[ SECRET POST #2797 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2797 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 085 secrets from Secret Submission Post #400.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[sarillia]

What's with the assumption that if you care about those things then it's the only thing you care about? I see it all the time and it seems like such a strange assumption to make. I'm sure it's true sometimes but I'm equally sure that it's not always true.

[insanenoodlyguy]

Caring about them is fine. Writing a story wtih that as it's purpose is, a lot of the times, going to mean your primary focus is making sure that representation is properly met. This usually results in the story either A. Spending way to much time focusing on how the character is most assuredly black/gay/trans/whatever as opposed to every other aspect of their character, B. getting really, really preachy to the distraction of actual enjoyment, or c. both.

And it's been that way before SJW was even a term (read the old star trek fanfiction archives and you'll find all sorts of stuff)

[sarillia]

What if it's just one of the many purposes of your story? Other people seem to be seeing a dichotomy where I don't.

[cabler]

"A story written purely for the reason of social justice"

It's right there in the not secret.

[sarillia]

Yeah I have a bad habit of responding to other stuff I'm reminded of. Like I said, people assume these things are written purely for that reason when they really aren't and I get the impression that they don't think this can be just one purpose of the story in addition to entertainment, so now I'm asking someone who agrees more with the secret maker than I do for his opinion on this.

[ketita]

I think one of the dangers of this type of writing is that it's predictable.
I once read a fic that was dealing with certain social-justice-y issues, and had a character espousing an opinion that was clearly not what the writer thought. Thing is, even though the fic was well written and had a plot and everything, a lot of time was invested in discussing this topic, which already meant that in order to find it interesting you had to be invested in listening to the characters go on about it... and secondly, because of the way it was set up, I didn't believe for a moment that the character would choose to continue acting in the way that went against the author's (and the social justice) opinion.
So why read the story at all, if the conclusion is foregone? I quit.

[sarillia]

That's fair. That fic didn't do the jobs outside the agenda well. I'm not trying to claim that never happens.

[ketita]

Well, if anything it's more that the agenda shot down the plot. Without the agenda, the fic might have been interesting in terms of character exploration - but once you see the agenda, you know what will happen. So it becomes an exercise in "proving" the agenda right. Which, for people who agree with it or have suffered from naysayers, might be very emotionally satisfying, but for somebody who isn't invested it's just obvious.
And for me at least, because so much time was invested in discussing the agenda, I couldn't enjoy the fic for the plot and accept the foregone aspects of it.

[insanenoodlyguy]

This exactly. And the agenda isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when it dominates, it's at the expesne of the rest of the story.

[(Anonymous)]

It's easier to see the problem when it's not your own agenda: think about the difference between "Christian music" that loudly bills itself as such, and music that happens to be by Christians, i.e. Johnny Cash. The stuff that has to put ideology first is predictable tripe, and the stuff that puts music first may have religious themes, sincere and moving ones sometimes, but it doesn't necessarily suck.

[(Anonymous)]

This. Issuefic can be done, but most writers, including the ones who get paid, don't have the chops to pull it off.

[(Anonymous)]

Charles Dickens. Entertain first, agenda second.