Muggles. Gotta live with 'em.

[amanuensis1]

Whoa, are we all really that upset over that article in The Guardian about Lumos? I didn't find it negative, really; the article's written by someone who is not only NOT a fan but admits she hasn't even read the books or seen the films ("Well...some of them"). She's not a fannish type at all. She's gone into it frankly baffled by the whole concept of fans who sink into their medium so deeply. She is, to belabor the obvious, a classic mundane (which is what we called 'em before Rowling got Muggle into the OED). And she observes, and there's an air of "okay, this remains distant and odd to me," but, gosh, me, I don't expect anything else from mundanes. I thought the piece was presented with a reasonably neutral "not for me, and some of it's definitely strange to me, but, wow, there's a lot of devotion and variety here" air.

Given that the article didn't purport to be a detached record of the event, I think we got lucky that she didn't shriek "weirdoes weirdoes weirdoes!" all through it. Maybe some of you feel she did? Because she doesn't think Snape/Hermione is so much about empowering women as it is titillation? Because she thought some of the discussions/topics were lame or unfounded? Because the idea of HP bestiality got to her? Shoot, I think we got off light. And she does end on this positive note:

It's all amazing. And seeing anybody, let alone 1,200 people enthused with joy about anything is really quite uplifting. And not just anything. Books! It makes my girlish, swotty heart swell with pride.

Maybe that wasn't enough for fan readers. Perhaps a lot of you feel you've had enough of this kind of "not for me, but, whatever floats your boat" editorializing. Maybe in the same way I don't exactly want to see more films like Brokeback Mountain but rather am waiting for the gay James Bond to unapologetically flaunt the queer all over the screen.

Comments

Re: Reposted because I screwed up the first time

[melonaise.livejournal.com]

When I dabbled in Pern fandom, that was also dominated by women. In role-playing games I usually played male characters, because there weren't enough men to keep the game balanced. The Pern track at Dragoncon has a lot of cosplay, and a lot of focus on the culture of Pern. But it's really not much different from the male-dominated (at least it was before the new movies) Star Wars track with its Stormtrooper Legion.

The main difference I see between the Pern and the Star Wars fans is that the Pern fans tend to see their fandom as a living entity-- a real culture that they can adapt and play with. Star Wars fans tend to see their world as more static, well-defined. Even many Star Wars role-players aren't so much trying to make their own characters as trying to recreate "historic" Star Wars events. This difference could be because of the dearth of approved Pern role-playing materials compared to Star Wars source books. Or it could be because women tend to be more creative, men more analytical, if we want to focus on gender.

Re: Reposted because I screwed up the first time

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

OH! It's like...guys and baseball statistics! Okay, that's oversimplified, but, YEAH!