blamebrampton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blamebrampton) wrote2011-01-08 04:37 pm
blamebrampton) wrote2011-01-08 04:37 pm
A case in point ...
So, there we were, having a chat on a friend's LJ about the differences between the US and the UK for purposes of a self-Britpicking list, with participants from both sides of the pond and beyond and frequent diversions into baiting and comedy from all sides, and apparently it has become a source of Flocked Drama.
Consider the argument very carefully: At least one American is very upset that British people prefer to be depicted in accurate ways.
And if you can't see why that's a bit dodgy, replace the word British with any other nationality.
I don't want to overstate the case, because really, it doesn't culturally oppress us the way that some other cultures have been oppressed by this sort of thing, since we don't deeply care and we had an Empire first. And while the original source of the complaint is a preference, it's certainly not a sine qua non, and we read heaps of stuff that gets us wrong, and some of it is good and some is crap, and really, at the end of the day we still pronounce and spell aluminium in ways that are scientifically logical, which in itself is enough. But, honestly ...
Interestingly, one of my points of difference was a tendency to soap-opera-like over-reactions in fiction. Clearly I drew the line too narrowly.
AND I left off the fact that it the entire United States has been the subject of mass-brainwashing to accept caffeinated flavoured beverages as coffee. Though I see Starbucks has dropped the word from their logo, truth in advertising at last!
Consider the argument very carefully: At least one American is very upset that British people prefer to be depicted in accurate ways.
And if you can't see why that's a bit dodgy, replace the word British with any other nationality.
I don't want to overstate the case, because really, it doesn't culturally oppress us the way that some other cultures have been oppressed by this sort of thing, since we don't deeply care and we had an Empire first. And while the original source of the complaint is a preference, it's certainly not a sine qua non, and we read heaps of stuff that gets us wrong, and some of it is good and some is crap, and really, at the end of the day we still pronounce and spell aluminium in ways that are scientifically logical, which in itself is enough. But, honestly ...
Interestingly, one of my points of difference was a tendency to soap-opera-like over-reactions in fiction. Clearly I drew the line too narrowly.
AND I left off the fact that it the entire United States has been the subject of mass-brainwashing to accept caffeinated flavoured beverages as coffee. Though I see Starbucks has dropped the word from their logo, truth in advertising at last!
no subject
I don't know of any British reader who would ever say something like this, though. I do know several who might send you a PM or comment along the lines of 'LOVED the story (PS wardrobe, not closet)', but that's because they can't help themselves, and they're the same as the ones who can't let a typo go.
This idea of accepted/not accepted is bunk (from the American bunkum, which is such a good word I use it regularly). There is no Potter Passport Control at which one is stamped. Any simple reading of any sample fest in the fandom will make that clear, as British readers fill the comments for American fics with statements of their enjoyment.
This idea does not come from British readers. It does not come from Brits who talk about the differences between the two cultures. We do not finish such discussions with a checklist on which a fic must score more than 50 to be considered readable. That is something that Americans invent in response to discussions on difference. It's a false response, for proof of which statement, go back to all those comments.
And no one expects people who do not grow up inside a culture to be perfect at representing it. Having lived mostly outside the UK for the last couple of decades, *I* have issues with some things (my pronunciation of proven is now becoming anachronistic for my age bracket, for a start). We do expect to hold onto the right to say 'Eh, that didn't feel real to me'. I fully support the right of Supernatural fandom readers to have exactly the same expectation in the opposite direction, even though it, too, is a worldwide phenomenon.
no subject