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poliphiloFandom- I don't get it.
Why would you want to mess with someone else's characters when you can create your own?
Does J.K. Rowling take pleasure in badly written stories about her characters having sex? I doubt it. Why- If you admire and enjoy her work - would you want to disrespect her so?
Isn't "fan" a bit of a misnomer?
But lets move from the general to the specific. An artist just got banned by LJ because of an image she posted of Harry and Snape.
Only the banning seems ineffective because she's bounced back and the image is viewable. (I'm not giving links. I don't want to give her any more publicity than she's getting already).
I clicked. I was expecting an image of them kissing. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
The characters were clearly modelled on Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Rickman. Isn't this defamation of character or libel of something?
Even more to the point: British comedian Chris Langham is about to go to prison for downloading images which (I assume ) are comparable to this.
So- forget morality- LJ needs to guard itself against prosecution.
But I don't want to forget morality. You take characters from a beloved children's book and you produce an image of them that any paedophile would be proud to own (you can quibble over whether Harry looks underage or not if you want to be legalistic and miss the point) and I can't think of any grounds on which I'd be prepared to defend you.
A lot of fans are up in arms and banging on about censorship. I just watched a video of a girl give a little self-righteous speech then attempt to burn her LJ shirt with a blow torch . Fine. Off you trot to some less scrupulous site and good luck to you! As it happens, I'm perfectly happy to see you go.
Why would you want to mess with someone else's characters when you can create your own?
Does J.K. Rowling take pleasure in badly written stories about her characters having sex? I doubt it. Why- If you admire and enjoy her work - would you want to disrespect her so?
Isn't "fan" a bit of a misnomer?
But lets move from the general to the specific. An artist just got banned by LJ because of an image she posted of Harry and Snape.
Only the banning seems ineffective because she's bounced back and the image is viewable. (I'm not giving links. I don't want to give her any more publicity than she's getting already).
I clicked. I was expecting an image of them kissing. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
The characters were clearly modelled on Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Rickman. Isn't this defamation of character or libel of something?
Even more to the point: British comedian Chris Langham is about to go to prison for downloading images which (I assume ) are comparable to this.
So- forget morality- LJ needs to guard itself against prosecution.
But I don't want to forget morality. You take characters from a beloved children's book and you produce an image of them that any paedophile would be proud to own (you can quibble over whether Harry looks underage or not if you want to be legalistic and miss the point) and I can't think of any grounds on which I'd be prepared to defend you.
A lot of fans are up in arms and banging on about censorship. I just watched a video of a girl give a little self-righteous speech then attempt to burn her LJ shirt with a blow torch . Fine. Off you trot to some less scrupulous site and good luck to you! As it happens, I'm perfectly happy to see you go.
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Spoiler Warning
Date: 2007-08-06 04:21 am (UTC)Those of us in fandom don't disrespect a creator's work, we adore it. When the creator is finished creating, those of us who adore the work find ourselves left out in the cold and starved for more.
I'll add some spoiler space for those who haven't yet read the last Harry Potter book.
S
P
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L
E
R
S
P
A
C
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Hope that's enough!
In Deathly Hallows, Voldemort and the Death Eaters take over the government and Hogwarts school. In Chapter 12, September 1 rolls around and we find out that Professor Snape, my favorite character, is named Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Harry doesn't arrive at Hogwarts until Chapter 29 and doesn't encounter Snape until Chapter 30. Months have passed. What has Snape been up to all that time? I want to know, but JK Rowling is never going to tell us. However, some of my fellow fans eventually will, and very little of it will involve porn.
Hopefully this gives you a little idea of what a lot of serious fans look for in their fandom. Think about a book/movie/tv show you enjoy, but have at one time or another thought, "But what happened when ____ ?" Those are the places fandom lives.
Re: Spoiler Warning
Date: 2007-08-06 08:10 am (UTC)I have never (at least not since childhood- and no, not even then) lost myself in a book to that extent. To me a book is an artefact not a world.
I have little curiosity about what happens in the gaps. If the writer chooses not to tell me certain things I respect his/her artistic decision. And when I've finished one book I move onto another.