There's some thought provoking stuff in there, especially on the nature of online fandom versus traditional fandom. But the thing is, he pretty much comes out and says that online fandom doesn't need conventions and the sense of community that gave fandom a way to come together and exist in the first place. Which leaves me wondering what in the hell he does actually want. I had a strong sense, at the end, that he was basically saying - I want my cake and I want to eat it but I don't have any cake and I'm not sure which one I want anyway.
Finally, and the bit that is royally starting to piss me off with all of these discussions is this line: it also positively reeks of racial and economic privilege as those demanding silence invariably seem to be male, white, middle-class and North American. which leads to this: I want a Hugo Award that is socially, politically and culturally inclusive but I feel that the debate, as it is currently conducted, is not exactly helping anyone to bring this future about.
Firstly, to coin a phrase, I can do bugger all about being White and Middle Class. I'm 44 years old and science fiction when I was growing up was a very White Middle Class kind of thing. I can't help who or what I am, but I will be buggered if I have to apologise for it because somebody else seems to be guilty about it.
Secondly, the actual problem with the second clause is that while you have a goal of a Hugo that is more inclusive, socially, politically and culturally... if you can't articulate what that means - and based on this lengthy polemic, I'd suggest that is the case, then you can't have a constructive debate because you don't know what the hell you're debating. Which is really at the crux of this discussion.
To whit: people running around saying the Hugo's are broken, but being singularly unable to actually explain why in anything other than vague terms that they are not comfortable with them. That, in and of itself, speaks volumes.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-04-06 10:30 pm (UTC)Finally, and the bit that is royally starting to piss me off with all of these discussions is this line: it also positively reeks of racial and economic privilege as those demanding silence invariably seem to be male, white, middle-class and North American. which leads to this: I want a Hugo Award that is socially, politically and culturally inclusive but I feel that the debate, as it is currently conducted, is not exactly helping anyone to bring this future about.
Firstly, to coin a phrase, I can do bugger all about being White and Middle Class. I'm 44 years old and science fiction when I was growing up was a very White Middle Class kind of thing. I can't help who or what I am, but I will be buggered if I have to apologise for it because somebody else seems to be guilty about it.
Secondly, the actual problem with the second clause is that while you have a goal of a Hugo that is more inclusive, socially, politically and culturally... if you can't articulate what that means - and based on this lengthy polemic, I'd suggest that is the case, then you can't have a constructive debate because you don't know what the hell you're debating. Which is really at the crux of this discussion.
To whit: people running around saying the Hugo's are broken, but being singularly unable to actually explain why in anything other than vague terms that they are not comfortable with them. That, in and of itself, speaks volumes.