[HPforGrownups] A bit frustrated with fandom at the moment - DH spoilers

[Maeg]

No: HPFGUIDX 173002


On Jul 25, 2007, at 7:42 PM, Lisa wrote:

> The thing I'm getting frustrated over, at this point, is the savage,
> almost vicious attacks against JKR.  Recently, I've seen fanfic  
> authors berate her epilogue and other portions of the story (like  
> the battle in/around Hogwarts) for being "cliched" and "over-done"  
> because it had been done a bunch in various  FANFICTIONS.

I haven't seen any of that here on HPforGrownups; please pay more  
attention to where you post your rants. Cross-posting is usually a  
very bad idea.

My negative comments about DH have nothing to do with fanfiction and  
the fan community. I've read very little HP fanfic (mostly because  
there's too much of it to easily find the good stories) and written  
none.

> Please.  I beg you.  I *do* feel the pain of loss and my own
> frustrations of things I wish could have been explained better/ 
> presented more clearly, etc.  But this was her story to tell, not  
> ours.

But once she released it to the public, it's ours to comment on,  
praise, and criticize. (Any professional author knows that, so I'm  
not worried about JKR.) If you, as a fan, don't know that, then you  
haven't been paying attention. What else is fanfic if not commentary  
in narrative, fictional form? Some fanfic is even negative criticism,  
in a way.

> Is there any other series of books 'out there' which has inspired  
> such a broad variety of fan-groups?

There are many, long-standing fandoms out there that rival HP. I  
suspect that much of HP is a passing fad. Oh, yes, some will  
undoubtedly continue, and time will tell if the Potterverse has  
enough staying power to rival LoTR, Star Trek, etc. (I doubt it; LoTR  
was much richer and has a literary background that JKR can't touch,  
and sci-fi fans are WAY more obsessive than fantasy fans (I say this  
gently, of course; I'm more of a sci-fi fan than a fantasy fan, myself.)

For me, my regard for JKR's work has been slipping steadily through  
the series, and I really read DH to "find out what happens" not  
because I was desperate for another book. But then, maybe I'm an odd  
fan who doesn't have to revere an author (or actor) in order to have  
fun in the fandom.

As to HP bringing kids to reading, well, unfortunately the studies  
don't confirm this. Yes, there was a mania each time the book was  
released. But in the US, there has not been an increase in the  
reading rates among children. (I leave it as an excercise to the  
reader to find the news coverage of this study; I believe it came out  
in the last month and was in the NYT.)

> There is a difference between critiquing the WRITING and flaming the
> WRITER.

Yes, and as far as I have read, there has been nothing on this list  
that remotely resembles a flame. Maybe I've missed it; I can't keep  
up with the volume of posts. But I doubt it. All of the criticism  
here has been focused on the actual book. So I reiterate, pay more  
attention to where you post.

Maeg

My mind isn't always in the gutter -- sometimes it comes out to feed.