At 06:25 PM 5/14/99 -0400, you wrote:
All art is subjective. There are no hard and fast rules for when too much
is too much; it isn't a binary problem. But if you look at the character
and think, "I can't ever imagine X doing that," then the author has a
problem.
Then Star Trek DS9 has a problem, or David Weber or Elizabeth Moon.
No, the author has a problem when it troubles his audience in GENERAL.
I can easily dismiss the points of handful of readers in favor of putting
out a product that appeals to my general audience.
Folks, you can make these characters do _anything_. Kasumi as a
psychopathic killer, Ranma as a murderer, Nabiki as a honorable martial
artist... I've seen literally dozens of convincing variations on
characters, and I like to think I've written a few as well. But they have
to make sense, or the reader is left feeling cheated.
Why? I feel that we're making statements that require some statistical
proof, especially since we're talking about subjectivity and therefore
lack any empircal evidence to support our arguments. Since that data
has never been forthcoming, I'm forced to reject this assertation on
the basis of my personal experience and trends in the entertainment
industry. I have yet to see consistency weigh heavily on the minds
of those producing derivative works when judging how well a product
will be accepted by the public.
Let's take a scene. Ranma tells Akane he never wants to see her again, and
takes off with Ukyou.
Fine, except it doesn't jibe with his actions in the past. It's no good to
say that Ukyou is the better choice of him; that may be true, but that's
not what Ranma has thought and expressed all throughout the manga. People
do not reverse their views, emotions, and mindsets overnight without a
strong catalyst.
It doesn't jibe if you KNOW what happened in the past. There was a recent
case where a fanfic author put together his work with only another fanfic
serving as his primary resource. *I* started writing fanfiction that
way, and consequently I never grew attached to this whole idea of remaining
true to the original. I call it "correction." What others call it, or
whether or not they even bother to justify it, is their business. If
it sells, power to them.
C) The author is lazy and sloppy, and shows us contradictory events that
make no logical sense. Ranma admits that he loves Akane at Jusendo - two
weeks later, he's brushing her off and heading out with Ukyou, who he had
previously shown no romantic interest in. Sure, it could happen - but we
_need_ to see those two weeks, and the events in them _need_ to be
believable. Otherwise you're asking us to assume the highly improbable for
the sake of the way you want the story to go; to pick up the slack for
your own lack of effort and plot. And that isn't fair.
Once again, you're making conclusions that make absolutely no
sense--connecting apples and oranges. I fail to see how the
omission of consistency with the canon constitutes a lack of
effort on the part of the author, or suggest laziness. This
is a personal opinion, and nothing more. No statistical data,
no basic evidence, nothing to back it up beyond a personal
taste. My own objection demonstrates that it is clearly not
universal.
False logic. If we have Dagwood throwing Moko Takabishas, dressing in
Chinese clothing, and basically doing Ranmaesque things, then it qualifies
under parody. But it's still not Ranma - it's Dagwood acting like Ranma.
Not necessarily. There's more to the definition of Parody than
kludging to series together. It's Ranma if I say it's Ranma--or
at least to the extent that any other fanfic can call itself
Ranma. After all, all fanfics are equal in the eyes of the
fair use clause of the United States Code.
Personally, if you were to show me a picture of Dagwood and told me it was
Ranma, I'd look confused and say, "Uh, no, that ain't Ranma." If you
insisted, I'd ask you to explain. If your explaination wasn't convincing,
I'd tell you you were full of s--t. :)
Personally...that's the key. Show it to someone who knows neither Ranma
or Dagwood, then the situation is obviously different.
I defy you to produce a person who, given the circumstances in the above
paragraph, would just accept the claim without question. Go to a con and
try to sell that picture of 'Ranma', and see what success you'd have.
I refer you to the above statement, and I also remind you I neither write
nor *draw* (yes, I'm an amateur visual artist as well) with the intent
of pleasing the fandom. I'm more concerned with attracting as broad
an audience as possible--IMHO, that's a greater challenge. Also, I find
that the depth and constructiveness of criticism from those less
interested in the original premise of my story and more in the
work itself is of considerably greater value than that from the
diehard fan. There are notable exceptions, of course, but not many.
Most of my criticism originates outside of the fandom.
On the other hand, if I saw a fic which had Ryouga openly in love with
Kuno, and failed to explain/give a reason for it, I'd call the author on
it. It isn't consistent with the backstory.
Whether or not the author cares it's consistent is his prerogative.
However, you cannot say that the reader will react negatively unless
you produce to evidence to back that up. You can say that YOU react
negatively, but you can't speak for others.
-The Reverend Prez
* * *
+-----------------+-<The Badass Reverend of Funk Prez>---+
| Presley H. | Political Science / Computer Science |
| Cannady II | and Electrical Engineering Undergrad |
|<revprez@mit.edu>| at the Mass. Institute of Technology |
+-----------------+-<Anime Manga Development Group>------+
+ Author of Liars and Dreamers, a Robotech fanfic +
+-------<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/1731/index.html>-+
| MIDN 4/c A-2-2 SQD, MIT-Harvard-Tufts NROTC Battalion |
|_|"The art of war is of vital importance to the state"|_|