Real Person Fiction -- a meta
Sep. 13th, 2008 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fannishlissReal Person Fiction
In college my very best friend was an extremely talented fiction writer and as sometimes happens, some of her characters betrayed something of a resemblance to people she knew in real life. I was always flattered when an incident from my life or an idiosyncratic trait of mine showed up in her stories, but then one of our mutual friends ended up in a story that may have been sexual in nature, and there was a huge traumatic explosion that had ramifications that reverberated on for years.
So there are two sides to every story and rpf is no exception. On the one side you have the real persons, with their real lives, their beliefs and struggles and their attempts at actually living, their right to privacy and their right to be judged for what they put forth as their best efforts.
But on the other side, you have a huge community of fun loving, highly imaginative persons who love to speculate and extrapolate about every little thing based on the tiniest of clues.
So there’s like this wide, elaborate continuum: on the one end, the inviolate right to privacy that would condemn and eradicate rpf; on the other, the exuberant celebration of creativity that claims the right to riff on anything the world suggests, for the joy and entertainment of ourselves and our community.
Bringing that long piece of taffy around, end to end, you might argue thus: my mental image of J2 bears little resemblance to the real actors who sometimes live in Vancouver and have certainly never enacted the rpfs exactly the way we imagined. My mental image and crazed glee over it could live inside my own little sphere of inviolate privacy – my inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, perpetuated by the imagining of two boys being very happy together, indeed.
But here’s the first problem: we like to squee out loud, and we like to read each other’s imaginings.
The situation gets even more complicated when you consider that there’s not just one kind of rpf. Again, along a continuum, on the one hand you get what you might as well call “dream casting” in which an author pens a story where the characters are “played” by the actors in question, and are usually pulled from a stable of related, expectable characters, for example the CW stable; sometimes this genre is literally a movie retold and recast with these actors taking the major roles. These are usually called “au”s and I think of them as Jerry/Jason stories – wherein the characters could be randomly renamed and the stories would still be fleshed out, readable and compelling.
If you’re trying to read an AU, though, you know this is not the whole picture. Even tho these stories are 9 tenths writerly perspiration and one tenth (or less) the tv actors who inspired them --- even though the tales are so awesome and should earn their writers a million bucks-- It’s not just that the actors lend their physical appearance to the mind’s eye of the reader. There’s a collective fanon that accrues around the actors that leads the reader to expect certain traits, certain kinds of behavior, and of course, certain magnetic attractions between characters because of their supposed “real life” attachment. Family members of the actors will show up, even in an AU – not just costars or fellow studio stable mates.
So even an AU doesn’t remain “purely” an imaginative product. If it’s rpf, the writer and the reader are relying on at least a few shared assumptions about what the characters are “really like” and that at least partially drives the narrative thrust of the story.
With a more reality-based rpf, the writer still claims (or “disclaims”!) that the piece is a product of her imagination, but at the same time, she incorporates as many true-to-life facts about the actors, the stuff they do all day, the locales they frequent, and the things about them that are known to be “true.”
I’ve been using the term “rpf”, real person fiction, but really most of what I’ve read is rps, real person slash. It ranges from PG to NC17, from schmoop and curtain fic to porn and beyond, exploring every kink in the book, and some in the Special Book you probably haven’t heard of. Here, I’d like to point out something that I really enjoy about slash in general, and that is, that it is strongly utopian. RPS goes along with that. Usually (not always of course) the point of rps is to show the two men we love so well, getting along so great that they become lovers, sometimes marry, and seem destined to stay together for ever. Romance is what it is, but also, it’s utopian, because we really want to live in that world, where true love cannot be held back by social mores or frenzied shooting schedules.
So here’s where the crux of the matter really lies, for me:
I love to read a good rps as much as I ever love to read any awesome slash story—it takes those two guys that I love and throws them together and makes it work. They might go through trauma to get there, but they find true love, and I want that for them.
The next PROBLEM is, I can’t seem to turn it off. I can’t read just the AUs, I read it all. Because I love it! And just like my love for a show, I don’t just read the slash, I watch the show and I think about the show and I try to write metas about the show and the relationship between the show and the slash. So now I watch the gag reels and the con footage and read the interviews and I’m all like, “what did his girlfriend say that was so explicit and he was so mortified?” when that’s certainly the sort of thing he would really like us to just STOP thinking about.
But in my slashy rps brain, I’m all, yes, but the other sweet boy would never treat him like that. They’re best friends! The basis of the truest and best love! They are so good for each other! Look at them smile! I want the shy one to be all protected by the outgoing one. I want the serious one to devote himself to the silly one. You know what I mean. Once the narratives start flowing, how can they stop?
Thus the Tinhat is born. I just can’t deny their epic romance. I don’t WANT to deny it. I want them to be happy. Together! Because how could anyone ever be more perfect for them than each other?
All this is fueled by the rps. It’s just like one of those shows, I bet you can think of one, where the show is actually not that great, but it’s been transformed and given fantastic potential by the collective and individual imaginations of the slash community.
So even a lesser relationship would draw our eye, right? But this one, the one we’re all talking about, is so luminous. The connection between them is so clear and strong. The shared personal space, the silent communication, the connectedness of always being on the same vibe. The physical, mental and emotional intimacy. It looks SO REAL.
So in conclusion, we’re not trying to slander anybody. We’re not trying to spread ugly rumors, or lower everything down to base impulses. Quite the contrary. In my humble opinions, real person slash shares the purest of motives with the best of slash:
“Amor vincit omnia”
We’re trying to imagine a perfect love; we’re trying to celebrate a love that seems to shine through; we’re trying to investigate the most beautiful connection between two people in an infinite variety of settings and situations.
We’re not trying to invade your privacy, guys.
We’re trying to change the world!
In college my very best friend was an extremely talented fiction writer and as sometimes happens, some of her characters betrayed something of a resemblance to people she knew in real life. I was always flattered when an incident from my life or an idiosyncratic trait of mine showed up in her stories, but then one of our mutual friends ended up in a story that may have been sexual in nature, and there was a huge traumatic explosion that had ramifications that reverberated on for years.
So there are two sides to every story and rpf is no exception. On the one side you have the real persons, with their real lives, their beliefs and struggles and their attempts at actually living, their right to privacy and their right to be judged for what they put forth as their best efforts.
But on the other side, you have a huge community of fun loving, highly imaginative persons who love to speculate and extrapolate about every little thing based on the tiniest of clues.
So there’s like this wide, elaborate continuum: on the one end, the inviolate right to privacy that would condemn and eradicate rpf; on the other, the exuberant celebration of creativity that claims the right to riff on anything the world suggests, for the joy and entertainment of ourselves and our community.
Bringing that long piece of taffy around, end to end, you might argue thus: my mental image of J2 bears little resemblance to the real actors who sometimes live in Vancouver and have certainly never enacted the rpfs exactly the way we imagined. My mental image and crazed glee over it could live inside my own little sphere of inviolate privacy – my inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, perpetuated by the imagining of two boys being very happy together, indeed.
But here’s the first problem: we like to squee out loud, and we like to read each other’s imaginings.
The situation gets even more complicated when you consider that there’s not just one kind of rpf. Again, along a continuum, on the one hand you get what you might as well call “dream casting” in which an author pens a story where the characters are “played” by the actors in question, and are usually pulled from a stable of related, expectable characters, for example the CW stable; sometimes this genre is literally a movie retold and recast with these actors taking the major roles. These are usually called “au”s and I think of them as Jerry/Jason stories – wherein the characters could be randomly renamed and the stories would still be fleshed out, readable and compelling.
If you’re trying to read an AU, though, you know this is not the whole picture. Even tho these stories are 9 tenths writerly perspiration and one tenth (or less) the tv actors who inspired them --- even though the tales are so awesome and should earn their writers a million bucks-- It’s not just that the actors lend their physical appearance to the mind’s eye of the reader. There’s a collective fanon that accrues around the actors that leads the reader to expect certain traits, certain kinds of behavior, and of course, certain magnetic attractions between characters because of their supposed “real life” attachment. Family members of the actors will show up, even in an AU – not just costars or fellow studio stable mates.
So even an AU doesn’t remain “purely” an imaginative product. If it’s rpf, the writer and the reader are relying on at least a few shared assumptions about what the characters are “really like” and that at least partially drives the narrative thrust of the story.
With a more reality-based rpf, the writer still claims (or “disclaims”!) that the piece is a product of her imagination, but at the same time, she incorporates as many true-to-life facts about the actors, the stuff they do all day, the locales they frequent, and the things about them that are known to be “true.”
I’ve been using the term “rpf”, real person fiction, but really most of what I’ve read is rps, real person slash. It ranges from PG to NC17, from schmoop and curtain fic to porn and beyond, exploring every kink in the book, and some in the Special Book you probably haven’t heard of. Here, I’d like to point out something that I really enjoy about slash in general, and that is, that it is strongly utopian. RPS goes along with that. Usually (not always of course) the point of rps is to show the two men we love so well, getting along so great that they become lovers, sometimes marry, and seem destined to stay together for ever. Romance is what it is, but also, it’s utopian, because we really want to live in that world, where true love cannot be held back by social mores or frenzied shooting schedules.
So here’s where the crux of the matter really lies, for me:
I love to read a good rps as much as I ever love to read any awesome slash story—it takes those two guys that I love and throws them together and makes it work. They might go through trauma to get there, but they find true love, and I want that for them.
The next PROBLEM is, I can’t seem to turn it off. I can’t read just the AUs, I read it all. Because I love it! And just like my love for a show, I don’t just read the slash, I watch the show and I think about the show and I try to write metas about the show and the relationship between the show and the slash. So now I watch the gag reels and the con footage and read the interviews and I’m all like, “what did his girlfriend say that was so explicit and he was so mortified?” when that’s certainly the sort of thing he would really like us to just STOP thinking about.
But in my slashy rps brain, I’m all, yes, but the other sweet boy would never treat him like that. They’re best friends! The basis of the truest and best love! They are so good for each other! Look at them smile! I want the shy one to be all protected by the outgoing one. I want the serious one to devote himself to the silly one. You know what I mean. Once the narratives start flowing, how can they stop?
Thus the Tinhat is born. I just can’t deny their epic romance. I don’t WANT to deny it. I want them to be happy. Together! Because how could anyone ever be more perfect for them than each other?
All this is fueled by the rps. It’s just like one of those shows, I bet you can think of one, where the show is actually not that great, but it’s been transformed and given fantastic potential by the collective and individual imaginations of the slash community.
So even a lesser relationship would draw our eye, right? But this one, the one we’re all talking about, is so luminous. The connection between them is so clear and strong. The shared personal space, the silent communication, the connectedness of always being on the same vibe. The physical, mental and emotional intimacy. It looks SO REAL.
So in conclusion, we’re not trying to slander anybody. We’re not trying to spread ugly rumors, or lower everything down to base impulses. Quite the contrary. In my humble opinions, real person slash shares the purest of motives with the best of slash:
“Amor vincit omnia”
We’re trying to imagine a perfect love; we’re trying to celebrate a love that seems to shine through; we’re trying to investigate the most beautiful connection between two people in an infinite variety of settings and situations.
We’re not trying to invade your privacy, guys.
We’re trying to change the world!
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-16 09:02 pm (UTC)I want to bring a ray of sunshine...
I went back and rewatched the buddytv interview -- I thought he handled the question about fans really well and he didn't even seem that uncomfortable with it... when he said "not that they're crazy or anything" he looked more amused than anything... I think that even someone as private as Jensen must enjoy at least some of the more respectful attention, and I do think that he and Jared probably encounter a lot more respect than they do physical attacks. Nothing bad happened at ComicCon right? he was exhausted but really enjoying sitting up there with Jared and just taking it all in -- that's more of a "slice of life" than CreationCon, cause at Comic Con it's a huge con with all different types of fan. Like even some Men Fans. It was really weird hearing a guy's voice asking a question!!! :) I think without a doubt that Jared like being around fans more than Jensen -- but they're friends-- I bet Jared defends us!
It's true that he doesn't even like tv watching so it's gotta be weird that he makes tv for a living.... so people whose lives are so heavily invested in a show is rightfully crazy to him.... but I think it's still gotta be cool when so many people truly appreciate the work you do.
I do think that there's no justice that the one time I've ever heard of a fan KNOCKING A POOR GUY DOWN it had to be Jensen! :( Well, no, someone this past weekend climbed up on stage and knocked down the brothers from Oasis. But I don't think it was due to crazed worshipful obsession.
and a bit more...
Date: 2008-09-16 09:02 pm (UTC)I heard a story and I have no way of knowing if this was true. But anyway. Some girl reported, claiming to have gone to the same school as Jensen like in middle school, that he was so shy she NEVER HEARD HIM SPEAK. Like he was MUTE. In my very humble opinion, i think that for someone that shy to become an actor is a choice they make about the way they live their lives. Like, an intentional act of courage. Then dealing with the other things like interviews and con appearances and fannish behavior and paparazzi and internet gossip etc -- each level of discomfort becomes an additional challenge -- and I think Jensen seems like the kind of guy who takes that challenge as an incentive to grow. That's just my impression of him as a person -- like watching him deal with his discomfort in interviews and at cons, how he seizes on the opportunity to talk about something substantive (rather than stuff he clearly thinks is off the wall!) to calm himself down and give a good interview. Case in point: the Redbull where do you eat question -- he was like, "where do we eat?" like what kind of a question is that to ask a guy -- and Jared did all the talking for the rest of the interview. Still he had a good time with Jared that day, if photos are evidence. Even he was a good sport later in the evening when someone tracked him down at the after party and asked for signatures and photos -- which, to me, has got to be one of the MORE annoying facets of celebrity. I mean, stuff on the internet, you can choose whether to engage with that, but people interrupting your life (even politely), that's one on one interaction where you're ASKING him for something and he politely GIVES.
So I do think he's aware of stuff like RPS, but I also bet he doesn't look into it. I mean, clearly, the guy who played psychic kid Andy actually READ an RPS about himself and talked about it at one con. So the actors do know it's out there. Jared also one time replied, apropos of something I can't quite remember, that he will not look into any kind of material produced by fans, at least until the show is over, because his job is to be the Sam written for him by Kripke and co. It's a good way to look at it.
So based on just the evidence I've seen --
he DOES know about rps and wincest and i seriously doubt he looks into it. I think his everyday challenge is just to be as courteous as he can to the everyday fan as he can possibly be, because he's a genuinely courteous person. And I think when he has the opportunity at cons and in interviews, he tries to respond to questions in a serious and professional manner, because that's how he sees his work.
So I know we're ALL SQUEE ALL THE TIME, and he knows that? but I don't think he lets it get to him. Clearly he thinks we're all a bit crazy -- but I do think he looks at it like he's doing his job. In acting, life and work are integrated to a mysterious degree -- you try to stay distinct from a character, but those are your eyes crying.... and everyone who loves Dean Winchester clearly loves the part of Jensen he uses to bring Dean to life.
I didn't mean to tldr so hard, but my husband is an actor and I think about this stuff.
my big cringe
Date: 2009-01-04 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 07:42 pm (UTC)Thanks for this!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 10:20 am (UTC)RPS is a really hard subject but I am a person who sees the bright side of things. You know, because I really hope the boys on the s3 DVD cover aren't giving us that look because they looked on the internets!
Plus there are so many complexities it's really hard to see it all at once.
Happy s4 day!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 10:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 06:30 pm (UTC)In college my very best friend was an extremely talented fiction writer and as sometimes happens, some of her characters betrayed something of a resemblance to people she knew in real life. I was always flattered when an incident from my life or an idiosyncratic trait of mine showed up in her stories, but then one of our mutual friends ended up in a story that may have been sexual in nature, and there was a huge traumatic explosion that had ramifications that reverberated on for years.
That paragraph sums up my feelings about RPF/RPS so well. I've sat on any number of the fenceposts about this topic since I joined fandom and I'm now back where I started! LOL I didn't really understand it or condone it at first, later I condoned it for reasons of cultural and personal discovery, then I endorsed it and participated once I did understand what it meant to me and I started impertinently wishing utopia toward other people (how fair is that, really), and now... I'm back on the side where it is just a little too close for comfort, like your friend being written into your roommate's story. It's not that I know J2 any better than anyone else, it's that I had a chance to be in their shoes in much the same way as your friend. As a surprise present, someone I know wrote a Mary Sue-ish RPF and slashed me with Jensen. I read it, but it ultimately wasn't hot or erotic or anything to me. This person is a wonderful writer and has shared some breathtaking imagery in her stories... but this was just sooo weird. All of a sudden I was seeing how someone else saw me and how I might be sexually with this person I've met only twice... and in the process of imagining how it would feel if I knew him better, I decided that it would be more awkward instead of less. Long story short, it was interesting to consider RPF as a whole, but I don't want to put myself in the position of losing out on reality because all I can see is the brim of my shiny tinhat. :) I don't think badly of anyone who enjoys it. Not in the least. I still admit to a foray of reading a short fic once in a blue moon because there are a few really great stories out there. It just doesn't have a... meaning, I guess is the word... to it anymore. TMI? LOL
no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 07:18 pm (UTC)