[HPFGU-OTChatter] A Thought or Two on Slash

[Heidi Tandy]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: puddlemereunited at yahoo.co.uk 

Saitania wrote
> I think Justin's written as gay because we don't know what else to do 
> with him...he's like Seamus, lovely decoration but rarely contributes 
> to the plot.

Puddlemere wrote: 
> This is what I dislike most in Slash: characters as "decoration", who 
> serve the same purpose as scantily-clad women dancing around boxing 
> rings.  One cannot make a case that such characterisations do 
> anything to further character development, plot, or even add color to 
> a work.  
> They are there simply because someone has decided it would be 
> "hot" to see them make out.  This commits the double sin of 
> being both 
> distasteful and dull.  It grieves me to see Seamus, or any other 
> character, reduced to the same importance as a pair of jiggling 
> breasts in a music video.  

Clearly, you've never read Paradigm of Uncertainty, which I think is the
first fic in which the character of Justin is gay. If he kisses anyone
in that fic, I don't remember it. He doesn't contribute much to the
plot, to be sure, but he is clever and funny and supportive of his
friends and an all around good guy. But he is really, actually,
truthfully there for color - to enliven parts of the narrative and
dialogue. And I still don't understand why you equate a minor
character's presence in a story as simply there for hotness or "make
out" purposes. That's not necessarily the case, and is another
generalization. Then again, I am taking one story out of about 20,000 as
an example that runs counter to your claims, and that's clearly not
indicative of every story out there. 

I also want to point something very important out here - Seamus, or any
other character in HP, is *fictional*.  At present, in music videos at
least, the breasts one sees are, if not "real", at least attached to
real people - not some computer generated thing (most of the time).
Thus, when the character of Seamus is gay in a fic, no real human being
is being affected by such a decision by the fanfic author. None. 

> As a young gay woman, I find it insulting to see characters forced to 
> conform to a sexual preference so that they might titillate a 
> reader/author.  I wouldn't want Seamus and Cedric made gay any more 
> than I would want to see two straight girls forced to engage in 
> lesbianism to impress a man.
Just wanted to reiterate my point that Seamus and Cedric do not really
exist. They're no different from a Letter to Penthouse (not that I've
ever read one) in that they, and whatever they do, are the product of
someone's imagination, and to equate a fanfic with something that could
happen in the Real World, on the Insulting Scale, just strikes me as
odd. Of course, if you equate them, don't read the blasted things. But
if you don't read them, don't pass judgment on them either, because you
just don't know what the contents actually are. It would be like me
passing judgment on the plot of Moby Dick. Never read it. Don't have the
qualifications.

> I know bisexuality has become trendy lately in pop culture but I am 
> sick of people who think "gay is cute".  It isn't; such an 
> attitude is patronising and demeaning.  Being a girl isn't 
> cute, and neither is 
> being gay.  Making a character gay does not make using them as a sex 
> object any more laudable.  NO MORE "DECORATIONS".
Erm, again, I am confused. Why is a gay character automatically a sex
object? Some certainly are (that's what PWPs are for) but then again, so
are, say, Draco and Ginny, in certain NC17 het fics. So are Scully &
Muldur in certain Xfiles Fanfics, aren't they? 

I recognize that you said in the end of your post that your claims do
not apply to all slash fanfics. But really, there are many, many, that
they don't apply to. And I can't see any indication that you've ever
bothered to look for any of the multitude of "exceptions".

heidi tandy
follow me to FictionAlley - Harry Potter fanfics of all shapes, sizes&
ships - only 7 sickles an ounce
http://www.fictionalley.org



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