stuff

[mamajoan]

You know what annoys me, is when people don't seem to grasp this fact: It is possible to perceive a problem, and to understand the problem thoroughly and in depth and without excessive bias, and yet, to be unable to come up with a solution.

This isn't directed at anyone on livejournal. It's actually about an argument that's taking place on an email list, about the Middle East situation. One group of people keeps pointing out the serious, ancient historical basis for the animosities between Jews and Arabs and Christians; and these people similarly point out the many reasons that peace efforts have thus far failed, and continue to fail. And then a second group of people comes in and says "okay you damn liberal commie freaks, here's what I say we should do to fix it!" and then a detailed, fairly well-reasoned (if fascist *g*) explanation of their proposed solution. But then the first group says, "here is a detailed and logical explanation of why your plan won't work." And the second group goes, "well fine, then what's YOUR solution?"

And they just don't get that we (the first group) don't HAVE a solution. That's what makes us so sad about the whole thing. We just can't see how to rearrange things in the Middle East so that everyone will be happy, or at least accepting. (Or at least so everyone will stop trying to kill each other.)

But our lack of a solution doesn't make us idiots. It doesn't mean we don't understand the issues; it doesn't mean we're hopelessly biased; and it doesn't mean we don't have a right to express our opinions on the situation. Just because you can't fix it, doesn't mean you lose the right to say it's broken.

In other news...

• I'm so over the RPF debate. It's weird to me that intelligent, rational people don't get why RPF is moderately wrong and why sexually-explicit RPF is a thing of evil; but they don't, so, okay, whatever. But it seems to me that the debate is all "My way is right!" "No, my way!" and no actual ... you know ... debate. But then, that's probably okay, because dude, this is one of those questions that will probably never be resolved. Some people think RPF is acceptable and cool. Others (like me) think it's wrong and offensive. Never the twain shall meet; but if we can just agree that "you write and read what you want, I'll write and read what I want" we should be okay. Right???
  
• I did catch Michael Rosenbaum on Craig Kilborn last night -- no thanks to Tivo, which didn't even list it in my MR Wish-List. I guess MR isn't a big enough star to get into the listings, or something. Anyway, I found out about it from tresca while reading livejournal last night, and I was going to bed, so I just hit record on the Tivo. So I haven't actually watched it yet.
  
• I talked to my brother, and he can get a car probably for about a grand, so I mailed him a check for $200 to make a down payment. I feel that this says something profound about my and my brother's relative levels of having-our-shit-together-ness: that $200 is an amount that means something so different to each of us. I'm not saying I could easily just flush $200 down the toilet, but in terms of writing a check and knowing that I'll get it back "eventually," for me it's not a problem; whereas for him, obviously, $200 is a big deal, the difference between being able to function in the world and not. It's just weird, is all.
  
• I tried to entertain mom's cats last night but somehow they didn't know what they wanted. They showed only erratic interest in the toys, but zero interest in snuggling (although, of course, I force some snuggling on them every time I visit anyway). I guess they were happy just to have someone there. I stayed for a couple hours, did a load of laundry and watched some of the Sox game. I'll go again probably tomorrow, and I'm considering spending the night there. Poor little guys. They *are* lonely.

Next up: a friends-only post about Plan G. Yep, there's new stuff to report. I know you're thrilled. ;)

Comments

[tiggrrl.livejournal.com]

What is RPF?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

sorry... Real People Fic. Fan-fiction about actual celebrities (most often boybands or Britney), usually in sexual situations. And frequently gay (RPS = Real People Slash).

Slash stories that depict sexual relationships between two members of N'Sync, for example, are *very* popular. And, in my opinion, very wrong.

[munoz.livejournal.com]

Why? I'm not saying I disagree - I actually have no opinion on the matter, since RPF/RPS is ridiculously uninteresting to me - but I'm curious as to your reasons.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Why is RPF bad? Geez, why *isn't* it?

It's an invasion of the person's privacy. Maybe not legally, but morally.

It's icky. The idea of writing sexually explicit stories about a real person you don't even know...! (A lot of people try to defend RPS by saying, "I'd love it if someone wrote slash about me!" I submit that if the someone were a complete stranger, then no, you wouldn't. You'd think it was weird and creepy. It would squick you out and make you feel violated. It's one think if a fandom pal writes a story for you on your birthday where you get to have sex with your favorite actor. It's quite another if someone you don't even know writes a story where you have sex with another someone you don't even know.)

The blurring of the line between reality and fantasy is already problematic enough in our society. In an age when there are people who actually cannot distinguish the actor from the character -- people who actually break into actors' houses to steal their underwear, or who tell other people they are in a relationship with the actor -- it's just dangerous. Granted that those are extreme examples, and disturbed people, *and* that most people writing RPF know it's fiction, but nevertheless, it's still bad.

The way entertainment media are set up these days, especially TV and movies, encourages people to think that they "know" the actors. You know a lot about their personal lives, who they date, what they think about issues, where they had dinner yesterday. But you don't really know them. You don't know what their personality is really like (no matter how many talk shows you've seen them on ... hello, you think they're not acting when they're on the talk shows?), and you have no right to go inserting them into fiction.

(And then of course there's the legal stuff. Do you really want to be talking to Britney Spears' lawyers? Do you really want to be known as that perv who wrote smut about Britney?)

I could go on, but basically, that's it. It's invasive, it's squicky, it crosses a line between acceptable and not. It's just plain wrong. IMO, obviously, but also a lot of other people's O.

[munoz.livejournal.com]

Again, I have no opinion on the matter, but it does occur to me to bring up the old saw, "There is no such thing as bad publicity." RPF is not *entirely* a bad thing for the "victims."

Then again, I'd never even heard of RPF until you mentioned it here, so what the hell do I know?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Publicity, okay, maybe, but even the most money- and attention-hungry of stars probably have their limits. Look at all the stars suing these days over newspapers that publish nude pictures of them / false information about them (Tom Cruise Is Gay, anyone?).

I'm sure there are some celebs who would just go, "People like me enough to write sex stories about me? Cool!" but there are probably just as many -- or more -- who would be freaked out by it, publicity be damned.

And considering that most RPF involves the celeb being in a gay relationship, combined with the taboos that our society still has against homosexuality, a lot of 'em might not want that kind of "publicity" anyway.

[kenboy.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I don't really read slash, but my favorite fic author (mcee) is now seriously into LOTR RPS. Not having any particular desire to visualize any of the men who acted in Lord of the Rings naked, I generally avoid these things.

On the other hand, I've run across the ocassional N*Sync thing, too, and it really just amuses me. So does the LOTR RPS stuff, really. If she and her friends enjoy that stuff, and they really seem to be all giggly about it, which I don't mean in a bad way, then bully for them.

Personally, I'll just patiently wait for her next West Wing or Buffy story, and hope it's not Josh/Sam or Spike/Xander...

Seriously, though, as far as I'm concerned, there's two types of fanfic: stuff I want to read, and stuff I don't. LOTR RPS, N*Sync RPS, Xander/Spike, the Wuthering Heights fanfic story I saw yesterday, X-Files, Smallville, other shows I don't watch -- I view all of it the same, as something of interest to others, and I don't really get concerned about it.