5 things I hate about you(r name): a critique of fanfiction
Romance has been a feature in literature since literature itself began. Poems from Sappho to Shakespeare, to YA authors like Jenny Han or Lyla Lee. The forms in which literary love presents itself shifts from decade to decade, year to year. However, the 2010’s have brought a new wave of romantic literature known as fanfiction. Some authors use their imagination to create offshoots of their favorite pre-existing stories, perhaps to satisfy abandoned plot lines, or to create a modernized version of older characters.
Others take beautiful stories, characters, and real people and turn them into strange fantasies that make everyone kind of uncomfortable.
As with every genre of writing, there is variety in the quality and enjoyment between every piece. Not all fanfiction is bad! But these are 5 reasons why I think some of it is pretty bad. (Yes, it was supposed to be like the movie 10 things I hate about you but I ran out of things to hate on. Sorry guys.)
Quality of writing
Oftentimes, fanfiction is written on devices like a cellphone. They are prone to typos, lack of proofreading, and wavering plot lines. They just usually don't have the same amount of care and effort as published books have.
Portrayal of Masculinity
In my opinion, it seems most male characters are portrayed in a similar light with each and piece of writing. Even if a character has distinct traits of shyness or lack of confidence, I find that if they are male they are often portrayed to fill a more aggressive and dominant “masculine” role. I think a lot of fanfiction has a very rigid sense of what is masculine and feminine, especially in romantic settings.
Romanticizing Abuse
(Sarah made a really excellent post on “dark romance” books, you should go read it!!)
Tropes like “bad boy” or “mafia boss” have taken a turn for the worst, where it’s no longer “bad boy with a soft spot” or something, it’s literally just abuse but it’s seen as some sort of normal twisted fantasy. This is extremely prevalent in fanfiction, and makes the reading experience all the less enjoyable.
Self insert standards
One of the many issues I find in self inserts is the very typical image in which they present themselves. Although self inserts in theory are meant to be so the reader can imagine themselves in any given situation, I often find the author has written in small (or large) details that make y/n less of yourself and more of a product of societal beauty standards. Things like “I threw my blond hair over my head in a messy bun,” or “I slipped on a small t-shirt” are some examples of statements that sort of take away from the whole idea. Things like being blonde or skinny are often just a given in a lot of these self inserts, which can be kind of annoying to read or think about.
Real people??
It’s often quite creepy for me to read fanfiction, especially romantic fanfiction about real people like celebrities or athletes. It’s essentially painting them in a light they might not wish to be in, if that makes sense. I mean, can you imagine being famous and reading a Wattpad article about how you’re in love with someone you’ve never met? Strange…
All is to say, there are a lot of features in romantic fanfiction I find kind of problematic and really don’t enjoy. While a lot of this is based on author to author and piece to piece, I find a lot of common traits among what I’ve read. However, I am aware that budding writers might be able to break the ice of the publishing industry by getting their work out there on ao3. I mean isn’t that how we got Red, white, and Royal Blue? I’m also aware that fandoms like the marauders might provide a fun way for Harry Potter fans to cope with JK Rowling! Point is, it’s not all bad. (Check out Karina's upcoming post for more on how fan fiction has affected literature in the last decade!!)
Thank you for reading!!
-Olive Jan
Hi Olive! This is a very interesting post. First off, I love the play on 10 Things I Hate About You that was really creative. Additionally, I agree with a lot of your points. Although fanfiction can be a beneficial and flourishing community a lot of fanfiction has some creepy undertones. I especially agree with your point about the negative aspects of more recent literature painting abuse as "romantic."
ReplyDeleteHey OJ! This is a really good post, and you brought up a lot of good points. I agree that these stories can easily become very creepy.
ReplyDeleteHello Olive!! I really love the style of this post, and I really agree with you about your points! I think that fanfiction has done a lot to help authors, but sometimes I feel like it can be like the "junk food" of writing (if that makes sense?). I also really like the idea of platforms to share fanfiction, such as Ao3 or Wattpad, but sometimes it can feel very weird or cross boundaries, like you mentioned (should there be restrictions on these sites is a whole other question I wouldn't want to go in to). Anyways, this is a really well-written post!
ReplyDelete"Junk food" of writing is such a good phrase!!
DeleteHI OLIVE. I'm glad you covered the negative aspects in fanfiction, as it definitely has problematic elements. I think that a large portion of the current fanfiction community lack some self-awareness--recently, I've seen an increase in how many choose to write about truly harrowing subjects--in quite insensitive manners--and romanticizing certain tropes that would otherwise be illegal... what's worse (imo) is that, oftentimes, many of these fics reach users that are quite young (since fanfiction has overall increased in popularity in the past few decades), therefore only promoting relatively dangerous "ideals."
ReplyDeleteThough, I will also say that I don't find the writing quality to be something I have issue with; I think it's great that (most) fanfiction spaces provide supportive environments for more to try their own hand at writing with less judgement, as oftentimes it creates a sort of community for people to interact with literature (albeit sometimes bad literature). (Then again, it also really depends on what side of the internet you're on...)
Stop writing more eloquently in my comments than I did in the actual blog!! And I really like your point about how fanfiction can be a way to write with a "lack of judgment." that's something I didn't really consider, and could definitely be a benefit of posting! (I say as I reply to comment on a post where I judge fanfiction.)
DeleteI don't like fanfic mostly because of the denotation people give it especially for TV shows (gatcha life etc.) and I think people also need to put light on the negative aspects as well as most people probably don't want to be portrayed in fanfic as mentioned in point 5. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteNever read fan fiction, sounds like good reasons not to start. Thanks!
ReplyDelete(OMG YOU TALKED ABOUT MY POST TYY :)) I loved this blogpost because I also feel like fanfictions get too much hate at times. Some of them are better than some published books. However you're right about why most of them are pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteComment written by Naomi:
ReplyDeleteHi Olive! I really liked this post, you brought up a good point and I agree with what you said. Although fan fiction can be interesting, there are definitely downsides and you did a good job pointing it out. Also, the title of your blogpost was super cool and creative! Thanks for the wonderful blog post!