Vent: Fans Who Give Fandom A Bad Name

[fangrrl_squees]

(and, by extension, drive me up the fuckin' wall)

This was provoked by a remark, elsewhere on LJ-land. As things are a little quiet at the office, I think I'll vent some spleen...

- Anyone with a stated mission of "freaking the mundanes". This ain't Fight Club and you don't have the right to try shifting someone's paradigm without engaging the clutch. Extra high-voltage lightning points go to anyone who cites being oppressed by organized religion / heteronormativity / the mainstream media as a justification for such behavior, as such reasons are utterly without merit.

(edit: I'd like to add that, yes, there is a difference between refusing to feel self-conscious about one's fannishness, particularly when in a fan-friendly environment - such as a convention - and deliberately setting out to upset someone)

- Related to the above: Cheerfully strutting your stuff is one thing, forcing non-consenting folks to participate in your exhibitionism fetish is something else entirely. Learn the difference and respect it. In my case, this one seems to crop up a lot at BayCon.

- Folks who fail to follow the 6/2/1 rule. Six hours of sleep, two meals, one shower - every day. Okay, sometimes it's more like 4/2/1 for some of us, but we try!

- Speshul snowflakes of any kind. You know who I'm talking about.

- Anyone who asks the question "Why...?" without understanding that the answer is almost certainly "Money". "Why aren't there more guests? Why did the con change hotels? Why did the registration fee go up?" etc.

- The fan who thinks their registration ticket and a seat in the conference room entitles them to engage whoever's on stage in a one-on-one conversation throughout the guest's presentation. You want rapport? Try cornering the poor sod in the bar, if you can. Otherwise let them speak. (For some reason, this phenomenon seems particularly bad at Alexander James concerts.)

- Anyone who buys into any us-vs.-them mentality within a chosen fandom. We're all fans, alright? Just accept that sometimes, we aren't going to agree. If you can't embrace the diversity, at least tolerate it. Extra high-voltage lightning points to the pompous fans who feel the need to explain to folks - in exquisite detail - why they're wrong, sad and deluded. Please, oh please, don't be Comic Book Guy.

- To quote Dave Barry, a person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter is not a nice person. Don't ask me why, but I've seen attendees at SF cons treat hotel staff in appalling ways - patronizing, dismissive, rude, high-handed and, of course, stingy when it comes to tips. If you don't want to tip waitstaff, don't go out to eat. And leave a tip for the maid who cleans your room, dammit. $2 per person, per day. If I can manage it, most of y'all can too.

Feel free to share your own little rants. We might as well get it out of our systems all at once...

Comments

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

Well... even then, there are certain ways one can go about the critique, imho.

In my few bouts as a workmanship judge, I've always tried to focus on what's praiseworthy about the costume, maybe *debate* a point or two with the costumer ("I would have used a different approach - can you tell me why you did as you did?") and generally don't share flat-out "I think X is wrong" type critique until/unless they ask for it and, preferably, not until *after* they've been on stage. Those folks are nervous enough as it is! ;)

[kshandra]

Oh, absolutely - you want the participant to come away grateful for the experience they had. We do our best to use the "$h!t sandwich" technique when reviewing mutant vehicle applications. "We love the idea of a mobile porcupine. However, a single row of zip-ties outlining the edges of your Ford Fiesta does not convey the image you're intending to present. We look forward to seeing your improved design at next year's event." Etc.

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

*sympathy*

You've mentioned you've had some real, er, "beauts" applying for mutant-vehicle permits...