boosting the signal for a film about fandom

[ride_4ever]

Click here to go to their Kickstarter page!

Comments

[petra]

In case you haven't seen the reactions of fans of color to this project, this post seems pretty representative.

[ride_4ever]

Opinion noted, and wondering how representative you mean by "pretty representative". This really shocked me because in all the times I've hung out with Franzeska I never picked up any kind of racist vibe from her such as what the blogger attributes to her.

[petra]

Here is another response which many people in my circles have linked to. For context, the author is an Indian woman.

It's important to note that "racist" here does not mean "openly says negative things about nonwhite people." I have never met F., but I assume that as an intelligent modern person who interacts with a varied group of people, she wouldn't do that.

The oft-cited 16K meta is here. I'm much more interested in the comments than the meta itself, because they show what people other than F. think of her thoughts. In this shorter piece of meta she begins an analysis of why Star Wars: The Force Awakens fandom ships two white evil dudes over two heroes who are not white with an assumption that the cause isn't racism. Various people point out flaws in her meta that come from her dismissal of racism, and if she ever addressed those points the comments have been deleted.

If someone writes something, is informed of her implicit biases, does nothing about them, and then wants money to make a film about not being racist, that's a problem. She doesn't have to put a Confederate flag on her blog for me to say she's unqualified to speak for people of color, or that her participation in a project about people of color is questionable.

If she's trying to learn, that's laudable, but making a film shouldn't be her first step into listening to nonwhite people. She's got plenty of people trying to point out issues in her logic on the AO3 meta. If she didn't want the education for free, nobody should pay her so she can learn.

[ride_4ever]

Thank you for the further clarification (pointing me to readers' comments). I read Franzeska's meta very early on and so knew little of the reader reaction it had drawn. Without denying the legitimacy of anyone's feelings, from personal experience I do believe that at least sometimes a reader presumes malicious intent where there is none. For instance, I once wrote a fic that mentioned "spirit animals" and was told that because I am not First Nations I "should be ashamed of [my] cultural misappropriation" -- I was shocked at that and have been increasingly uneasy about being maligned for the creation of fanworks in which I have no malicious intent -- and now I am just waiting to be hit with a shit-storm of allegations that I'm racist because I supported someone's creative endeavor on the basis of knowing them IRL.

[petra]

In cases like F.'s, I believe the relevant phrase is "intent doesn't matter." If someone does something or says something that's identifiable to other people as biased, and does not work to understand that bias and how to avoid it in future, then they get marked down in the "Not Trying To Do It Right" column.

I have a tendency to presume the best of everyone until proven otherwise. Please notice I didn't and won't call in angry fans of color to tell you why you might not wish to endorse F.'s project. In the first place, they have other things to do and I can copy links with the best of 'em. In the second, I figured you didn't know about the layers of history F. has accumulated in this arena, and I was right.

I'm sorry a reader's offense at the use of spirit animals has made you afraid. The only defense I know of against giving offense of that sort is to do your research, write with awareness, find people from the cultural background you're writing about, engage with them honestly, and take their feedback to heart before you publish something.

[ride_4ever]

Yes, I did not know of F's history, so again TYK for putting me in the loop.

Sometimes there is no telling what will offend someone. I deleted the fic that made the one single reference to the Raven being Erik's spirit animal. It's due South canon so I still don't really get why it set that person off (btw, the person who harshed on me was a white person, so even more mystifying to me).

Also, I have been harshed on for writing Jewish!Fraser fic where the commenter said I was being "insensitive to the sensibilities of Jewish people". I stood my ground on that one because...duh...I am Jewish by birth.

[petra]

Someone who gets mad at you for writing something as it appears in canon is looking for a place to yell about something *they* just learned is offensive, I suspect. I assume you told the commenter that the use of spirit animal was dS canon, regardless of whether Erik's tribe had/have spirit animals in reality.

As for being insensitive to the sensibilities of Jewish people, oy vey. Though now I want to poke one of my Jewish friends who is fascinated by golem into writing Fraser as a golem.

[ride_4ever]

Golem!Fraser...wow...if that fic happens, please link me to it.

[clevermanka]

I had the opportunity to talk to Franzeska in person last year about That Meta Post and to be honest I was not impressed with her response to the criticisms of it. She doesn't seem inclined to listen or respect the feelings of large numbers of fans of color. I was surprised, too, at her words (both in the post and in person). Like you, I'd not noticed racist tendencies but why would I, really? I'm very, very white. What she said in that long meta post and her reaction to it, though, gives me more information than relying on any "racist vibes" she may or may not emanate.

As for your unease with being called out for the use of "spirit animal," I think it's important to remember that canon isn't always everything. There are many things in canon (for all sorts of shows) that we as fans can and should critique and not utilize or perpetuate in our own creations. It sucks being called out for something, but I try to remember that it sucks worse having one's culture appropriated in media and then again in fan-produced media. I also try to remind myself that when someone calls me out on something it's because they care enough about me, my product, and the original material, to say something. So I swallow my pride and pledge to do better in the future.

[ride_4ever]

TYK for your input. I am in a state of continuing to learn things.

When you spoke with F, was it at a fancon? (I'm asking that only because I'm wondering if you and I have been at some same con and either met unknowingly or else perhaps missed meeting.)

[clevermanka]

It was at a teensy con called Con*Strict, last July. I will be SO SAD if you go to that and I didn't realize!

[ride_4ever]

Oh, another learning experience! Learning about a con about which I didn't know! Is this a con that you attend regularly? I attend between 4 and 6 cons a year, and maybe this could be one of them.

[clevermanka]

I attended Con*Strict for two years in a row and if my health allowed me to travel, I'd probably go this year, too. It's a teensy little con (like, 20 people?) and I found out about it from one of my fave fic writers, splix, a long-time attendee.

Also, in regards to the general issue at hand, I don't want to give the impression that I'm telling people they shouldn't support this film. It could be that Franzeska has worked out her issues with fans of color and everything's hunky-dory and it'll be great. I just think it's important that anyone giving them money should probably know there's some capital-h-History there....

[ride_4ever]

Again, yes, TYK, I do appreciate being apprised of the capital-H-History. (And I am still supporting the making of the film...and still baffled at some of the concerns about racism when there are WoC working on this project, and I wonder how they feel about the storm that has brewed over this.)

Also TYK for giving me the Con*Strict link. If the con is annual, maybe I could go in 2018 (all my 2017 time off from work for cons has already been allocated to Escapade, TGIF/F, ConneXions, and VividCon). I saw two familiar names when I checked the Con*Strict attendee list (well, two more along with you): devilc and gloriana).

[clevermanka]

It's always fun when fandom circles overlap! If I'm able to go next year, I'll keep you posted for sure.