HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
May. 7th, 2002 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ivyblossomWB is now sponsoring FictionAlley. Which is, of course, FABULOUS, because they put so much work into it, and they wrestle with sponsors and such, and they do such a great job.
But think about this.
WB, the company that co-owns copyright of Harry Potter, is now sponsoring HARRY POTTER SLASH.
Yes kids. J.K. Rowling is a slasher at heart. I raise my glass to you folks. Yes. Fan fiction generates cash. Oh yes. Think of all the crap you can fanfic writers and readers to BUY. Hell, if you have dolls of Harry and Draco who can smooch each other, your profits will go through the roof.
J.K. Rowling. My respect for you and yours has just shot upwards about a million percent.
Wow.
But think about this.
WB, the company that co-owns copyright of Harry Potter, is now sponsoring HARRY POTTER SLASH.
Yes kids. J.K. Rowling is a slasher at heart. I raise my glass to you folks. Yes. Fan fiction generates cash. Oh yes. Think of all the crap you can fanfic writers and readers to BUY. Hell, if you have dolls of Harry and Draco who can smooch each other, your profits will go through the roof.
J.K. Rowling. My respect for you and yours has just shot upwards about a million percent.
Wow.
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no subject
Date: 2002-05-06 10:38 pm (UTC)JKR, I knew you had it in you. With all the delicious slashy subtext in the books and now this. I knew it. JKR is an H/D shipper. Whoohoo!
*runs off in stupid happiness*
Wow.
Date: 2002-05-06 10:48 pm (UTC)AAAAAH!
Date: 2002-05-06 11:50 pm (UTC)Am I the *only* person who sees all the danger in this?
The problem is that we work hard and want our talent and effort to be recognized. But anonymity is truly a good thing. And with this kind of corporate interest comes the kind of risks that are making my blood pressure spike just to think about.
This freaks me the fuck out, and the fact that everyone is just so happy that someone finally recognized the legitimacy of what we all do (which of course is an understandable emotion) I think is blinding folks to the fact that this is an extremely troublesome development. I for one am glad I've taken down my stuff. I really don't want some computer expert hired by WB to be tracking me down by my IP address any time soon.
Re: AAAAAH!
Date: 2002-05-07 01:59 am (UTC)::sigh::
I wonder, though - how come fanfiction.net has never come under fire? I mean, they're using characters from about eight million different people...you'd think there would have been a fuss somewhere along the line.
ff.net
Date: 2002-05-07 02:27 am (UTC)Re ff.net: I think precisely because it's so vast and diverse -- with the exception of the HP stuff (which takes up a disproportionate amount of the fic but also can be found on HP-only site that make a better target for corporate wrath) -- that one would really have to work and sort through a lot of plebe fic to find something that was sufficiently popular and offensive to warrant a clampdown.
Re: ff.net
Date: 2002-05-07 05:57 am (UTC)Re: ff.net
Date: 2002-05-07 06:01 am (UTC)Which is why I'm so uncomfortable with FA's visibility. Of course, one can never help what a journalist decides to write about in an article, but I don't quite understand why they're so hungry for publicity more generally.
Re: ff.net
Date: 2002-05-07 06:11 am (UTC)I have a theory. It could be witches...
No, wait. ;)
IMO most fanfic writers - the really serious ones - would at least in some small way like to be able to take part in the act of creation that is popular media; they feel that being noticed by the people who created this thing that sparks their imagination can only be a good thing, as it leads to possible legitimization. I mean, we're a culture that prizes cinderella-esque stories in real life, and I can name at least one person writing for Buffy, for example, who did start out in the fandom. There's also the instances of the Star Trek open submissions policy that Next Gen started during the writer's strike in the late 80s. So SF in particular seems to have gained this tradition of inclusion, which fan writers want to take part in.
In a situation like HP or LOTR, IMO the actors are actually doing their production company's standings a disservice, by making the fans feel lik their world is that much more accessible.
And it shouldn't be.
I mean, the great majority of fanfic that I've read is complete tripe. This isn't a reflection on the HP authors I'm reading, because in this partic. fandom I only read fic I've been recommended. It saves me time and bandwidth.
But I remember being in Buffy and in sQ and being overwhelmed with the *shit* that was being put up.
I'm getting off-track...anyway, so the fans basiaclly want acknowledgement because they feel (in part, rightly) that they've created the phenomenon. This is fair, but not really prudent. I used to run a sQ spin-off webisode series (I think it was actually the first one; one of our people helped set up the Lois & Clark Hypothetical 4th Season or whatever it was called...), and although we did everything we could to get the people who had been involved with the show to notice us, the best we ever got was someone asking Jonathan Brandis and Ted Raimi in online chats if they'd seen the site. I was also affiilated with Ted's fan club at the time so I think he had been pointed to it by another member on my behalf. It was fun, and it was interesting, but in the end it was pretty much complete crap. ::shrugs:: There are reasons people get *paid* for writing television shows and books.
God, I keep going off-topic, sorry...
ANYWAY.
I guess the point is that I don't understand, either
Re: ff.net
Date: 2002-05-07 02:07 pm (UTC)Re: ff.net
Date: 2002-05-07 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-05-07 05:19 am (UTC)Milly