sgreer, wonderful post, and you have a very interesting blog. I was directed her through a couple journals/communities... I wasn't sure where to put this reply (and I hope you don't mind me chiming in) since it addresses several statements in different threads, so I thought I'd just bundle it all together here.
Except that for me, there's a certain ick factor--less because of the graphic sex (and I would agree that it seems fairly gratuitous)--but because there seems so little choice to what she's doing.
Right there -- that's the crux of the problem, I think.
I don't feel the sex itself is a problem for the "ex-fans" so much as the matter in which it happens. It's a hard thing to see happen to any likable character, but when the strong, assertive, archetype-busting woman is the one who becomes subject to repeated metaphysical (and even physical, at the onset) rapes... that's a terribly bitter pill to swallow. Even without her subsequent acceptance of the magical inheritance which is literally forcing her to have sex "every couple of hours" (to quote the author in question) with not only friends and lovers, but strangers and even people she states outright as finding distasteful. And she doesn't just accept it, she changes her entire life -- right down to her priorities -- do accommodate it, and is willing to cut out friends and family out of her life (ergo the books) in order to defend it.
sgreer, you are absolutely spot on in your analysis of an author's promises, broken or kept, and how this has affected the Anita Blake fandom. I have to applaud a post which states so eloquently something I've been struggling to put into words myself. But it's not just that LKH turned Anita into a "mattress." Anita is now the equivalent of a battered wife (with the ardeur as the spouse in question) who takes the abuse with a smile, her anger reserved for those who'd question her well-being.
I think that's what's really making fans "rabid." (And I suppose I'm technically one myself, belonging to a snark community... though I don't wish death, dismemberment, or disease on the author in question, just a wake-up call.) And once that occurred the dam broke, and people felt free to voice problems with the series they'd otherwise overlooked because, as was discussed above, Anita had been an anomaly in the genre and people wanted to encourage a new trend.
Adding to all of this Hamilton's own behavior... this isn't the first time she, or her husband, or her assistant, have lashed out at "negative fans" in blog entries or interviews. This recent incident seems to have caught a lot more attention than previous rages, but in the past year she's been known for them among the readership. An author breaking promises inherent in his/her text can cause a lot of fury, but I bet a lot of her detractors felt free to wreck havoc once LKH started to insult them personally. (Not by name, but as a group.)
A few people have questioned by fans don't walk calmly away from the wreckage. I don't buy anymore of LKH's books myself, so I can't speak for those who do. And I don't always feel comfortable with the vitriol that can be spewed at the mention of her name. But I do watch her antics, I am interested in how they play out via her career and the reaction in the community, and I want to know how the rest of her books unravel.
What it boils down to, sadly, is that Hamilton created a world and characters I (and others) once cared about deeply -- she established a relationship between her books and her readers. It's over, but it ended very confusingly and abruptly, so I want closure. Us bitter fans are a bit like scorned lovers -- we were dumped, for reasons never satisfactorily explained to us and with a lot of hurtful words, and while we get together and convince ourselves we're much better off, we still secretly want the person who broke our hearts (only metaphorically, thank goodness) to realize how they hurt us and apologize.
Or at least end up dead in a ditch somewhere. (Again, metaphorically.)
When Fans Attack (a new FOX special)
Date: 8 Jan 2007 04:59 am (UTC)Except that for me, there's a certain ick factor--less because of the graphic sex (and I would agree that it seems fairly gratuitous)--but because there seems so little choice to what she's doing.
Right there -- that's the crux of the problem, I think.
I don't feel the sex itself is a problem for the "ex-fans" so much as the matter in which it happens. It's a hard thing to see happen to any likable character, but when the strong, assertive, archetype-busting woman is the one who becomes subject to repeated metaphysical (and even physical, at the onset) rapes... that's a terribly bitter pill to swallow. Even without her subsequent acceptance of the magical inheritance which is literally forcing her to have sex "every couple of hours" (to quote the author in question) with not only friends and lovers, but strangers and even people she states outright as finding distasteful. And she doesn't just accept it, she changes her entire life -- right down to her priorities -- do accommodate it, and is willing to cut out friends and family out of her life (ergo the books) in order to defend it.
I think that's what's really making fans "rabid." (And I suppose I'm technically one myself, belonging to a snark community... though I don't wish death, dismemberment, or disease on the author in question, just a wake-up call.) And once that occurred the dam broke, and people felt free to voice problems with the series they'd otherwise overlooked because, as was discussed above, Anita had been an anomaly in the genre and people wanted to encourage a new trend.
Adding to all of this Hamilton's own behavior... this isn't the first time she, or her husband, or her assistant, have lashed out at "negative fans" in blog entries or interviews. This recent incident seems to have caught a lot more attention than previous rages, but in the past year she's been known for them among the readership. An author breaking promises inherent in his/her text can cause a lot of fury, but I bet a lot of her detractors felt free to wreck havoc once LKH started to insult them personally. (Not by name, but as a group.)
A few people have questioned by fans don't walk calmly away from the wreckage. I don't buy anymore of LKH's books myself, so I can't speak for those who do. And I don't always feel comfortable with the vitriol that can be spewed at the mention of her name. But I do watch her antics, I am interested in how they play out via her career and the reaction in the community, and I want to know how the rest of her books unravel.
What it boils down to, sadly, is that Hamilton created a world and characters I (and others) once cared about deeply -- she established a relationship between her books and her readers. It's over, but it ended very confusingly and abruptly, so I want closure. Us bitter fans are a bit like scorned lovers -- we were dumped, for reasons never satisfactorily explained to us and with a lot of hurtful words, and while we get together and convince ourselves we're much better off, we still secretly want the person who broke our hearts (only metaphorically, thank goodness) to realize how they hurt us and apologize.
Or at least end up dead in a ditch somewhere. (Again, metaphorically.)