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Contemplating fandom
Meta links - I don't know how I got here (tabs tabs tabs), but I came across this list of five obnoxious, pan-fandom fanon cliches by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
selenak and I was just nodding my head going, yup, this all sounds awfully familiar. *g* There's also a tangentially related post on the Insignificant Other, aka characters who are introduced into a romantic triangle just to make the main romantic contender look good by comparison. I think one of the reasons why I dislike romantic comedies as a genre is that they tend to rely so heavily on this -- one of my pet peeves is the fiancé who is a complete asshole or just Mr. (or Ms.) Bland, so that the character goes fleeing into the arms of that shiny new lover they met at the pet store or through the personals column or whatever. I guess it can theoretically be done well, but just once I would like to see the protagonist realize that that the boring fiancé is really not that boring after all, and end up with him/her instead of the new love interest. (I also reserve a lot of affection for movies that don't go down the "evil fiancé" road -- it was one of the many reasons why I liked the first PotC movie and resented the second one.)
Reading both these posts, and the comments, makes me feel a little better about SGA (both canon and fandom); I've been in a lot of fandoms, but have spent the last three years being primarily a fannish monogamist, and I think it's helpful for me to be reminded that all the things that drive me nuts about SGA fandom, and the things I find bitterly disappointing in canon, are more or less universal to just about every big fandom that there is. In fact, some canons/fandoms are quite a lot worse with the things that make me miserable; the things I've heard about the ship wars and cliquishness in, say, Buffy fandom make me think that I wouldn't survive five minutes there. *g*
selenak and I was just nodding my head going, yup, this all sounds awfully familiar. *g* There's also a tangentially related post on the Insignificant Other, aka characters who are introduced into a romantic triangle just to make the main romantic contender look good by comparison. I think one of the reasons why I dislike romantic comedies as a genre is that they tend to rely so heavily on this -- one of my pet peeves is the fiancé who is a complete asshole or just Mr. (or Ms.) Bland, so that the character goes fleeing into the arms of that shiny new lover they met at the pet store or through the personals column or whatever. I guess it can theoretically be done well, but just once I would like to see the protagonist realize that that the boring fiancé is really not that boring after all, and end up with him/her instead of the new love interest. (I also reserve a lot of affection for movies that don't go down the "evil fiancé" road -- it was one of the many reasons why I liked the first PotC movie and resented the second one.)Reading both these posts, and the comments, makes me feel a little better about SGA (both canon and fandom); I've been in a lot of fandoms, but have spent the last three years being primarily a fannish monogamist, and I think it's helpful for me to be reminded that all the things that drive me nuts about SGA fandom, and the things I find bitterly disappointing in canon, are more or less universal to just about every big fandom that there is. In fact, some canons/fandoms are quite a lot worse with the things that make me miserable; the things I've heard about the ship wars and cliquishness in, say, Buffy fandom make me think that I wouldn't survive five minutes there. *g*
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I think SGA fandom - parts of it, anyway - used to be calmer and friendlier and more open than most big fandoms. Now it's more like other fandoms...which is frustrating, but nothing to be done for it; if it bothers you too much, there's always greener pastures! Older pastures, sometimes - I've been enjoying the heck out of Starsky & Hutch & The Man from UNCLE, myself XD
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... because, yeah, the "Mr. Bland" cliche is one of my very least favorites. The Asshole Boyfriend one bothers me mostly because it takes all the ambiguity out of the situation and, usually, makes me want to kick the heroine for being such an airhead that she's even in doubt. But the Mr. Bland one is just completely unfair.
I also think you're spot-on about the big fandom-ness of SGA. After reading your comment, I got to thinking about it and realized that, as many fandoms as I've been in, I've actually only ever been in one other big fandom -- SG1, which I got into when it was small and left because of, basically, Big Fandom Syndrome around seasons 4/5. Other than that, all my fandoms have been small fandoms, and even when they were big (like DBZ) I was always in the "micro" parts of them (i.e. gen DBZ fandom) and never really crossed paths with the "average" fan in those fandoms.
And I think you have a great point, too, that SGA fandom really was pleasant for its size for a long time.
I think it can become so again; SG1 fandom was awful when I left, but my understanding now (from skirting the borders) is that it's become very mellow and pleasant again, post-cancellation, much more like I remember it being in the early days.
Perhaps I just came back from my fannish vacation too soon. :D
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(Oh, Torchwood, where I prefer the het pairings to the canon slash. I am such a perverse fangirl sometimes ^^;)
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Re: Torchwood's canon pairings, it really does depend on which pairing, I guess. I find Jack/Ianto incredibly bland, but I also find Jack/Gwen equally bland. Owen/Tosh, on the other hand, is (or rather was) love and hearts and puppies ... little zombie puppies, perhaps, but still.