How does one redress wrongs to fan culture?

[neadods]

xposted to fanthropology

This last weekend has witnessed two really boneheaded maneuvers in my area of fan culture. Not just your average "I'm right/you're wrong/tastes great/less filling" drama, but a serious attempt to gain attention by spitting on the sensibilities of the greater fan culture.

Now I'm watching the two men involved try to get back in the good graces of their friends, and it's making me think about how one goes about that.

The first took place in public - at FilkOntario to be exact - and so I'm going to name names and be specific. I got a horrified email from a friend in the Boogie Knights that Tom Smith had marked the death of the Pope with a parody of "Dead Puppies." Even though my informant was a lapsed Catholic who dearly loves a good parody, she and several other members of the Knights were shocked to the core, and circumstances show they were far from alone.

Just now, Tom Smith has posted a public apology on his LJ under a cut tag. He doesn't specifically name what he did, but it sounds to me like he's referring to "Dead Pope-ies." Comments are disabled, so I don't know what reaction it is getting.

The other took place in private email, so I will not name names or go into specifics. Basically, on April 1, one person sent out a frantic mass email to his friends saying that his teenaged child had run away and they were desperate, please help. This was followed half the day later with a "ha, ha, April Fool, can't believe so many of you fell for that" message.

Quite a few people have replied to the same mass email list with their responses. None of them are along the lines of "ha, ha, fooled me." The kindest read like "how dare you cry wolf, you moron!" and the most furious were along the lines of "I had a lawyer lined up for you and was contacting my associates in law enforcement on your behalf, you asshole. Now I look like an idiot and you look like scum. Oh, and take me off your email list forever!"

The original poster has begun defending himself - don't we know he wouldn't mean to hurt us, don't we know how good his kids are and how impossible the scenario was, don't be so mad, please, I've learned my lesson, I'll go away now, let's move forward and get past this, kthnksbye.

This hasn't gone over well either. Boy, howdy, has it not. So far, the only response to this was a beautifully written essay on fan culture as a tribe and how his actions have hurt the entire tribe. One post was eloquent on how this action showed that the original poster didn't value the support system of his fannish tribe, so he shouldn't be surprised that the tribe was rejecting him. (I have asked permission to quote this without the names of those involved but not yet heard back.) ETA - I have permission to post it - it's long - and put it under a cut tag in the copy of this in Fanthropology

Fandom is a tribe. The cultures aren't exactly the same for all fandoms, we certainly have our holy wars over OTP & RPF & x/x & a variety of other acronyms, and like England, our basic Constitution is unwritten. But still, we have a discernable, distinct tribe and a sense of connection to our fellow fans through our mutual membership in the tribe.

So I'm left with the question. When one member's actions show great disrespect for the rest of the tribe, what does the tribe do? What "punishment" is correct, and how can the transgressor get back into the culture's good graces - and is that even possible?

Comments

[butterflykiki.livejournal.com]

Bonehead #2... dude. Don't know what to say. I doubt it was a question of respect-- that maneuver was just so *STUPID* that I can't say it had anything to do with insulting fandom-as-culture, and more about this man-as-moron. I'm sure he had other friends, outside of fandom, who had the same "you *dumbass*" reaction, who may have been more direct (phone, in person) in addressing how dumb he was. As such, I think that's a question for each individual to settle. Do they want to be friends with someone that stupid and inconsiderate? Who still doesn't sound like he gets where he messed up? The problem with treating this as a "tribe" problem is that this guy didn't break any of the unwritten rules of fandom; he went further, and broke all rules of good sense. I can't think of a thing he can do to reassure everyone that his terrible sense of humor won't strike again in an equally moronic way. Too, what he did wasn't specifically aimed at "fandom" elements, or "fandom" as a whole-- just aimed scatter-shot at everyone he knew. Assuming that they'd all have the same standards of conduct might be fair, but standards of punishment vary wildly.

Tom Smith, on the other hand, didn't go quite as far-- his actions were in bad bad taste, but not the kind of thing that leads to legal actions and fear for children. It was a limited venue; and he has apologized. He looks like he *does* understand why people were offended, he's taking responsibility, and he's gonna try not to be that offensive again. He's also, from what I can see, not trying to whitewash it, but just trying not to let the offense spread, by being oblique in his references. I think a genuine apology with awareness of what he did is probably enough in his case. No one outside the con would even be aware of it except by word-of-mouth. In this kind of thing, where it was a fan venue and fan reaction, "tribe" reactions are probably more appropriate than they are in mass-emailings.

My $0.05, fwiw.