The Common Tongue
Jul. 20th, 2006 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wombat_sochoGod knows I'm not trying to dredge up the dead and extremely stinky past here, but I was mulling over the concept of the canon as it applies to contemporary SF&F fandom, partially as a result of what ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
windelina had to say in this post (sorry, it's f-locked) about her reaction to some younger fans who didn't quite get the mockup of HAL9000 that sat outside Main Programming this year at Convergence. It occurred to me that every time we get a big influx of fans, part of what leads the mainstream -however you define it at the time- to exclude the neos is that they just don't speak the language. There are just too many referents to films and TV shows they haven't seen, books and stories they haven't read, and all that sort of thing.
Nowadays, of course, I suppose it's not such a big deal, because there are sufficient ghettos within fandom that you don't really have to deal with anyone outside your circle of Trek fans, Harry Potter fans, or whatever your particular fandom might be. On the other hand, when you venture out to a convention, especially a ginormous Gathering of the Tribes such as Convergence, squatting in your little familiar circle is really a waste of time and money. So as we approach the end of the seventh decade of SF conventions, what is the canon? What do fans need to have experienced to interact intelligently with most of the other fans at Convergence? Is there a canon any more, or has the very notion of a central body of knowledge in fandom become obsolete? If there is a canon, what do you think belongs in it?
windelina had to say in this post (sorry, it's f-locked) about her reaction to some younger fans who didn't quite get the mockup of HAL9000 that sat outside Main Programming this year at Convergence. It occurred to me that every time we get a big influx of fans, part of what leads the mainstream -however you define it at the time- to exclude the neos is that they just don't speak the language. There are just too many referents to films and TV shows they haven't seen, books and stories they haven't read, and all that sort of thing. Nowadays, of course, I suppose it's not such a big deal, because there are sufficient ghettos within fandom that you don't really have to deal with anyone outside your circle of Trek fans, Harry Potter fans, or whatever your particular fandom might be. On the other hand, when you venture out to a convention, especially a ginormous Gathering of the Tribes such as Convergence, squatting in your little familiar circle is really a waste of time and money. So as we approach the end of the seventh decade of SF conventions, what is the canon? What do fans need to have experienced to interact intelligently with most of the other fans at Convergence? Is there a canon any more, or has the very notion of a central body of knowledge in fandom become obsolete? If there is a canon, what do you think belongs in it?
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 04:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 04:21 pm (UTC)What do you think of Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars/Last Man Standing? There's a plot that seems to crop up a lot in SF as well. For that matter, there ought to be some essential noir backgrounding somewhere in the canon besides Blade Runner and Dark City
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 04:41 pm (UTC)Yes, I have had 3 cups of coffee this mornign, why?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 06:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-20 08:24 pm (UTC)Yojimbo - Kurosawa in general - should be required.
And I love "Double Indemnity" and "DOA" for noir. Or "Lost Weekend". A few years ago during the noir year we showed "Double Indemnity" in Rex and someone was whining because it wasn't SF/F. I jumped all over him that good film is good film. And you gain a whole new appreciation for films like "Blade Runner" when you understand noir.
That's me above
Date: 2006-07-20 08:26 pm (UTC)Also - for fun noiry film, try "Payback" with Mel Gibson. That's not canon, just fun.
Re: That's me above
Date: 2006-07-20 08:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-21 12:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-21 02:13 pm (UTC)