Argument for why people aren't interested in slash (was: Vision of Characters)

[Sushi]

>With regard to your Russell Crowe analogy, I'm not so sure it fits. It's
>more like a Food Analogy (I like sausage for X reason). You could probably
>narrow down the reasons you didn't see Russell Crowe as Sirius: his eyes are
>too beady, etc. Once again, nobody has come up with any reason other than
>"because" for not liking slash.
>
>--John


         If I may forward a theory on this?

         I can't speak from personal experience, as I'm a slash writer 
myself.  My mother, on the other hand, is very much the opposite.  She 
doesn't read slash (or fanfic - her area is the American Revolutionary 
War), I don't think she's ever even conceived of writing a gay character, 
and even if she did she wouldn't know how to start.  This is because it's 
simply outside her understanding.  She grew up in a very homophobic 
environment, but in the last few years (I think since she developed the dim 
notion that her youngest, moi, just might not be the straightest nail in 
the plank) she's at least started to try to make some effort to be more 
accepting even if she doesn't understand them.  She is beta reading an 
original novel of mine that just happens to prominently feature a gay 
couple, which is something she wouldn't have done a few years ago.

         The bottom line here is that it is something that falls so far 
outside some people's day-to-day understanding of the world that it just 
doesn't register.  It's not necessarily a bad thing - the ins and outs of, 
say, growing up in a traditional Chinese family would probably be lost on 
me (with my German-Scottish bloodline).  It's just a reflection on my life, 
a situation that doesn't directly apply to me.  Personally, I think Chinese 
culture is fascinating.  My husband, not so much.  He wouldn't be 
interested in a story that assumes someone knows something about that 
situation (and I'd likely have to muddle along myself).  It's not bigotry 
on his part, he's just got things that interest him and apply to him 
more.  A story that introduces the concept is a different matter; he 
wouldn't have such a hard time with that, and he'd demolish it just like 
every other book I've ever seen him touch.

         It all works out to a person having some connection with the story 
itself.  Universal appeal is almost impossible to create, especially when 
misunderstanding runs so deeply through human cultures.  While that 
misunderstanding can lead to prejudice, it can't be automatically taken 
*as* prejudice.  (This isn't meant to mean homophobia doesn't exist; 
someone once threatened to shoot me if I ever told him I was 
bisexual.  It's just as real as racism, and just as irrational.)  There are 
people in the world, though, who simply see preferring one's own gender or 
being Scottish or whatnot as a neutral part of life.  It's there, they have 
no special like or dislike for it, they may not have a taste for literature 
centering around said aspect because there isn't anything spectacular about 
it.  If it suddenly becomes a major feature in someone's life (ie, your 
youngest showing signs of liking girls as well as boys), in time it may 
become something that doesn't necessarily pique his or her interest but 
that doesn't distract from the rest of the story.  Alternately, a little 
bit of information presented in the right way may shift opinion, or it may 
not.  It may simply remain a neutral point of the world around someone, 
albeit one that's understood a little more clearly.

         Hope this wasn't too muddled. :)

Sushi


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