(no subject)
Aug. 21st, 2020 09:38 pmThis is complaining about complaining, but at this point in my fandom life, it seems kind of bizarre when people are like "it's bad that fans interpret canon [as the creator(s) intended]"
I mean ... dislike the interpretation all you like (I've certainly disliked interpretations with official seals of approval), but putting the blame on fandom rather than the actual creators who explicitly meant it to be taken that way is just really odd. Fandom can be drastically transformative, but it doesn't have to be! Some people prefer to adhere to authorial intent (no, Death of the Author is not some non-negotiable law; it's one theoretical approach among many). Some people prefer to explore interpretations they dislike in other ways. Some people actually like the interpretation, God forbid. Some people go "hmm, that's a stupid idea" and do their own thing, which can also be fine (though the execution can be very much not fine, like anything else). But it's not fans' fault that creators' intentions can carry through to the texts they write.
I mean ... dislike the interpretation all you like (I've certainly disliked interpretations with official seals of approval), but putting the blame on fandom rather than the actual creators who explicitly meant it to be taken that way is just really odd. Fandom can be drastically transformative, but it doesn't have to be! Some people prefer to adhere to authorial intent (no, Death of the Author is not some non-negotiable law; it's one theoretical approach among many). Some people prefer to explore interpretations they dislike in other ways. Some people actually like the interpretation, God forbid. Some people go "hmm, that's a stupid idea" and do their own thing, which can also be fine (though the execution can be very much not fine, like anything else). But it's not fans' fault that creators' intentions can carry through to the texts they write.