![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cimoreneEven 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 ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
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.
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.
(no subject)
Date: 15 Nov 2009 05:53 pm (UTC)that is a better resource for issues relating to Glee and disability and other issues.