Re: Article in The Observer (UK Sunday paper) - Harry Potter and the mystery of an academic obsession
- From: dicconf@xxxxxxxxx (Richard Eney)
- Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 05:26:25 -0000
In article <KnbDg.525$cw.288@fed1read03>,
Fish Eye no Miko <fisheye@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
ag30476@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Fish Eye no Miko wrote:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,1838086,00.html
Yes, but when she says, "it's about doing extra housework
and sure uniform is nicely pressed:, it sounds VERY
chauvinistic.
Well maybe she's still slaving for the patriarchy but when she says
she's got an "adorable" accent and when she talks to half a dozen
women without the slightest hint of flirtation and actually gets
into a catfight with one, she sounds female...or gay.
If you've been reading this whole thread, you've seen that some other
posters referred to the writer as "he". I used this very sexist comment
as an example of why that might be...
Well it's an article written for not-fanatics in a mainstream
press paper and they want a look-at-these-slightly-weird phenom
thing. So you can't expect that they will send a ravid
"Ravid"? You mean rabid? Avid?
Hmmm...that probably explains my mental confusion when I typed
that. I meant rabid. But I could have used avid too. Or maybe I was
thinking of rabbits.
Bunnies!
If you want the HP fan POV, there are plenty of
other places to go, like here for ex(ample).
But we don't get into the mainstream press much, do we?
The less joy for them. We can't expect the whole world to be geeks
for the same things.
No, but that's not my point... I'm saying that, written by someone who's
into HP fanfic--hell even just by someone who's read all the books--this
would have been a very different article.
It might not have been. I've seen enough articles about SF conventions
to know what to expect from any random newspaper article: they almost
always focus on the weirdness, because that's what sells. The few that
did not were outstanding by comparison, and at least once a reporter
who was very positive and wrote a rave review had his article butchered
by the editor, who demanded a "look at the weirdos" filler.
That's why they don't usually send the SF fan staff member to write
about the SF conventions. Knowing something about the subject is
a disqualifier for the job.
<snip>
Overall, she does paint the fans as normal people
(ie accountants)
I.e., boring nerds. I mean no offense to the accountants I know and
those whom I don't know, who are fascinating people; I believe it's the
unfortunate public image of the accountant that was used in the article.
even if they are into weird stuff (slash-fic)
Focusing on the weirdest possible fanfic, and complaining about the
lecturer who had academic credentials and who talked about the books
focusing deeply on the actual text. The only thing she could criticize
seriously was that his academic degree was in history rather than
literature, and she ignored the fact that a literate, educated person
is likely to have studied literature along the way. She carefully
did not say what any of his conclusions were; if she had, I'd rate
the article higher.
Or maybe she did and the editor cut it, but left in the "damned with
faint praise" comments (that tell us the lecturer actually gave a good
talk that focused on the book) so he could put in the lame complaint
that it was merely the sort of thing that literature students write
and try to disparage the speaker's credentials. Maybe she had been
instructed to look for any scandalous theories (like H/R/D slash...).
and that it is overall a good thing (reading, empowerment, etc).
That's the obligatory "can't criticize JKR and the gets-kids-reading
phenomenon" part. It's okay to criticize people who go to conventions,
but the same readers who buy the books are likely to be among the
dwindling few who buy and read newspapers, and those are potential
customers.
..and yet, throughout most of the piece,
she seems very smug and above it all.
Yup. She's been sent to observe something she knows absolutely
nothing about. There are only two attitudes readily available:
embarassment at one's own ignorance, and smug superiority at not
knowing something that "only nerds would know." Any other attitude
would require actual thought and effort, and the editor would cut
it anyway.
Really, except for the slashfic comments, she could have written
the article without attending the convention, just reading the
program book to get the speakers' credentials.
=Tamar
.
- References:
- Article in The Observer (UK Sunday paper) - Harry Potter and the mystery of an academic obsession
- From: DaveD
- Re: Article in The Observer (UK Sunday paper) - Harry Potter and the mystery of an academic obsession
- From: Fish Eye no Miko
- Re: Article in The Observer (UK Sunday paper) - Harry Potter and the mystery of an academic obsession
- From: ag30476
- Re: Article in The Observer (UK Sunday paper) - Harry Potter and the mystery of an academic obsession
- From: Fish Eye no Miko
- Article in The Observer (UK Sunday paper) - Harry Potter and the mystery of an academic obsession
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