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Fandom Contemplations
So, I've been thinking about creativity on the internet.
I really am very frequently more than amazed at what people in fandom can do. With art, with graphics, with video editing, with writing, with music, with keeping up a more or less smoothly running organization like fandom without everything falling apart.
The creativity I see here on the internet every day is baffling. The ideas some people come up with! In online fandom, there really are no limits to your creativity. No matter what you do, at some point somebody already did something more rebellious than that, so there's a lot less forced rebellion in online art as there is in other art. On the other hand, there are no restrictions. Somewhere, you will find an audience for anything, so you can really do whatever your creativity inspires you to do.
I think that's amazing. It's inspiring. It's addictive. And it makes every day life and every day interaction with people who are more or less strangers - people at uni, the work place, wherever - seem so much more dull and uninteresting, because there are all those social taboos and rules restricting your potential. Showing a RL friend some of your art work requires a relatively high level of familiarity. On the internet, you post your art to communities for hundreds, sometimes thousands of people to see it.
I love this. I really, really love this. My life would be so much less interesting without fandom. And it makes me really angry and disappointed at the so-called 'normal' people when they go and dismiss people in fandom as 'daydreamers' and 'wasting their lives' and 'being loners and losers'. It's hard not to react in return by dismissing them as close-minded, two-dimensional beings whose only desire in life seems to be to fulfill the demands a corrupt, brutal and hypocritical society poses.
It's just as wrong as what they are doing. But sometimes, I just can't help it.
I really am very frequently more than amazed at what people in fandom can do. With art, with graphics, with video editing, with writing, with music, with keeping up a more or less smoothly running organization like fandom without everything falling apart.
The creativity I see here on the internet every day is baffling. The ideas some people come up with! In online fandom, there really are no limits to your creativity. No matter what you do, at some point somebody already did something more rebellious than that, so there's a lot less forced rebellion in online art as there is in other art. On the other hand, there are no restrictions. Somewhere, you will find an audience for anything, so you can really do whatever your creativity inspires you to do.
I think that's amazing. It's inspiring. It's addictive. And it makes every day life and every day interaction with people who are more or less strangers - people at uni, the work place, wherever - seem so much more dull and uninteresting, because there are all those social taboos and rules restricting your potential. Showing a RL friend some of your art work requires a relatively high level of familiarity. On the internet, you post your art to communities for hundreds, sometimes thousands of people to see it.
I love this. I really, really love this. My life would be so much less interesting without fandom. And it makes me really angry and disappointed at the so-called 'normal' people when they go and dismiss people in fandom as 'daydreamers' and 'wasting their lives' and 'being loners and losers'. It's hard not to react in return by dismissing them as close-minded, two-dimensional beings whose only desire in life seems to be to fulfill the demands a corrupt, brutal and hypocritical society poses.
It's just as wrong as what they are doing. But sometimes, I just can't help it.
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I just don't get why re-painting famous paintings and giving them a twist should be art, while writing fanfiction about a TV show character who showed up in maybe ten or fifteen episodes of a nine season show should be silly, childish or a waste of time.
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So it has nothing to do with talent; it's just writing or drawing or making icons or layouts or banners for what speaks to you personally. We make fanart because it's what we love, not because it's all we're good for.
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Wow, good for her! I'm always so happy when I hear about people like that - fandom people who manage to get their work acknowledged in the 'real world'. Lots of good luck to her that everything works out alright!
not because it's all we're good for
Exactly. It's so insanely annoying to be categorized like that. Especially when with some people, there's absolutely no talking about the matter.
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Everything Michelangelo did could be considered fanart. What's the diff, yeah?
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It all comes down to characters, people, or events that we find compelling and meaningful.
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Live and let live, right?
In other words, I love this post. :)
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I think that really is the worst part. Art isn't lucrative, it doesn't fill up the fridge or earns you tons and tons of money (except with a very few exceptions), so a creative ability is usually not supported the way it would have to be for the person in question to develop sufficient trust in their ability to actually develop it to its full potential.
In fandom, you get to see what the real world is actually missing out on, and sometimes, it's almost scary.
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Wow, that is the absolute truth. On a personal note, I find it almost painful when someone suggests I sell--it's often the first response to good art. "You could be so rich."
Uh, not really. Do you know any rich artists? Lol.
Kind of heartening, though--people so openly admire talent. They go crazy over it. And they praise it in the only way they know how--by attaching a dollar value to it. It's wonderful how readily people will do that with art, and it shows where their values truly lie, but it's sort of a shame it has to be money. Money is not the same as value--or at least, it shouldn't be.
I guess the goal, then, is to keep plugging along, nudging people to get brave, develop trust in themselves as you mentioned, and show their stuff despite the obstacles. The bravest and most talented people I know are definitely the people I discovered in fandom :)
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They do! That's what puzzles me the most about some of them. There are people who completely adore talent when they see it offline, but as soon as it's something that developed online, it's a waste of time o_O.
it's sort of a shame it has to be money
It is! It makes the whole thing so much more like a competition. It's like Monopoly (the board game); as soon as there's hotels and high amounts of money involved, the fun is pretty much gone and all that's left is the competition.
The bravest and most talented people I know are definitely the people I discovered in fandom
I know what you mean. The thing is, I think that anybody could be as brave and talented, and that fandom simply is the only place people can express that. Imagine what it would be like if that worked in the real world as well!
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You've said it all, and I whole-heartedly agree. Just, yes. Yes. Fandom is surprisingly beautiful, and I think it's easy to overlook that.
♥
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It is, isn't it. For all the wankery, it still is the most interesting and inspiring place I know. But, yeah. Unfortunately, most people, even people who would love fandom if they put aside their prejudices, are oblivious to that fact.
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And the discussions! It's a real... well, it's a "YANA" feeling. ;) I'm so used to having my own little obsessions that it's a genuine treat to find other people willing to squee over some things and seriously debate others.
A lot of it's a case of affirmation, of justifications of my own little foibles, but there's definitely something much deeper there, and I think you've touched on it. I don't share my writing with RL friends or family, I only rarely share my meta with 'em. But strangers online? Sure!
And then come the online friendships, and that's something I've never been able to make some people understand. A huge part of that is anonymity - you connect over one particular thing in common, and the rest is largely irrelevant. And you can't do that in real life! If you meet someone at... say, a fencing match, chances are you're gonna be socially obligated at some point to talk about something other than fencing. But that obligation's just not present online - you can focus in on a single thing as much as you like and not seem rude at all.
It's neat stuff, really. Great post! :D
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Exactly! Where could an 'aspiring' artist refine their talent better than in fandom? I know that all I know about writing, and vid editing, and using graphic programs, I learned in fandom.
well, it's a "YANA" feeling
Lol, it so is! Being a fan and being isolated from other fans is a terrible thing. Having people to share the fun with is just brilliant. I still wonder how the poor fen managed back when there was no intarwebz. Especially those who lived in some remote place somewhere :O.
Online friendships are brilliant. Because, as you said. No social pressure to talk about your job, your family, your sex life and your dreams, hopes and aspirations ;). On the other hand, you of course can talk about these things. The internet is one of the few places where you'll never have to have a conversation that completely bores you to death.
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*gg* Yeah, I get what you mean. I don't mind people deciding they're not interested in fandom (although I honestly, honestly do not understand how anybody could decide that, lol). I only get annoyed when people put it off as something stupid and childish and a waste of time. How is fandom more of a waste of time than watching tall men throw a reddish ball into a net?
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You are soooo right. :-)
It's such a shame that it's so hard to explain what fandom actually can give you to other non-fanish people. I always try and get all starry-eyed and excited and they just look and shrug and say "If it makes you happy." (Which is, I have to admit a rather positive reaction...)
YES IT MAKES ME HAPPY!!!
edited, just because I CAN!!!!!!
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Ahaha, yes, I so know what you mean.
RL Person: So, what is it you do on the internet all the time?
Me: Uh, I'm active in this community.
RL Person: Community?
Me: Yeah, well, you know. It's called fandom. It's lots of TV show fen getting together and talking about the shows they watch and stuff.
RL Person: Huh? TV?
Me: Or books. Or comics. It's really brilliant. People write stories and do graphics and stuff.
RL Person: Oookay.
Me: Seriously. It's brilliant. I've made tons of friends that way.
RL Person: Real friends or online friends?
Me: ... okay, forget I said anything.
And YAY! for paid account! ;D
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And they get all glassy-eyed, when I talk about it for more than 30 seconds. Just tuning me out. Their bad.
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It encourges me to be more creative in turn, though admitadly i've written stuff since I was eight but not the point.
People don't often get it in RL: i think it has to be something you experence youreself before you can understand it.
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Well, yeah. It's not like fandom suddenly gives you tons of talents that you didn't have before. It's a place, though, to share and develop those talents, and that's, as you said, a very wonderful thing.
And yeah, I guess it's something you have to see for yourself to get what it is about. It's a pity that so many people simply refuse to try it out!