Accentuate the positive
Jul. 29th, 2004 08:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ebonlockGrr. Apparently there is an anti-Ron Weasley community now on LJ. I'd post more about them but I think they've gotten more than their fair share of publicity already. Here's hoping they just fade away.
Reminds me of the old Xena days when hating Joxer was the thing to do and only a tiny number of us dared to admit we not only liked the character, but loved him. Of course we were immediately pounced on and told we had no taste, or were missing the point, or were just plain stupid. The concept that people could have different opinions about characters and those opinions should be respected was just foreign to most of the fandom. I spent literally months arguing the case that just because the majority felt one way about it, it didn't mean the rest of us were somehow wrong. I also argued, quite strenuously, that the minority also deserved to be treated respectfully and that fandom should be about sharing the love of a genre, not about focusing on the negatives. Eventually, at least on one major Xena mailing list, I and those like me made a difference, but we did it in a positive manner.
Don't like a character? Hey that's totally cool. I personally loathe Umbridge, Rita Skeeter, and Sirius Black, but am I going to start a community devoted to loathing them? Fuck no. I'm sure all of them have their fans and why would I want to upset or offend them? And why in the name of the gods would I want to throw my creativity and energy into bashing a part of a fandom I enjoy anyway? That just makes no sense to me at all.
Why people feel the need to turn fandom either into a competitive sport or a partisan political arena will just never compute for me I'm afraid.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, it's just a bit of a red button issue for me. *sigh* Right, so I had a lovely Indian dinner with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elo_sf last evening after a productive but low stress work day. Ah if only they could all be so pleasant. We walked around MV for a bit and chatted before going our seperate ways. He to bake a cheesecake and me to grab some necessities for the apartment. One of the bad things about my new place is that it's so small I don't really have any place to store extra stuff. So I've got to buy in small quantities which means I have to buy more often.
I'm thinking I'll just let my Costco membership lapse, no point in having it as long as I live where I do. On the plus side I'm really close to a Chinese grocery store (which does have a bakery according to an article I read on it,jimweasel) so I won't be forced to give into the evil that is Albertsons/Safeway. Ha! Your membership cards will not ensnare me!
Found out my latest Amazon order shipped last night (supposedly, Amazon says it went out, the USPS says they don't have it yet), which is probably for the best as if it hadn't I was going to tack on the Hellboy dvd. I don't really *need* it, and I should probably rent it first to see if the extra goodies are worth having anyway, so it's probably for the best. Now I'm hoping the order arrives by Saturday so I can move forward with my Alan Rickman-a-thon, if not I shall be very sad. None of the Blockbusters I've checked has "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and I'm so jonesing to watch it again. *sigh*
Reminds me of the old Xena days when hating Joxer was the thing to do and only a tiny number of us dared to admit we not only liked the character, but loved him. Of course we were immediately pounced on and told we had no taste, or were missing the point, or were just plain stupid. The concept that people could have different opinions about characters and those opinions should be respected was just foreign to most of the fandom. I spent literally months arguing the case that just because the majority felt one way about it, it didn't mean the rest of us were somehow wrong. I also argued, quite strenuously, that the minority also deserved to be treated respectfully and that fandom should be about sharing the love of a genre, not about focusing on the negatives. Eventually, at least on one major Xena mailing list, I and those like me made a difference, but we did it in a positive manner.
Don't like a character? Hey that's totally cool. I personally loathe Umbridge, Rita Skeeter, and Sirius Black, but am I going to start a community devoted to loathing them? Fuck no. I'm sure all of them have their fans and why would I want to upset or offend them? And why in the name of the gods would I want to throw my creativity and energy into bashing a part of a fandom I enjoy anyway? That just makes no sense to me at all.
Why people feel the need to turn fandom either into a competitive sport or a partisan political arena will just never compute for me I'm afraid.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, it's just a bit of a red button issue for me. *sigh* Right, so I had a lovely Indian dinner with
elo_sf last evening after a productive but low stress work day. Ah if only they could all be so pleasant. We walked around MV for a bit and chatted before going our seperate ways. He to bake a cheesecake and me to grab some necessities for the apartment. One of the bad things about my new place is that it's so small I don't really have any place to store extra stuff. So I've got to buy in small quantities which means I have to buy more often.I'm thinking I'll just let my Costco membership lapse, no point in having it as long as I live where I do. On the plus side I'm really close to a Chinese grocery store (which does have a bakery according to an article I read on it,
jimweasel) so I won't be forced to give into the evil that is Albertsons/Safeway. Ha! Your membership cards will not ensnare me!Found out my latest Amazon order shipped last night (supposedly, Amazon says it went out, the USPS says they don't have it yet), which is probably for the best as if it hadn't I was going to tack on the Hellboy dvd. I don't really *need* it, and I should probably rent it first to see if the extra goodies are worth having anyway, so it's probably for the best. Now I'm hoping the order arrives by Saturday so I can move forward with my Alan Rickman-a-thon, if not I shall be very sad. None of the Blockbusters I've checked has "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and I'm so jonesing to watch it again. *sigh*
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-30 08:17 am (UTC)Mmm, I think it may have started out that way but I read a bit more into it. Yeah he sees too much of James in Harry and doesn't take into consideration the differences (particularly when it comes to being raised by the Dursleys, the boy's had his pride and ego all but stamped out), and he is often wretchedly unfair. On the other hand, if he doesn't at least present this to the world on a regular basis I suspect that the Slytherins (and their Death Eater parents) might begin to wonder just whose side he's on. Hell, I'm surprised that his actions in the first book didn't earn him a big red check mark from old Voldie.
And I would also add that Harry hasn't ever really shown Snape anything like gratitude for saving his life how many times now? Gods that really reads like a total Snape apologist, doesn't it? Heh, sorry about that, but I find it rather hard to resist :)
Actually there are some really good fics out there that get into Snape's head particularly on the subject of Harry that I would recommend wholeheartedly. The best of the best is a WIP called "Summon the Lambs to Slaughter", if you're interested let me know and I'll forward you the URL.
As for Sirius vs. Snape... I'm hoping Ms. Rowling reveals exactly what happened to get them to hate each other so much. I have this feeling that it's a doozy, beyond what has already been said re: Sirius pranking Snape and almost killing him.
Indeed, especially given that their parents probably knew and interacted with one another fairly frequently (being old school Muggle-hating purebloods and all). I mean they might well have grown up together for all we know. I too hope Rowling lets us all in on what started their mutual hate-fest.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-30 08:56 am (UTC)*grins* It's ok.
I can sort of understand why Harry wouldn't, considering if it hadn't been for Snape being unreasonable, there wouldn't have been the whole mess with the Dementors in book 3.
Book 5, though, I felt Snape was being nasty to Harry during the whole Occlumency (I think?) bit for no reason, especially since Harry didn't know the reasons why the lessons were necessary.
And there is also the fact that Harry *is* a teenager... I'm not making excuses, I just know how most teenagers are... I have a 14 year old brother, and I know how *he* is. *wry*.
C.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-30 09:48 am (UTC)Yeah, but by the end of book one a sincere "Thanks for saving my life, sorry I suspected you were evil" might've gone a long way. And as far as being unreasonable, I think he and Snape are pretty well matched in the books.
Book 5, though, I felt Snape was being nasty to Harry during the whole Occlumency (I think?) bit for no reason, especially since Harry didn't know the reasons why the lessons were necessary.
Ah, well here I'd say it has a lot to do with Snape's psychology. Part of it was the nature of Occlumency itself (it's pretty damn personal if you think about it), that he'd been kind of forced into it, that it showed yet again that he was the best choice for DADA teacher (and yeah he's bitter, rightly so I'd say), and that he and Harry spending long periods of time together was just a disaster waiting to happen.
And there is also the fact that Harry *is* a teenager... I'm not making excuses, I just know how most teenagers are... I have a 14 year old brother, and I know how *he* is. *wry*.
Yeah, I know, and I try to cut him some slack for that, I'm just not always that successful ;)