slash fiction - responses

[Tim Regan <timregan@microsoft.com>]

Hi All,

-- dianasdolls wrote: 
> I was referring specifically to the Lucius/Draco incestuous 
pairing 
> Cassie mentioned at the very beginning of post.  Even if that 
fanfic 
> piece was written by the greatest writer of all time, I would not 
> find an incestuous relationship between a father and son, even 
> between two characters I dislike [almost love to hate], in the 
> slightest bit appealing.

I do relate to this point, even though I haven't yet found the time 
to check out fan-fiction. There are two works, considered great, 
that I just cannot stand because of their subject matter. One is 
Nabokov's "Lolita", which I had to stop reading half way through 
since it was annoying me so much. The other's Nirvana's "Polly" 
which spoilt the whole album for me. I guess in each case I want the 
author to take a moral stand on the horrific acts they are 
describing. I can see three reasons for not doing so:
1) The authors don't find the acts horrific, which if the consumer 
does is a good reason to stop reading or listening.
2) The author wants to challenge the consumers' values. This might 
work but seems condescending on the authors' part.
3) The authors want to shock. But that doesn't seem reason enough. 
Shock is a good tactic against something which has grown stagnant 
(e.g. punk in the seventies) but I don't think that covers "Lolita" 
or "Polly".

Cheers,

Dumbledad