[penguicon-general] Fannish Material To Read

[Matt Arnold]

On 12/21/06, Catherine Olanich Raymond <cathy at thyrsus.com> wrote:
> On Thursday 21 December 2006 7:31 am, you wrote:
>
> > As for BotDS, I'll add on that there are both good and bad things about
> > Fandom. Besides, the book wasnät about the -good- parts, it was about how
> > hideous wrong it can go when the bad parts take over. But, you do get to
> > see every side of a convention as well as, yes, a mockery. And yes,
> > sometimes things are a total train wreck (I point to my 'Where were you
> > Disclave '97' button.)
>
> Reading your comment made me think of a question for Matt, though;  Have you
> seen the movie Galaxy Quest?  If so, did you have the same reaction to it?

I've seen it, I own it, I love it. Notice how the film's message about
the culture of TV and movies swings more positive as the plot goes on.
It shows how at its worst it can be juvenile, obsessive and out of
touch with reality, but then shows that at its best it can be fun and
even ennobling.

I won't give spoilers here, but I can think of a lot of climactic
scenes in Galaxy Quest, in which the movie showed us the redeeming
qualities of the fictional TV show. These scenes had absolutely no
counterpart in BotDS.

I don't think the people who made that movie are against fans, TV,
movies, or actors. To the degree that they do denigrate anything, they
dislike Creation Cons, an opinion that I share. Galaxy Quest had
almost nothing to do with my fandoms (I still don't like most
SF/Fantasy television) and yet I am more affectionate toward other
people's fandoms than I was before I watched it.

-Matt