8FOLD/ACRA: Nonfiction # 5, "Justice for Julie Ann"

[Tom Russell]

On Monday, May 11, 2015 at 12:01:24 AM UTC-4, Andrew Perron wrote:
> On 5/7/2015 7:37 PM, Tom Russell wrote:
> > On Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 6:57:40 PM UTC-4, Andrew Perron wrote:
> >> On 5/5/2015 8:13 PM, Tom Russell wrote:

> >Yes and no, in that Eightfold has a distinct superhero fandom, a geek
>  > subculture, and that the vitriol is coming from that fandom, and not from
>  > the mainstream media/culture-- though the /tendencies/ are still there,
>  > just less pronounced and less obviously reprehensible. Just as, in our
>  > world, the toxic parts of video game and comics fandom are the louder and
>  > nastier reflections of tendencies inherent in mainstream culture.
> >
> >Really, it's a story that's very much and transparently about fandom,
>  > today-- about gamergate, about Val D'Orazio, about the Batman film critic
>  > death threats, etc., etc., sadly etc.
> 
> Yeah, but... I guess my thing is, you've put it in such a public scope that it 
> loses the insular focus that fuels such things. It doesn't really *feel* like 
> a story that takes place in a fandom-y scope, I guess? To me, anyway.

That's a fair point, I guess. I tried to start in the public space with the opening, and then say, "but it's especially bad in fandom", i.e., we'll look specifically at that, let's zoom in. And I probably should have emphasized/foregrounded that more because it didn't come across, it didn't communicate. Because while the disease exists in mainstream culture, in the wider scope of things, these particular symptoms are largely exclusive to internet culture and fandom. I mean, sexism exists and colors perceptions in the mainstream media and in everyday life, but to some degree it's coded-- it's dog whistles, it's tacitly instead of expressly endorsed-- not threats of rape and dismemberment. This kind of harassment, the intensity of it and the way it expresses itself, that's very much a fandom thing, and for me, that's really what the story was about.

That said, at the same time, I did try to tie it to the wider culture of sexism and discrimination, especially the sort that targets women and minorities acting in spheres that were hitherto exclusive to white males, because I don't think the condition/disease itself is in any way limited to geek culture.

Possibly I just tried to bite off more than I could chew, which seems to be my modus operandi for the HCC. :-)

Thanks for the kind words and smart criticisms.


> Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, shrug!

==Tom