freggythepod

( Read it Here )

freggythepod

First of all, since some of you are sick of Fandom, I've got a video first for a change. You can watch it and then walk away if you like. This is for all my friends, old and new, but especially my friend

corvus_coronis

*Now 100% Complete with extra Boring stuff in Blue* so Anonymous people won't think I'm leaving out important facts 
(I didn't listen beyond the end of this, nor am I ever going to, thanks.) 

New Blog Post on Madam Pince's Potter Pages by Lisa Bunker, one of the co-writers of the Lexicon Book:

Who Are We? Where Are We Going? 

I agree with her that It is getting harder to articulate just what is going on, and what is going "wrong."  And Fandom is difficult to explain to someone who isn't involved in it.

However, I disagree that Fandom was ever a totally innocent place.  Maybe in the very early days, but I missed those times.  I joined Fandom in August 2003 right after Order of the Phoenix was released. I never saw Fandom as a "safe" place where everyone was nice.  By then, alot of ideas about the books were "fixed" in people's minds.  The Marauders = Cool/Brilliant/Fun.  Snape=Ugly/Jerk/DeathEater.  People were already indoctrinated in some ways by Fandom, and that's what the Shipping Wars were about.  The books were not as important as the swirling fantasies, and it was difficult sometimes to get people to go back to the pages of the books.

My first theory on a forum was about the HP books compared to Alice in Wonderland.  People lined up to ridicule my theories as crap, and I almost didn't make it through a week without quitting.  But eventually, I learned out to debate and argue, to make friends, and avoid nasty people. I learned to bite my own tongue to get along. We've all had days when someone wrote something to make us feel shunned, avoided, outcast, depressed, and court-martialed. Almost anyone in Fandom will know what I'm talking about.  

About the only advice I can give anyone about Fandom is: If you love the books, keep on keeping on with it.  If you are still interested, there will always be something to talk about.  But it's not going to be a fun every day. Lately, it's taken the wrong Floo to Nocturn' Alley.  You just have to stay calm and not let the Death Eaters scare you while you find your way back out of there.

The other day, I posted a comment from the writer Karen Brown, author of Prejudice in Harry Potter. I had originally seen the comment on Kristin Devoe's Daily Prophet blog, and I posted it Here in a discussion of Tim Wu's New Yorker Article.

I did not know Ms. Brown, but I wrote an e-mail to her inviting her to comment further, which she did. I never meant to drag her into a huge controversy or cause problems for her in any way, and I am so sorry. I have quoted dozens of bloggers in the past few months to show different views, and several of them have decided to comment here with no drama.  

I was just trying to give a balanced view of the case, since I have been criticized for my own bias. I felt that Ms. Brown had a refreshing view, since she is a fan and supporter of J. K. Rowling, but was wishing that fandom would tone down their criticism of Steve Vander Ark and let the legal system decide the fate of his book.

But due to unfortunate things that have been said in the past few days, Ms. Brown has been drawn into some accusations and threats, both public and private. She feels her statement is being misconstrued and her views distorted. This has caused her a great deal of distress, and she decided to state her own view in a public setting.  Therefore Karen has put out a Press Release:

Caught on the Wrong Side of Harry Potter Fandom 

lunas_ceiling

( Calling a Spade a Spade )

Tonight an interesting encounter on Leaky in which Melissa accused the poster kbnthomas of being Karen Brown, and demanded a retraction of the comment posted above.  About the deletions - many people who support Steve Vander Ark have been deleted on Leaky.  I don't see how we can "prove" that now, since the posts are, by definiton, gone.  If Melissa wants to open up her logs for a day and let us see the names of the people deleted in the past three months, that might convince me, so I would urge her to "prove" that we haven't been deleted.

"Unsurprisingly, the fan reaction has been visceral, in all sorts of directions. I particularly like being compared to Rita Skeeter. Obviously there is much more I would have liked to have put in - there were hours of interviews, and great contributions from Sheryll Townsend that were cut in their entirely to my dismay. But overall the thrust of the article was to describe the feud over Steven Vanderark in fandom, and his punishment therein.

Ironically, the article itself seems to have led to even more feuding in fandom.
Melissa Anelli in particular feels she has been misrepresented; though I am not sure I see why. Briefly, I mention and quote language to the effect that her and other leaders in fandom have been strong supporters of Rowling, and tough on Steve Vander Ark. This no one can deny. It is also true that Anelli herself has a good relationship with Rowling, and is writing a book, on fandom, with her blessing. These are the facts - and I didn’t refer to her as having mushroom hair, so she ought be happy.

Perhaps I will end with a para that was cut from the piece that seems to capture things:

Sheryll Townsend, a forty-eight year old Slytherin and fellow member of Harry Potter for Grownups (she calls herself a “list elf”), said, “Fandom tends to eat their own.”

Selected Quotes of the Day

"I believe the flood gates will open," Rowling said, her voice rising. "Are we the owners of our own work?"

"Copyright law does not permit an author to suppress a book because she doesn't like it," he said. ~Anthony Falzone, Defense Attorney

“I can’t simply take the expert’s opinion as my own.” ~ Judge Robert Patterson

Again, Judge Patterson interrupted, and addressed Rowling directly. “Can you imagine anyone reading [the Lexicon] for entertainment value?”  

“Quality shouldn’t matter,”. . . If the Lexicon is lousy, Falzone concluded, the answer is not to suppress it, but for Rowling to write her own. 

( Read the News Under the Cut )

(JKR) complained that the entries consisted of words like “Death” or “Voldemort” arranged alphabetically, followed by what she considered bare-bones definitions.  For instance, she said, the Ogre entry simply said, “Ron and Hermione think they see an ogre at Three Broomsticks.” A superior entry, Ms. Rowling testified, would have pointed out that “An ogre in European folklore was a flesh-eating giant.”

The entry under Remus Lupin, she said, missed the opportunity to comment on the etymology of the name as a “double allusion” to the character’s being a werewolf, since in Roman mythology Remus was raised by wolves, and Lupin derived from lupine.  

She also objected to what she called the book’s “facetious asides,” like a comment about whether Hagrid could fit into a booth at McDonald’s. “I think it’s dire,” she said. “I think it’s atrocious.”

The lead defense lawyer, David Hammer, was not impressed with her literary critique of the work.

“Have you ever read a dictionary, Miss Rowling?” Mr. Hammer demanded. Alphabetical order, he continued, “is what the Encyclopedia Britannica uses, isn’t that true?”

To which Ms. Rowling retorted: “What are you accessing in these A-to-Z’s? Aren’t you being suckered out of your hard-earned cash?”

“You feel it’s your responsibility to prevent people from paying their hard-earned cash for things you don’t like?” Mr. Hammer asked.

“Absolutely not,” Ms. Rowling replied. “This is theft. This is wholesale theft.”

It was the ultimate irony, Mr. Rapoport’s lawyer said, that the same Web site that Ms. Rowling was now denigrating was one that she had admitted using herself a time or two to check facts.

Ms. Rowling conceded that she had given a “fan-site award” to Mr. Vander Ark’s Web site in 2004, but she said she had given the award only “as a kind of 'A' for effort.”

When she gave the award, she wrote on her own Web site: “I have been known to sneak into an Internet cafe while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter (which is embarrassing).” But she said she had consulted the Web site only because “I wanted to do a nice thing for the award. Do I now regret that? Yes, bitterly.”

JKR arrives at the courthouse:

Let's talk a minute about the subject of Fans and Superfans. Who are they and what role do they play in the scheme of things? As both consumers and promoters, do they have a right to some respect from JKR, even if they are not always on the same page with her? 

Did Steve Vander Ark cease to be a "Super Fan" when his publisher decided to fight for the right to publish the Lexicon in book form?
Are other fans "more worthy" because they always stand with JKR/WB on every decision? 

How much promotion for the "Brand" does someone have to do, either on Websites, on Forums, or at Conferences in order to please JKR/WB?

"Nothing like owning half of Scotland to help you keep a stiff upper lip... 

You know what depresses the heck out of me, Jo? The fact that I could never sell a millionth of the books you have! The unfairness that I don't have your talent! The bleakness of knowing I will never own a castle!! Heck, Bob Costas is one of the few people you didn't have to sue for copyright infringement... How do you think that makes me feel, Ms. Successful? Happy now???!?"

( Steve's Interview Here With Thoughts On Fandom )

SCHEDULING ORDER: Jury Trial set for 4/14/2008 at 09:30 AM before Judge Robert P. Patterson.
Pretrial order to be filed by 4/7/08, if case is to be tried by jury.
Voir dire requests and requests to charge by 4/7/08,if case to be tried by jury.
Witness List to be provided by 4/4/08.
SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Robert P. Patterson on 3/5/08)