christ on a cracker
Right. That subject line is probably going to be misunderstood.
Angry ranting about Racefail:FFXIII Edition is behind the cut. Click at your own risk; you may not like what you read.
I'm not going to link the tl;dr about the Sazh icons. I'm not going to link to the icons. I'm not going to give my thoughts on yaoi race, fandom, icons, context, fallacious arguments, or why it is extra hilarious that all this breaks out while I'm teaching Huck Finn in a school with maybe twenty black kids in it. Although, I had every intention of allowing the teal deer out of the compound to run amuck.
Instead, I'm going to declaim my biggest issue with all this commentary.
If you have something to say about an offensive fanwork, please say it to the creator of the fanwork.
Maybe you don't want to waste time and energy fighting what you know will be a backlash. Maybe you don't want to make the creator feel attacked. Maybe you don't want to talk about the fanwork at all, but you'll use it as an example anyway. I do respect all those reasons.
But you started a backlash. Calling the maker out in a public forum is more of an attack than a comment in the maker's LJ (which could be screened) or an email -- especially when three different people do it. And only using examples from one maker demonstrates that your problem is, in fact, with this particular fanwork.
Several people are commenting on these issues, which is great. Free speech and sharing ideas and talking about the elephant in the room and all = wonderful. Many of the comments express emotions ranging from exasperation to outrage to disgust. All ok reactions as far as I'm concerned, and it's not like I'm the Internet Emotion Police to pass judgment on it all, anyway. But. At this point, the maker might be thinking, "Man, if I pissed off so many people, why the hell didn't anyone say anything? Why are they all talking about me as though I'm not right here? Bitches." Or at least, that's what the maker might be thinking if she were me. And the completely valid point of the commentary would be lost to understandable hurt feelings.
TL;DR = confront. Don't pretend to be doing anyone a favor by taking it to another sandbox and opening it to the neighborhood.
Before anyone calls me a big, fat hypocrite, I made my feelings known on the first screed I came across. The second can do without my meddling. Also, since I try to practice what I preach, this post is unlocked. Watch me get fired for expressing my opinion on fandom shenanigans.
See also Sherborn's speech in the aforementioned Huck, which I covered in class today. Perhaps that's why I'm especially irritated by all the backdoor criticism. Or perhaps I'm just a nasty person; that could well be true. Feel free to comment, although I'll feel free to respond, ignore, delete, screen, or freeze at will. Fair warning.
ETA: Good for you, justira; that's what I'm talking about.
ETA2: Also, since I'm called out, let me make it clear that I agree the icons rely on racist stereotypes. I don't think the maker meant harm, but she caused harm, and not meaning it is not a good excuse for causing it. I think some people are occasionally taking a tone of righteousness that sounds to me strident and wanky, which makes me angry because IMO it undermines justified outrage. I'm also tired of all of this, mostly because of one person's tiresome NOT GETTING IT comments. Finally, I pulled the credential card in response to someone else's credential card, and I admitted as I did it that it was pretty silly to be doing it. Apparently, that makes me butthurt in a reasonable conversation with someone else. Ok; I'll get some prep-H for that, I suppose.
In short, I don't think anyone should give a rat's ass about my opinion, but I would like to express it.
Angry ranting about Racefail:FFXIII Edition is behind the cut. Click at your own risk; you may not like what you read.
I'm not going to link the tl;dr about the Sazh icons. I'm not going to link to the icons. I'm not going to give my thoughts on yaoi race, fandom, icons, context, fallacious arguments, or why it is extra hilarious that all this breaks out while I'm teaching Huck Finn in a school with maybe twenty black kids in it. Although, I had every intention of allowing the teal deer out of the compound to run amuck.
Instead, I'm going to declaim my biggest issue with all this commentary.
If you have something to say about an offensive fanwork, please say it to the creator of the fanwork.
Maybe you don't want to waste time and energy fighting what you know will be a backlash. Maybe you don't want to make the creator feel attacked. Maybe you don't want to talk about the fanwork at all, but you'll use it as an example anyway. I do respect all those reasons.
But you started a backlash. Calling the maker out in a public forum is more of an attack than a comment in the maker's LJ (which could be screened) or an email -- especially when three different people do it. And only using examples from one maker demonstrates that your problem is, in fact, with this particular fanwork.
Several people are commenting on these issues, which is great. Free speech and sharing ideas and talking about the elephant in the room and all = wonderful. Many of the comments express emotions ranging from exasperation to outrage to disgust. All ok reactions as far as I'm concerned, and it's not like I'm the Internet Emotion Police to pass judgment on it all, anyway. But. At this point, the maker might be thinking, "Man, if I pissed off so many people, why the hell didn't anyone say anything? Why are they all talking about me as though I'm not right here? Bitches." Or at least, that's what the maker might be thinking if she were me. And the completely valid point of the commentary would be lost to understandable hurt feelings.
TL;DR = confront. Don't pretend to be doing anyone a favor by taking it to another sandbox and opening it to the neighborhood.
Before anyone calls me a big, fat hypocrite, I made my feelings known on the first screed I came across. The second can do without my meddling. Also, since I try to practice what I preach, this post is unlocked. Watch me get fired for expressing my opinion on fandom shenanigans.
See also Sherborn's speech in the aforementioned Huck, which I covered in class today. Perhaps that's why I'm especially irritated by all the backdoor criticism. Or perhaps I'm just a nasty person; that could well be true. Feel free to comment, although I'll feel free to respond, ignore, delete, screen, or freeze at will. Fair warning.
ETA: Good for you, justira; that's what I'm talking about.
ETA2: Also, since I'm called out, let me make it clear that I agree the icons rely on racist stereotypes. I don't think the maker meant harm, but she caused harm, and not meaning it is not a good excuse for causing it. I think some people are occasionally taking a tone of righteousness that sounds to me strident and wanky, which makes me angry because IMO it undermines justified outrage. I'm also tired of all of this, mostly because of one person's tiresome NOT GETTING IT comments. Finally, I pulled the credential card in response to someone else's credential card, and I admitted as I did it that it was pretty silly to be doing it. Apparently, that makes me butthurt in a reasonable conversation with someone else. Ok; I'll get some prep-H for that, I suppose.
In short, I don't think anyone should give a rat's ass about my opinion, but I would like to express it.