musing on SGA fandom
Dec. 28th, 2008 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xparrotI was looking over the results of my Keller poll a few weeks back, and one figure was either upsetting or encouraging - 38% agreed with the statement "Whatever my feelings on Keller and Rodney/Keller, I'm sad to see it dividing the fandom. Can't we all just get along?" This was discouraging because it reflected what I've been feeling myself - that the fandom is divided right now, that there's lines being drawn and sides chosen and some people just surrendering and moving on to less combative and more positively squeeful Merlin/Arthur fandoms. On the other hand it's encouraging that I'm not the only one upset by this, that a lot of us not only perceive the division, but would like to make peace.
So in my usual way of dealing with conflict, I've been trying to examine it from all sides, attempt to determine the causes and effects and psychology of my own reactions and everyone else's, and pretty much talk it to death. Here's a bit of that analysis, as always discussed and argued in detail with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gnine and naye as well as a bunch of y'all online. Because really, I don't like to see the fandom being divided; SGA was a relief to come to after Smallville, which is a pretty intense fannish hot zone (at least I haven't noticed pro- or anti-McKeller fans calling each other Nazi sympathizers yet...) and I'd rather SGA didn't get like that. And then, I'm feeling guilty now, because I'm definitely part of the problem, having raised the dreaded Keller question and giving people a place to vent. Venting can be cathartic but it can also feed the flames, increase the divide even if there's not open conflict, by more firmly entrenching people on one side or another.
The negativity is especially divisive because as far as I can tell, a lot of SGA fandom (I speak mostly of segments of lj fandom here; I don't have much contact with other places) had an unspoken contract not to get too negative. The truth is, most of us accept that SGA is not the best show ever, and the writing especially is problematic; we tend to snicker and wink at its many foibles, roll our eyes at the juvenilism of Mallozzi & co., and move onto the fun stuff. This season a bunch of us have had trouble with the moving-on step, and instead are focusing on the negative aspects. This is frustrating and harshing for fans who are still enjoying a lot of the show; they're feeling betrayed by a fandom that's no longer bringing the squee like it used to. All those fans who are being negative now (myself being one of them) have breached that basic tenet of the unwritten SGA fandom contract, and it's understandable why other fans are upset.
The divisiveness is worse because that betrayal, in a lot of cases, is happening between old fan friends. Some fans have always been negative about the show, or have always been out of step with the majority of fandom. SGA fandom has always been somewhat divided - the McShep contingent is so overwhelming in numbers and fervor that they inadvertently leave all the other fen feeling kind of oppressed; it's hard to find the pairing or char you like amidst the vast John/Rodney sea, and naturally there's a bit of resentment there, the usual hard-to-avoid irritation of "how come nobody writes what I want to read?" But for the most part the fen seem to have settled in different circles; they don't interact that much and so there's relatively little direct conflict.
But lot of the division now is between fans who used to be in the same circles - it's civil war, sister against sister, McKay fan vs McKay fan. Fans who used to see the show and fandom similarly are no longer eye-to-eye; fans who used to be in the comfortable majority are now finding themselves stranded in minority opinions. It's leaving a lot of us feeling a bit hurt and betrayed even when there isn't much direct conflict - which there hasn't been, at least in the lj circles I've been on; for all McKeller supporters often preface their squee with, "I know this is an unpopular opinion..." I haven't seen anyone getting flamed for saying they like McKeller, and the McKeller fic I've seen posted tend to get comments like, "I don't really like this pairing but I like how you portrayed it..." Maybe that's been different in other areas of the fandom, I don't know. But I've seen a few Keller/McKeller fans who feel betrayed by and resentful of fandom not because they've been attacked outright, but because they keep seeing negative reactions to the character/pairing they like, and start to take those reactions personally.
The odd thing is, I know exactly how they feel, because I confess to feeling the same way myself in the reverse. For whatever reasons my flist is (apparently atypically) Keller-positive - I have a few anti-fen, but more pro-, and I sometimes find myself feeling (completely irrationally) betrayed when reading about how much a fellow fan who I usually agree with loved an episode I hated. It's that age-old fan-phenomenon - "Your Friends Are Not Watching the Same Show You Are" but it's hitting closer to home because a bunch of us used to be tuning in to the same program, and we're not anymore. And both sides keep trying to change the other side's channel, have a hard time accepting that we're now watching different shows.
Which is leading to more divisiveness, as some McKeller fans, baffled why the majority of fandom is so against something they find entertaining, find themselves concluding that it must be something wrong with the other fans. I'm not sure if it's an aspect of being in the minority (and while Keller is more liked than disliked, liking the McKeller was a minority opinion in my poll, only 13% of fans liking it as portrayed in the show (though another 20% liked it in theory)) or if it's something to do with positive vs negative fanning, but while most anti-McKeller fans direct their resentment and frustration at the show itself and the writers (rather than flaming McKeller fic writers or the like), some pro-McKeller fans, rather than just squeeing, also direct a portion of negativity toward the anti-McKeller fans, accusing them of bringing the fandom down or all being rabid McSheppers who can't appreciate het relationships. I suspect a lot of this is because these McKeller fans are feeling besieged by the negativity around them and are just defending themselves, but it makes the anti-McKeller fen jump to their own defense.
Which rarely goes well, because even if the debate stays polite, it usually ends up just entrenching both sides deeper in their respective positions. The McKeller fans find more to like about the pairing; the anti-McKeller fans find more to dislike. Usually these aren't the same things - a McKeller fan is not squeeing over an unhealthy romance but rather seeing a healthy relationship. But the positive things the McKeller fans are seeing are simply not there for the anti-McKeller fans, and likewise the faults the anti-McKeller fans are seeing are nonsensical or nonexistent from the pro-McKeller perspective. It's not that either side is right or wrong; it's that the show provides support for both positions, depending on what you're tuning in for, and the more fodder you look for, the more you get.
Meanwhile there's a bunch of fans who are generally neutral on the McKeller issue but are frustrated by the fandom's arguments, wondering where the heck the squee has gone. A lot of these are fans who really don't like negative fanning and are finding both character-hate and critical analysis squee-harshing, so they drift more toward the McKeller side because it's the more positive side of fandom, rather than because they're really 'shipping it. They're resentful that the fandom's tone has changed, that there's less squee than there used to be, and blame the anti-McKeller side of the fandom for the squee-loss.
This is the one stance that I argue is unfair. The biggest mistake SGA's writers made this season is not the introduction of the McKeller; it's the loss of other things. In my poll, the thing that the most fans can agree on - over 80%, the highest response rate in the entire poll - is that we want more Team episodes. Most of us love team love, and there's been less this season, less Ronon and Teyla especially, but also less John. (There's also been less John & Rodney scenes than any previous season - partly because John's been in it less; Rodney's been more the main protagonist in s5 - and for many Rodney fans, it's jarring that Rodney's most emphasized relationship in the show has switched from John to Keller.) This is not solely the fault of the McKeller; a lot of other things have also replaced the team moments (e.g. Daniel Jackson, and Carson popping in.) But the McKeller is the most consistent element, and a new one, so it's the easiest to blame - a scapegoat, not actually the cause but a symptom. I think if there'd been more team/McShep stuff as well as the McKeller, most fans wouldn't be as bothered by the McKeller. Likewise, one of the reasons I suspect that the anti-McKeller fans have been piling on that negative bandwagon is that we're feeling deprived - there's not as much to squee about together, so instead we're communing over the negative things.
For anyone who's wondered why people who seem to hate the show now are still watching it - it's partly so we can stay in touch with each other in the fandom. Bonding over character/pairing hate is still bonding. Also, most of us don't actually hate the show - we're disappointed in it, and we dislike certain elements, but a lot of us still love it dearly for all its flaws and faults. I personally am thrilled when an episode gives me something to squee over, and I've cheerfully squeed when I can - there just hasn't been as much, for me, and I've been feeling betrayed by the show for it, while I'm still happy with the fandom. For those fans who enjoy the McKeller, they haven't faced a loss of enjoyment in the show, but they have in the fandom, finding their circles of shared squee much reduced, and thus feel betrayed by their fellow fans. So both sides are ultimately unhappy with the state of things in the fandom.
And I'm not sure what we can do about that. I do hope a lot of it will blow over when the show ends next month. Most of us who are so frustrated by the McKeller in the show are not nearly as resentful of McKeller in the fandom. SGA's mostly pretty peaceful when it comes to pairings, and it seems very unlikely McKeller's ever going to dominate the fandom, regardless of its canonical status - which might be disappointing to McKeller 'shippers, but at the same time, there probably will always be a contingent for that 'ship (more than for some non-canonical pairings), and likely growing, as fic'ers and squee'ers find ways to render it more convincingly for all those fans who like it in theory even if not in canon. As well, the majority of fans do like Keller (and I believe more like her in the theory even though they don't like how she's been written in the show) and aren't really into character bashing, so there probably won't be much of that to contend with in fic (even in Smallville fandom, far more fics simply ignored Lana Lang than bashed her, and the Keller-hate of SGA is nothing compared to the Lana-hate!)
Meanwhile, the best we can all do is probably just live-and-let-live, seek out those fans who fan the way we are, who are watching the show we're watching, and take our squee where we can get it! *defiantly hugs SGA, show and fandom - dammit, I don't care what else happens, Rodney McKay forever!*
Now I'm going to go wake up the sis and bro in the other room, and we can open the Christmas presents we left until after we got back from Hong Kong! Yay, presents! (Also, Hong Kong is wonderfully warm this time of year, and delicious. Christmas dinner was roast goose at the best Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. Oh man. SO TASTY. But someday I have to go on an Asian eating tour with people who actually eat seafood;gnine is allergic and the bro doesn't like it, so I was left drooling over pictures of crab and shrimp and shellfish but not ordering any because I can't finish whole dishes on my own...)
So in my usual way of dealing with conflict, I've been trying to examine it from all sides, attempt to determine the causes and effects and psychology of my own reactions and everyone else's, and pretty much talk it to death. Here's a bit of that analysis, as always discussed and argued in detail with
gnine and naye as well as a bunch of y'all online. Because really, I don't like to see the fandom being divided; SGA was a relief to come to after Smallville, which is a pretty intense fannish hot zone (at least I haven't noticed pro- or anti-McKeller fans calling each other Nazi sympathizers yet...) and I'd rather SGA didn't get like that. And then, I'm feeling guilty now, because I'm definitely part of the problem, having raised the dreaded Keller question and giving people a place to vent. Venting can be cathartic but it can also feed the flames, increase the divide even if there's not open conflict, by more firmly entrenching people on one side or another.The negativity is especially divisive because as far as I can tell, a lot of SGA fandom (I speak mostly of segments of lj fandom here; I don't have much contact with other places) had an unspoken contract not to get too negative. The truth is, most of us accept that SGA is not the best show ever, and the writing especially is problematic; we tend to snicker and wink at its many foibles, roll our eyes at the juvenilism of Mallozzi & co., and move onto the fun stuff. This season a bunch of us have had trouble with the moving-on step, and instead are focusing on the negative aspects. This is frustrating and harshing for fans who are still enjoying a lot of the show; they're feeling betrayed by a fandom that's no longer bringing the squee like it used to. All those fans who are being negative now (myself being one of them) have breached that basic tenet of the unwritten SGA fandom contract, and it's understandable why other fans are upset.
The divisiveness is worse because that betrayal, in a lot of cases, is happening between old fan friends. Some fans have always been negative about the show, or have always been out of step with the majority of fandom. SGA fandom has always been somewhat divided - the McShep contingent is so overwhelming in numbers and fervor that they inadvertently leave all the other fen feeling kind of oppressed; it's hard to find the pairing or char you like amidst the vast John/Rodney sea, and naturally there's a bit of resentment there, the usual hard-to-avoid irritation of "how come nobody writes what I want to read?" But for the most part the fen seem to have settled in different circles; they don't interact that much and so there's relatively little direct conflict.
But lot of the division now is between fans who used to be in the same circles - it's civil war, sister against sister, McKay fan vs McKay fan. Fans who used to see the show and fandom similarly are no longer eye-to-eye; fans who used to be in the comfortable majority are now finding themselves stranded in minority opinions. It's leaving a lot of us feeling a bit hurt and betrayed even when there isn't much direct conflict - which there hasn't been, at least in the lj circles I've been on; for all McKeller supporters often preface their squee with, "I know this is an unpopular opinion..." I haven't seen anyone getting flamed for saying they like McKeller, and the McKeller fic I've seen posted tend to get comments like, "I don't really like this pairing but I like how you portrayed it..." Maybe that's been different in other areas of the fandom, I don't know. But I've seen a few Keller/McKeller fans who feel betrayed by and resentful of fandom not because they've been attacked outright, but because they keep seeing negative reactions to the character/pairing they like, and start to take those reactions personally.
The odd thing is, I know exactly how they feel, because I confess to feeling the same way myself in the reverse. For whatever reasons my flist is (apparently atypically) Keller-positive - I have a few anti-fen, but more pro-, and I sometimes find myself feeling (completely irrationally) betrayed when reading about how much a fellow fan who I usually agree with loved an episode I hated. It's that age-old fan-phenomenon - "Your Friends Are Not Watching the Same Show You Are" but it's hitting closer to home because a bunch of us used to be tuning in to the same program, and we're not anymore. And both sides keep trying to change the other side's channel, have a hard time accepting that we're now watching different shows.
Which is leading to more divisiveness, as some McKeller fans, baffled why the majority of fandom is so against something they find entertaining, find themselves concluding that it must be something wrong with the other fans. I'm not sure if it's an aspect of being in the minority (and while Keller is more liked than disliked, liking the McKeller was a minority opinion in my poll, only 13% of fans liking it as portrayed in the show (though another 20% liked it in theory)) or if it's something to do with positive vs negative fanning, but while most anti-McKeller fans direct their resentment and frustration at the show itself and the writers (rather than flaming McKeller fic writers or the like), some pro-McKeller fans, rather than just squeeing, also direct a portion of negativity toward the anti-McKeller fans, accusing them of bringing the fandom down or all being rabid McSheppers who can't appreciate het relationships. I suspect a lot of this is because these McKeller fans are feeling besieged by the negativity around them and are just defending themselves, but it makes the anti-McKeller fen jump to their own defense.
Which rarely goes well, because even if the debate stays polite, it usually ends up just entrenching both sides deeper in their respective positions. The McKeller fans find more to like about the pairing; the anti-McKeller fans find more to dislike. Usually these aren't the same things - a McKeller fan is not squeeing over an unhealthy romance but rather seeing a healthy relationship. But the positive things the McKeller fans are seeing are simply not there for the anti-McKeller fans, and likewise the faults the anti-McKeller fans are seeing are nonsensical or nonexistent from the pro-McKeller perspective. It's not that either side is right or wrong; it's that the show provides support for both positions, depending on what you're tuning in for, and the more fodder you look for, the more you get.
Meanwhile there's a bunch of fans who are generally neutral on the McKeller issue but are frustrated by the fandom's arguments, wondering where the heck the squee has gone. A lot of these are fans who really don't like negative fanning and are finding both character-hate and critical analysis squee-harshing, so they drift more toward the McKeller side because it's the more positive side of fandom, rather than because they're really 'shipping it. They're resentful that the fandom's tone has changed, that there's less squee than there used to be, and blame the anti-McKeller side of the fandom for the squee-loss.
This is the one stance that I argue is unfair. The biggest mistake SGA's writers made this season is not the introduction of the McKeller; it's the loss of other things. In my poll, the thing that the most fans can agree on - over 80%, the highest response rate in the entire poll - is that we want more Team episodes. Most of us love team love, and there's been less this season, less Ronon and Teyla especially, but also less John. (There's also been less John & Rodney scenes than any previous season - partly because John's been in it less; Rodney's been more the main protagonist in s5 - and for many Rodney fans, it's jarring that Rodney's most emphasized relationship in the show has switched from John to Keller.) This is not solely the fault of the McKeller; a lot of other things have also replaced the team moments (e.g. Daniel Jackson, and Carson popping in.) But the McKeller is the most consistent element, and a new one, so it's the easiest to blame - a scapegoat, not actually the cause but a symptom. I think if there'd been more team/McShep stuff as well as the McKeller, most fans wouldn't be as bothered by the McKeller. Likewise, one of the reasons I suspect that the anti-McKeller fans have been piling on that negative bandwagon is that we're feeling deprived - there's not as much to squee about together, so instead we're communing over the negative things.
For anyone who's wondered why people who seem to hate the show now are still watching it - it's partly so we can stay in touch with each other in the fandom. Bonding over character/pairing hate is still bonding. Also, most of us don't actually hate the show - we're disappointed in it, and we dislike certain elements, but a lot of us still love it dearly for all its flaws and faults. I personally am thrilled when an episode gives me something to squee over, and I've cheerfully squeed when I can - there just hasn't been as much, for me, and I've been feeling betrayed by the show for it, while I'm still happy with the fandom. For those fans who enjoy the McKeller, they haven't faced a loss of enjoyment in the show, but they have in the fandom, finding their circles of shared squee much reduced, and thus feel betrayed by their fellow fans. So both sides are ultimately unhappy with the state of things in the fandom.
And I'm not sure what we can do about that. I do hope a lot of it will blow over when the show ends next month. Most of us who are so frustrated by the McKeller in the show are not nearly as resentful of McKeller in the fandom. SGA's mostly pretty peaceful when it comes to pairings, and it seems very unlikely McKeller's ever going to dominate the fandom, regardless of its canonical status - which might be disappointing to McKeller 'shippers, but at the same time, there probably will always be a contingent for that 'ship (more than for some non-canonical pairings), and likely growing, as fic'ers and squee'ers find ways to render it more convincingly for all those fans who like it in theory even if not in canon. As well, the majority of fans do like Keller (and I believe more like her in the theory even though they don't like how she's been written in the show) and aren't really into character bashing, so there probably won't be much of that to contend with in fic (even in Smallville fandom, far more fics simply ignored Lana Lang than bashed her, and the Keller-hate of SGA is nothing compared to the Lana-hate!)
Meanwhile, the best we can all do is probably just live-and-let-live, seek out those fans who fan the way we are, who are watching the show we're watching, and take our squee where we can get it! *defiantly hugs SGA, show and fandom - dammit, I don't care what else happens, Rodney McKay forever!*
Now I'm going to go wake up the sis and bro in the other room, and we can open the Christmas presents we left until after we got back from Hong Kong! Yay, presents! (Also, Hong Kong is wonderfully warm this time of year, and delicious. Christmas dinner was roast goose at the best Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. Oh man. SO TASTY. But someday I have to go on an Asian eating tour with people who actually eat seafood;
gnine is allergic and the bro doesn't like it, so I was left drooling over pictures of crab and shrimp and shellfish but not ordering any because I can't finish whole dishes on my own...)
WWW= 'wife? what wife?'
Date: 2008-12-29 08:19 am (UTC)Charlie WeasleyChuck's love-child, or perhaps there will be a big fight... the more competent writers will go the irreconcileable (sp?) differences route, or what have you.(And by the way, even the Snape/Lupin ship is still going strong, despite the wife, the kid, and the deaths of both Snape and Lupin in the last book. Nothing is insurmountable! *insert appropriate Princess Bride quote about death and love here*)
The annoying thing will be that every post-S5 story will have to address that story's take on the question, which will get tedious.
Re: WWW= 'wife? what wife?'
Date: 2008-12-29 10:17 am (UTC)(Though right now my OTP isn't feeling terribly threatened, I must admit - Rodney & Keller is so poorly written that it's doing more to convince me that Rodney might actually be gay than anything before...!)
--another problem with McKeller is while with Katie Brown, we saw so little of their relationship that we could extrapolate some things. Rodney and Keller we've seen enough of that we now have a solid canon view of Rodney in a romantic/sexual relationship...it blows any of the more dominant Rodney-in-a-relationship characterizations (slash or het) out of the water. And I kind of detest the awkwardly shy "kinder & gentler" Rodney...but these days it's hard for me to imagine him being any other way in a relationship, with what we've been given. (Ahhh, if only they'd gone through with Rodney/Sam...I'd have sacrificed my McShep OTP for Rodney/Sam. Not that I would believe for a minute that it would last, but man, it would've been awesome, I loved the way Rodney was around her - yeah, I like assholes in fiction, what can I say? - and I loved how he brought out Sam's sarcastic side...siiigh!)
Re: WWW= 'wife? what wife?'
Date: 2008-12-29 09:40 pm (UTC)You're talking the Big Damn Movie here? Because, yes, yes, yes. Although Serenity is sort of easy for me to handle. I take it as an Alternate Timeline. I love the background story that we got but cannot accept what they did to Wash and the whole Simon/Kaylee thing. So as far as I'm concerned this is one of those AUs where the world isn't quite how it should be.
But I agree on the can't ignore canon thing. At least for SGA. I'm not sure though that I see Rodney with Jennifer as his general modus operandi when dating now and in the future. I see it more as the one that doesn't work and that once things with Jennifer fall apart and John finally lets it slip that he's kind of very gay, they get together and Rodney might start being like that until John whacks him on the back of his head and tells him to behave like a normal person and all will be fine :)
I must admit - Rodney & Keller is so poorly written that it's doing more to convince me that Rodney might actually be gay than anything before...!
I haven't read all your comments yet (so if you're doing this elsewhere, forget I asked), but I'd love to see you expand on that.
Re: WWW= 'wife? what wife?'
Date: 2008-12-30 06:46 am (UTC)Yes. That. You're looking at a girl who loves Rodney McKay. I started watching SGA because of Joe Flanigan's face but I fell head over heels for Rodney. I even hated McKay and Mrs. Miller the first couple of times I saw it because I thought everyone was being too mean to Rodney. But at the end of Enemy at the Gate, I rolled my eyes and sneered -- at Rodney, my favorite character, my go-to guy. It was just the final moment in a series of moments this season when I thought, "Who are these people??"
Re: WWW= 'wife? what wife?'
Date: 2008-12-30 05:40 pm (UTC)Oh well. This too shall pass. Worse comes to worse, I'm just gonna decide that a bit of the Shrine parasite was left in Rodney's brain, explaining his OOC behavior XP