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dottiness ([info]dottiness) wrote in [info]unfunny_fandom,
@ 2011-04-19 22:12:00


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Right, so, Ginia Bellafante did a terrible, sexist, uninformed review of HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones including statements about how it was boy fiction, the sex and intrigue was only in there as a bone thrown to women viewers, and she'd never met a woman who would rather read "The Hobbit" than a piece of literary fiction.

Apparently she got hundreds of angry emails, hundreds of angry tweets, and "three supportive notes from people she is personally considering adopting." So what lesson does she take from all of this?

"Pull up a throne and let's talk" includes such well-written responses as this:

"As I wrote in the review, I realize that there are women who love fantasy, but I don’t know any and that is the truth: I don’t know any."

"But they have also sent long and vitriolic attacks claiming that, in my negativity, I made it clear that I had no idea what I was talking about. I appreciate the economy of those readers who began and ended their comments: “You are a complete idiot.” Phrases like that constituted a whole subgenre of the online response."


Lots of comments on both sides of the issue, but, unsurprisingly, a tremendously large number calling her out on her excuse for saying no woman would ever want to read fantasy.

I didn't know where this should go, so I stuck with the old "if you aren't sure, put it in UFB!" rule. The last post about this was in [info]fandom_lounge, but I think her continuing to dig the hole deeper probably belongs elsewhere.


(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]lady7jane
2011-04-20 01:25 am UTC (link)
It was a stupid review, but I dislike the SOIAF fandom and its smugness so much I can't even find enjoyment in their incredible wrath, even if it's directed at a proper target for once.

(Reply to this)(Thread)


[info]dottiness
2011-04-20 01:33 am UTC (link)
I can sympathize with hating the fandom just because it's two extremes ("I'll wait forever for the book!" vs. "WHY HASN'T HE WRITTEN THE BOOK YESTERDAY WARGH") with very little room for people somewhere in between.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]sgaana
2011-04-20 01:42 am UTC (link)
I dunno, it seemed like she was getting wrath from way beyond just that one fandom. I don't know anyone in the fandom, but I saw a LOT of wrath about that from all over the place. I felt pretty painfully-sarcastically wrathy about it myself.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]evilsqueakers
2011-04-20 03:20 am UTC (link)
I noticed contempt in both Dear Author and SBTB - the only two places I actively looked.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]blackflag
2011-04-20 07:49 pm UTC (link)
Do you have a link for the DA and SBTB posts at all, pretty please?

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]evilsqueakers
2011-04-21 02:52 am UTC (link)
DA's reaction. I might have mentally created SBTB in my head since I couldn't find it.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]blackflag
2011-04-21 04:19 am UTC (link)
I had to close the tab half way through the comments. Otherwise DA would have been subjected to my 2c on Mormonism and it's doctrine of racism up to the late 70s when POC were finally allowed to hold the priesthood and not viewed as 'the mark of Cain'. Not to mention that the Nephites (the good guys in the Book of Mormon) are described as being 'whitesome and delightsome'.... which was removed in recent reprints.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]evilsqueakers
2011-04-21 04:33 am UTC (link)
I understand, believe me. I had to close a tab earlier on why rape fantasies shouldn't be as high over vigilantism fantasies as they are. I just...had to stop and step away.


'whitesome and delightsome'

Sounds like a bad Mars candy, doesn't it? Almond Joy meets Dove.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]blackflag
2011-04-21 04:49 am UTC (link)
...wow. Just wow.

It does a bit!

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]evilsqueakers
2011-04-21 04:58 am UTC (link)
Read for yourself, but beware of some truly moronic comments in the truest sense. [WARNING: Rape fantasy, rape culture, dubious consent and possible triggers abound.]



It's like candy no one wants. Except maybe Bella Swann.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]blackflag
2011-04-21 05:26 am UTC (link)
Wow. (Again.) That's... that's something, all right. Yikes.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]evilsqueakers, 2011-04-21 07:45 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackflag, 2011-04-21 07:51 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]evilsqueakers, 2011-04-21 07:54 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackflag, 2011-04-21 08:04 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]evilsqueakers, 2011-04-21 08:07 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackflag, 2011-04-21 08:32 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]evilsqueakers, 2011-04-21 08:34 am UTC

[info]dottiness
2011-04-21 04:47 am UTC (link)
Ugh, as an ex-member, I'm pretty glad I didn't look ...

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]blackflag
2011-04-21 04:50 am UTC (link)
I'm an ex too. The vehement Mormon apologising and "U dun understand my religion" was... infuriating.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]dottiness
2011-04-21 05:14 am UTC (link)
Ex-Mormon high five! I try to avoid discussion of it on the internet for just that reason, honestly. It makes me so uncomfortable to see people trying to excuse bigotry :(

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]blackflag, 2011-04-21 05:19 am UTC

[info]chibikaijuu
2011-04-20 04:02 am UTC (link)
I think a whole lot of people, both fans of fantasy and non-fans, were pretty ticked off at the idea that a) women don't like fantasy b) women only like... whateverthefuck the person she mentioned writes c) the corollary that dudes *will* like fantasy d) that in fact you can say anything about what kinds of books a person should or will like based on gender (though I think you can say something about what gender audience a book will primarily attract based less on the content itself and more on its approach to the content) and e) the implication that people who like the "wrong" things are weird, and fantasy fans are rude people who would demand that their book circle read "The Hobbit" before anything else.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]ekaterinv
2011-04-20 04:04 am UTC (link)
Also f) dudes don't care about romance. Super-insulting to dudes.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]ashinae
2011-04-20 05:47 am UTC (link)
I'm not a fan of SOIAF--I haven't even been able to finish Game of Thrones because it's just too. damn. dark.

My wrath is entirely for professional writers who forget that "the plural of anecdote is not data", as that wonderful phrase goes, and I even told Ms Bellafante such in my own e-mail. Generalisations make me make frowny faces.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]dottiness
2011-04-20 05:48 am UTC (link)
I think one of my problems with Bellafante's approach to this is that it's only the rabid ASOIAF fans who are angry with her, and they're only angry because she gave the show a poor review. I mean, yeah, some of the angry people are fans, but they're sure not only angry because she didn't like the show.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]ashinae
2011-04-20 05:51 am UTC (link)
I--

But, I--

Excuse me, my left eye has started twitching too much for me to type a response now.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]chikane
2011-04-20 07:43 am UTC (link)
it's only the rabid ASOIAF fans who are angry with her,

That is a very...odd conclusion to make in face of the facts.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]dottiness
2011-04-20 07:54 am UTC (link)
Er, I meant that she thought that, not that I did. Sorry.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]chikane
2011-04-20 06:42 pm UTC (link)
I'm sorry, I should have guessed you meant it that way ^^;

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]sandglass
2011-04-20 09:34 pm UTC (link)
She didn't even review the show in the first place!

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]dottiness
2011-04-21 12:13 am UTC (link)
Yeah, it was basically the smuggest takedown of a show and a book series that didn't even exist that I've ever read.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


[info]bienegold
2011-04-20 02:22 pm UTC (link)
I'm so sick of hearing about the books and the show and I really resent her for making me be on their side, dammit.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


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