does fannish engagement constitute endorsement?

[cimorene]

Even though I haven't WATCHED Glee or White Collar, I have read enough of people's intelligent and highly legitimate political criticisms on race and gender lines (you can find most of these posts via metafandom, probably), and in light of them, seeing a marked proliferation of those bookmarks and recs popping up in different places makes me sad - not in the specific, but in the general, about fandom's trends and what they say about its tastes.

Do new fandom reccing trends really indicate what fandom's general watcher-response pattern was? You can't say that with 100% certainty, of course. But a clearly observable upswing in fannish enthusiasm for a source text at least means people are forgiving it, even if they are still critically observing its flaws, and choosing to write about it.

One could charitably assume a motive of textual healing.

In practice, though, my observations have been that the problematic aspects of the text are usually reflected in the body of fanon, even when a strong critical discourse is emerging in non-fiction posts on the topic (a prime example: Uhura meta after Reboot release, versus Uhura treatment in early Reboot fanon, which was so bad that it led to a second wave of critical discourse... this time aimed at the fanon).

My possibly over-cynical view is that in general, a blossoming of sudden fannish engagement does tend to amount, in the fanon meta-text that emerges, to a reinforcement if not an endorsement of the flaws in the canon.

Comments

[torachan]

Sadly I think you're right. While, for example, I've asked for fic for minority characters in Glee for Yuletide, I believe the vast, vast majority of the current fandom output mirrors the show in that it's all about the white characters. In terms of slash, Kurt probably gets more screentime in fic than on the show, since he's gay and canonically has a crush on one of the major male characters (and is conveniently white!), but I seriously doubt if the other white male character who's marignalised on the show is getting any attention, since he's in a wheelchair.

I was disappointed to see someone on my flist who has been critical of Glee ask for almost all white characters in her Yuletide letter.

And that reminds me, I still haven't written an episode post for last week's episode (shorter version: gag-worthy as expected).

[cimorene]

I'm distressed to say that you're far from the only person I've seen talking about those issues with Glee.

I was also told recently that White Collar is even worse for minority representation than most FBI-focused shows, which is saying something. Apparently secondary and bit parts that would typically be written stereotyped and played by a woman or racial minority are mostly played by white men on that show.

[torachan]

Glee has been getting a lot of criticism, but there's also a ton of people who love it and are dismissive of any criticism because "zomg you people have no sense of humor! You just don't get it!" It's definitely one of those shows where I dare not venture into the actual fandom itself, because it seems to be fully embracing the show uncritically.

I haven't really read anything about White Collar because I'm not watching the show. It seems to be the big new show everyone's watching, though (on my flist anyway).

[cimorene]

Same here - Glee and White Collar are the most talked-about new shows, even though I also saw criticism of both very early on. That definitely swayed me away from watching either one.

[torachan]

I started watching Glee before I'd heard any criticism. I'd just heard "yay misfit kids singing and dancing! Diverse cast!" and then I watched it and was immediately disappointed that it was actually about the (straight, white, ablebodied, male) teacher instead of the kids, and it all went downhill from there.

If I'd seen criticism first, I probably wouldn't have watched, but now that I've started, I have trouble starting. Part of it is that I would like to have canon knowledge in order to read/write some of the marginalised characters, but a lot is just trainwreck syndrome. D:

[zvi]

Hmmm. Of the FBI agents we've met on the show who we would expect to be recurring, there's the main character Peter, who is white, and his boss, who is also white.

But the new transfer to the White Collar unit is Lauren Cruz, played by Natalie Morales.
His "junior" agent Jones is played by Sharif Atkins, who is black.
His "rival" in Organized Crime is played by Kirk Acevedo, who I believe is Hispanic. (Wikipedia says Puerto-Rican/Chinese.) (IMDB doesn't currently show him scheduled for additional episodes, but it only appears to reflect the first 7 or 8 episodes, I don't know how many were ordered.)

IMDB also shows an Evan Forlidas having a two ep role as "FBI Agent" in two episodes that haven't aired yet. He looks white from his IMDB picture, but who knows?

The pilot featured his probie Diana, played by Marsha Thomason, who is black. Per IMDB, she was only in the pilot, and the actress now has a role on a soap opera, so I doubt she'll be back.

There are other white, male FBI Agents, but so far, none of them have been more than bit parts or extras who don't appear to be recurring, so I'd be very interested in the analysis that has them worse in their representation than most FBI shows. Do you remember who? Metafandom's been pretty dead lately.

[isilya]

All the major characters are white -- Elizabeth, Kate, Peter, Neil, Peter's boss, Neil's sidekick. The exception is the Diana/Lauren character.

In many procedurals, they would have made Peter's boss a woman of colour and/or Neil's sidekick a man of colour.

EDIT: I had forgotten about Jones because I've only seen him speak about three times.

[zvi]

Hmm, I would say that the show is pretty white, but the FBI within the show didn't strike me as that white. (Frankly, not having Neal's criminal sidekick be a man of color works for me.) So, yes, the overall effect is Yet Another Show About White People.

[msilverstar]

I think that most fans don't think meta-critically, so they don't even notice the white, straight, American focus. There are some who do notice but don't care, others who think it's a flawed source like nearly everything else. I guess I don't see a fandom monolith, it seems more like a heard of crazed goats going off in little packs in all directions...

[anglepoiselamp]

Hmm. I didn't think White Collar was *that* bad, but maybe I've been desensitized by American television in general. Will have to pay more attention in the future. Based on what I can actually remember of watching the first few eps, I'd second what zvi said in her comment, but add that I doubt anyone will be writing fic about the mentioned characters. :/

[wishfulclicking]

I'm a fan of Glee (I've got a major weakness for musicals) but I do acknowledge the problems it has. I will admit to taking a breather and just think without the internet when it came to this recent controversy, and I came back with saying that the representation of disabled people on tv is a problem. I can see where the criticism is coming from, and I say that as a fan of Kevin McHale.

On the fannish level: every major fandom (SGA, Merlin, SPN, HP to some extent) have problems, and often I see those issues in the text continued on in the fanon. It kind of made me :/ when I went to the Gleekink comm and like 98% of the requests focused on Kurt, Puck, Quinn, Finn, and Rachel, with Will on the side.

So I do think that some fans come at fandom and perform some 'textual healing' and I love those stories, when I find them; but I don't think everyone is capable of doing that.

I was around the comms in Glee fandom when the criticism was addressed, and there was a majority response that amounted to 'Kevin McHale does a good job and I believe he was the best actor for the job' and I think they missed the main point of the criticism. It's not that McHale is bad for the role.

And yes, Glee fandom is rather reactive towards any kind of criticism, but I can't really think of any fandom that isn't--especially when the fandom is first starting. Most people tend to be really protective of something they are really attached to.

Do I think fannish engagement equals reinforcement? For the most part, yes. I think there's a range from 'I LOVE THIS SHOW AND IT'S PERFECT AND NOTHING IS WRONG WITH IT!!!' to 'It has some problems, but right now, I really enjoy it.' Are people part of fandom without liking it on some level?

[wishfulclicking]

ps: http://access-fandom.dreamwidth.org/5749.html

that is a better resource for issues relating to Glee and disability and other issues.

[laughingrat]

Not being part of those fandoms specifically, I'd guess it varies. I know of one fan of White Collar who has repeatedly called the show out on its misogyny, but who has told me she can also genuinely enjoy shows despite their misogyny or racist content. Me, not so much, although I can do that for classic movies (and some people can't). She has, incidentally, been all but boo'd out of the DW White Collar community for posting critical commentary about the show, which should, I suppose, tell you that your suspicions have some foundation. :(

In my small little fandom, we get mostly feminist women who either explore the genderfail in the fandom or play up the gender-win; we've got a really strong female supporting character and four guys who don't fit the mainstream Dominant Male profile. (This wouldn't keep them from being Nice Guys (TM), of course, but it helps a bit.) The original canon was pretty sexist, though. A lot of what we explore now, and what the other ladies are writing (I don't write), is stuff that brings forward the positive stuff and reshapes our canon to reflect the world as we want it. Oh--ha, yes, that's one of the primary functions of fanfiction, I suppose.