, we don't need constant nudges and winks or whatever. Just tell a story and write characters as human beings. There are ways of showing representation and doing social commentary about serious issues without all the other nonsense.

However, sometimes I think people find things where there's really nothing, and sometimes I feel we forget it's okay to just enjoy a thing, too.

Exactly. We can think critically about things in the media we consume, unfortunately so many seem to want to find everything problematic by placing it all underneath a microscope and make something out of nothing. We can acknowledge the faults in things while still enjoying them, we don't have to "cancel" everything just because it has one or two questionable things about it. This is where the faux wokeness comes into play, because "woke culture" has become all about black and white thinking and that's really dangerous. It has made so many people afraid of even liking the things they like in fear of being attacked by random strangers online for not being "woke" enough, and that's very concerning, imho.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Yup, unfortunately met someone like that (the last point) in real life this past Sunday at a meetup. Hope not to experience that again.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's exhausting and draining to deal with online, I can't imagine what it was like in real life where you didn't much more of an easy escape from the conversation.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Yup, I agree with all of these.