i have no idea what the movie is about. i think clocks are involved.

[sideways]

Something something an interesting Twitter conversation I eavesdropped on about the evolving nature of (a) fandom: "early fic (at least what i read) was deeply in conversation with the source. even aus were very connected to the canon. now, fic is in conversation with other fic." 

Something something the current Goncharov phenomenon consuming Tumblr, in which an entire landscape of fanfiction is being written about a source that doesn't actually exist. A wonderful mess of fleshy fan creation with nary a skeleton to drape it on but familiar patterns and expectations and tropes.

It's been very amusing to watch from the fringes, and there has been gorgeous meta written about the "yes, and" nature of Tumblr and the creative power of collective fandom. But there is something a little bittersweet in it too, for me, and I think the Twitter conversation touches on why.

Comments

[atamascolily]

Normally, I would be excited about this sort of thing, but something about the whole Goncharov phenomenon unsettles me deeply on a personal level. The whole point of the joke is that it's not real and never was, and yet I can't help feeling my sense of reality shifting in unpleasant ways every time someone waxes lyrically about their fictional experience with a film that doesn't actually exist. I generally don't do well with unreliable narrators in fiction; constantly having to second-guess everything I read beyond the usual background levels is exhausting.

I didn't feel this way about the Cordelia movie poster or whatever the fake European novel that got nominated for Yuletide was called, but in those cases, there was never any pretending that the source material existed the first place. Of course, then that gets into the whole "What is reality?" debate, and how much of what we consider to be real is just collective agreement as opposed to a discrete external thing. (Something something Simulacra and Simulation? Also, the ongoing cryptocurrency trend, to name a non-fandom example.)

[sideways]

Oh interesting! I've seen several posts around cautioning people not to grow so committed to the bit they become invested in deceiving others, so at least you're not alone in finding the 'unreality' aspect unpleasant. Did you have similar issues with the Berenstein / Berenstain Bears thing, assuming you're familiar with that little meme?

[atamascolily]

The Berenste/ain Bears thing still fucks with me, but it's not quite as bad, probably because people aren't really elaborating on it in quite the same way? That said, I need to see if we have any of our vintage 1980s copies somewhere, so I can confirm this once and for all, because I totally remember it as "Berenstein".

I wonder if I would be more interested in the Goncharov thing if it was a fantasy movie, but '70s Russian mobster films were never my thing, anyway.

...I do wonder if anyone has told Martin Scorses yet?

[sideways]

I saw a post suggesting someone had and he had responded in a way that maintained the bit - but I can't verify whether the interaction was real, lol. I do know Neil Gaiman has proved unwilling to be drawn into the game (which is fair enough).