Read this. Everyone, read this.

It's a comment from a person who was directly hurt by all of this race bullshit. Read it and pay attention to her perspective for a moment.

THIS is why this matters so much. Because some people have been really fucking hurt by this bullshit. What a way to fucking dehumanise people and not give a shit that real people with REAL FEELINGS have been extremely hurt by people's repulsive behaviour for the sake of "a laugh". What utter cruelty. If anyone reading this was involved in making the whole thing worse, if you supported the crap that's gone down, I want you to know that I think you are a cruel and nasty person.

And if you're a person who STILL thinks all of this this doesn't matter and you follow my LJ, please defriend me and get the fuck away from my journal.

People need to read this, this and this.

I've mostly stayed right out of this because I'm fucking sick to death of wank in this fucking fandom. But I've seen enough bullshit going down that I have to give my two cents. And I seriously don't care if you're sick of people "careposting". I do not care.

If you think anyone who has reacted strongly against the latest racewank currently spiralling through the House fandom is overreacting, taking things too seriously, needs to learn to lighten up and/or needs to learn to get a sense of humour, stop and remove the fandom aspect from it for just a moment and think about it.

This explosion in the fandom has nothing to do with opinions relating to television or fictional characters. It has nothing to do with people determined to piss and shitstorm all over your fandom fun. This has nothing to do with fandom or fiction or "artistic vision" and if you think it does, you need to wake the fuck up and get a clue. People are reacting strongly to this because racism and making fun of it is NOT FUNNY OR AMUSING.

It's amazing how people justify something, such as the issue of racism (or sexism or homophobia, etc.), as not being significant just because the issue arises in fandom. And because "it's only fandom", the issue therefore doesn't matter. And then those very same people shriek about being oppressed or insulted or hurt by their grossly racist/sexist/anything-ist opinion being pointed out for what it really is. Caring about a huge problem that affects the entire world, and being repulsed at those who think it's funny, doesn't mean people are trying to fucking stamp all over your fun. It means that people who care about issues like this are standing up against a REAL problem that exists in the REAL world.

Because guess what? THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND FANDOM. THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND PEOPLE'S OPINIONS ABOUT TELEVISION AND FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND THINGS THAT AREN'T EVEN REAL.

If people have to be silent about these real issues in fandom because it upsets those who are having "fun" or because it hurts someone's feelings to have their grossly misguided and priviledged opinions challenged, that is so fucking backwards I can't even. People should NOT be afraid to speak up about issues that MATTER. If you want to accuse those who've reacted strongly as "overreacting" or being "oversensitve", take a damn hard look at people's behaviour in the post this whole thing originated from and tell me who is being the overreacting dickface here.

Yes, I know - some people's reactions against the whole thing is immature, but are you really going to slam them as immature while everyone else in that post LOLs and ROFLs and says "SUCK MY DICK" and "stepping on people's toes is funny!" over a drawing that completely dehumanises and stereotypes a character in every possible way? Sure, Foreman isn't a real person, but Omar Epps certainly is. And I haven't a doubt in my mind that he'd be disgusted and hurt by fans of the show he stars in dehumanising the character he portrays right down to a black, faceless scribble with offensive and stereotypical dialogue.

Do people who haven't worked it out yet see why those of us reacting strongly to this are so angry? EVERYBODY should be revolted and angry about this. How the hell would YOU like it if someone posted a completely defamatory, offensive, cruel drawing that stereotypically depicts those in your race or culture and then discovered a whole group of people who are old enough to know better finding it funny and deliberately seeking to cause even more hurt for their own "amusement"? It's not like we're are overreacting about a fucking icebag here.

In summary, these people say it better than I ever will, so I'm going to quote them.

Having read or watched and enjoyed something with racist, cissexist, misogynist, ableist, or otherwise oppressive content does not make you, personally, a flaming bigot, a bad person, an anti-feminist, an asshole, or any other horrible awful thing that springs to mind when someone stops and says "Hey wait a minute, that's kind of fucked up".

However, the moment you step outside of merely being unaware that the content of the things you enjoy is tokenizing, stereotyping, noninclusive [...] is the moment that you start moving a little closer into The Realm of Privileged Assholedom.

In other words:

If you've shown your racist/misogynistic/homophobic/transphobic/etc. backside and become defensive and cried about being persecuted when someone attempted to train your eyes on your own privilege, you can go to hell.

Comments are screened in case anyone decides to be a dickwad. Actually, fuck that. If anyone wants to be a dickwad, that's their prerogative, though that'll say way more about them than it does about anyone else.

For those who don't know yet... I'M FREAKIN' GOING TO NEW YORK IN MARCH 2010. hdksjdfgls slkdfjglsd ;lksjdflgsdg.

wolf_in_sheeps is helping me organise stuff, cos he lives in NY, but basically what I'd love to do is this: I want to meeeeet people I know on LJ but I realistically can't like, travel everywhere to meet everyone. So, I thought about arranging a get together for everyone, so it'll be basically our own little ~House convention~ as well as just meeting up and meeting each other and having a few days of awesome fun together. I figure the best way to do this, so people have affordable accommodation, is if several hotel rooms are booked in a hotel and we all split the cost between us. So, instead of paying $150 a night, for example, we'd pay like, $30 a night if there are five of us (or less if there are even more! THE MORE, THE BETTERRRRRR).

I will be in NY from 3rd of March and leaving 24th of March. So, three weeks there. If you are available and think you might be able to head down to NY at any point during that time, please leave a comment telling me so. I want to get a rough idea of when the best time is for people and then organise what week to make the get together. Doesn't have to be a definite right now. It's just so I can get an idea of how many people and when to arrange it. Plus, David is going to be arranging the hotel and I want to make the job as easy as possible for him.

SO, YES. IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO COME ALONG ON AN EPIC GET TOGETHER ADVENTURE IN NEW YORK IN THE MONTH OF MARCH, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT HERE.

And... I have one more, somewhat imposing request. I need to work out accommodation for myself, too. Like, for the rest of my time in NY. Is there anyone who would be willing to have a Ticcy crash on their couch/floor/spare bed for either a period of time or for the whole time? I would of course put money towards my stay there. I'd be using your facilities, after all! And I also promise I am not a psycho or someone who loves to raid people's cupboards when no one is looking, ahahaha. I'm perfectly fine with shuffling from place to place if people can put me up for just a few nights. If this isn't possible, I'll work out other means of accommodation of course, but I figure I might as well ask first. ♥ ♥

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SO FUCKING EXCITED DKLSKFDHGSD LKSJFGHLSDFG LKJSGHKSDFHGLKHSGLK.

The majority of my posts have been posted under a f-lock lately, so I guess I might as well announce that my LJ is for now completely friends only. (Before, it was only partially FO.) All my fandom stuff will stay public, as well as fandom posts, but otherwise...

If you want to keep up with my boring life, Ticclet escapades and anecdotes, personal stories with way too much TMI and other random stuff I write about, please go here to my FO post and leave a comment, telling me a bit about yourself. I add most everyone, so don't be afraid to head over and leave a comment! :-)

EDIT: People who are already on my f-list need not comment to my FO post!! Don't worry, I'm not defriending anyone! This post is just for those who *aren't* on my f-list but wish to keep up with my entries. ♥

I just read a post on my f-list about this topic and it's prompted me to post my own thoughts on this, because this is something that's been bothering me for a while now.

I'll be the very first to admit it: at first, I thought the whole crew being on twitter was awesome. I loved the fact that they were willing to open themselves up to the fans, answer questions, give us insight into how they work, snippets of deleted scenes or bloopers. I still love those things because it fascinates me and I love the show, and I appreciate that some PTBs are willing to share all of that. I especially appreciate it, that they remain sharing this stuff, because they get god knows how many idiot fangirls pestering them every day with ridiculous questions/requests/demands/etc. If they ever chose to private their twitters for that very reason, I wouldn't blame them.

But while I still appreciate their generosity, I'm no longer comfortable with the fact that the 'fourth wall' is no longer there. Not only has it made fandom so much worse of a place to be in, fuelling fan entitlement, fuelling further hate and division, you name it, I also feel like my enjoyment of what I do in fandom has been restricted. Like, before I didn't have to worry about potential exposure to TPTB. But now I do worry about it. I worry that ANY person who contributes work to the House fandom might end up getting unwanted exposure to TPTB. Twitter has made the division between fandom and TPTB paper thin; they're just a tweet away from being linked to someone's fanvid or fanfic or fanart. Maybe that's melodramatic of me but tbh, the way people (not all, but quite a few) carry on with GY et al. on twitter, I can't put it past them that they'd start linking to fanart and fanvids and fanfics etc, thinking that GY etc would love it as much as fandom folk do. For all I know, they probably have already sent GY et al. links to fandom works. That's the thing that makes it so uncomfortable for me: the fact that now the fourth wall has been knocked down, there's no controlling who links who to what or who sees what.

Even them just posting links on their own twitter like, "OMG THIS IS AN AWESOME FANVID/FANFIC" - @yoteddy friends/follows back every person who friends/follows him. What if he clicked on one of those links and then reported it to GY? Or to some other PTB, who has an issue with copyright? Shit could end up going down that affects not only the individual whom the fanwork belongs to, but to the whole fandom.

Yeah, I know it hasn't happened yet (that I know of). For all I know, maybe they sit back in their offices and lol their heads off at what people create. Maybe they read House/Cuddy porn out aloud to each other. Maybe they print out House/Wilson smut and pass it on to Hugh or RSL to read and gape in horror at. No one has any idea what goes on in their offices besides what they've been willing to share with us. But as the adage goes, there's a first time for everything. And while almost all people add disclaimers to their fanwork, that they don't own the characters or footage used, that doesn't make them exempt from being slapped with a copyright warning or worse. I know TPTB are very aware of their fanbase - I know they enjoy fanart and have even put some of it up in their office (GY posted a picture of the office 'bragging wall', and on said wall was a piece of fanart that was made by green_ghost). Perhaps they're fully, completely aware of the stuff that's out there but we're a lucky enough fandom that they turn a blind eye to it. Who really knows. No one knows because TPTB have never shared their thoughts on this. But regardless, where does the line get drawn? Surely I'm not the only one who thinks/feels that fandom has a Big Brother element added to it now?

TPTB are NOT one of us, by any means. Just because they delight in House/Cuddy or House/Wilson or their love of the show that they're involved in creating, or they enjoy 'mingling' with the fans or enjoy fannish contributions etc, it doesn't mean they're the same as us. It makes me so fucking uncomfortable that so many people in this fandom do not even consider this.

Edit: anoel just reminded me of Organisation for Transformative Works, which I always forget is there for the purpose of being a kind of protection for fandom folk. So, I guess this makes part of my rant now moot. ;-) But I still stand by the whole fourth wall being knocked down thing. I don't know if it irks you - awesome if it doesn't! - but it sure as hell irks me.

EDIT 2: OKAY, I'VE COME UP WITH AN ANALOGY THAT EXPLAINS HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS IN THE MOST PERFECT WAY:

It's like looking up porn when your parents are in the house. If they're in another room, then looking it up is a lot easier because they're not around to see you doing it and you KNOW your chances of getting caught are low. But now I just feel a bit like I'm looking up porn on the internet with a parent lurking in the background in the same room and I keep looking over my shoulder to make sure I don't get caught.

Introduction of mandatory ISP-level filtering in Australia announced today.

The Government announced that the list of blocked RC content would be compiled "through a public complaints mechanism". (source.)

I have been following this whole mandatory ISP filtering issue for some time now and for a while I thought it wouldn't go ahead. Simply because how the fuck will this new law keep up with the billions of websites that are set up each and every day that may have "RC-rated" material on it? Not to mention that when censorship is put in place, a more covert location for a censored thing will always be established. How exactly does the government plan on dealing with THOSE? Wasting taxpayers money trying to locate very cleverly disguised and hidden websites that are "RC-rated"?

And okay, what the fuck falls under the banner of "RC-rated" (or 'refused classification')? That has never been elaborated upon, ever. The government has explained that "RC-rated" material is basically child porn (which, by the way, is one of the things I DO agree should be banned. Fucking EVERYWHERE.)

But:

EFA spokesman Colin Jacobs told iTnews the Federal Government's stance on just blocking child pornography was misleading. "Refused classification is definitely more than just illegal child pornography... It's anything that doesn't fit into the Classification Board's other ratings and that include video games aimed at adults, criminality and euthanasia and all sorts of controversial things." (source)

"all sorts of controversial things". What the fuck does that even mean? There are LOADS of controversial things, and not just related to pornography, criminality and violent video games. Stem cell research is controversial. Abortion is controversial. Plastic surgery is controversial. Being gay is still fucking controversial. The Holocaust is controversial. "all sorts of controversial things" sounds like a pretty broad range of things to me. Controversy is such a subjective thing, too. What one person considers controversial, another might be perfectly fine with. You simply cannot label something controversial and expect everyone to agree with that.

Not to mention the fact that knowledge is not always a bad thing. Euthanasia is indeed a controversial topic - but to what length will access to knowledge about euthanasia eventually be restricted? Will it eventually include any and all information about euthanasia itself and its ethical issues, in the name of censorship for "preventative cautionary measures", instead of just the covert websites that provide information for those seeking to be euthanised?

(cont'd from prev. quote) "Our concern is that once there is a secret blacklist in place it is going to be very difficult for the public to know what's on it and if it will be increased in scope as time goes on." (source)

FUCKING EXACTLY. Where will the line be drawn? If this black list remains secret, how will Australians know what things are being censored?

And if this black list is going to be updated through what the "public" consider offensive (without revealing the list or its updates), what is stopping the government from eventually banning material that doesn't DESERVE to be banned? What is the actual guideline for what will be considered "RC-rated"? How do we know that guideline won't become blurred beyond recognition because people demand that their view on what they consider controversial and offensive is included in this? Religious groups, for example - what if they start demanding secular things be removed from Australian internet access because it goes against their belief? Or hell, if the government is deciding what "inappropriate" material Australian adults can and can't view/read, what else will the government decide Australians should not have access to? WHERE WILL THE LINE BE DRAWN?

Mandatory ISP filtering in the name of protecting children from child porn is FUCKING RIDICULOUS. For a start, that stuff is so hard to find. You have to KNOW what you're looking for and how to look for it in order to find it. You don't just, you know, type in "child porn" in the google search engine and get pages and pages of results linking to child porn sites. And secondly, it is up to the parents to take responsibility for their child and what they have access to on the internet. Just like it's up to the parents to decide what their kid can and cannot watch on television. Yes, I understand that this doesn't always happen - I understand that porn in its common form is very easy to find. But that is what safe search filtering on web browsers is for. And that is why Norton and other viral and internet protection programmes do what they do: to optionally filter out offensive material. No, they're not infallible, of course not. But they do make finding pornographic and other kinds of adult material quite a lot harder to find when the safe search is cranked up to full protection. And it's a choice you have! You can CHOOSE to raise or lower the safety level of web browsing. This mandatory ISP filtering enforcement, however, has NO opt-out.

And the hell of it is, it won't SOLVE anything. It's not going to stop child porn from being MADE. It's not going to stop paedophilia from happening. It's not going to stop people from taking and making drugs. It's not going to stop people from putting together homemade bombs. It's not going to protect women from being raped. It's not going to stop or fix ANYTHING. This mandatory ISP filtering is basically a political gimmick to have the average Australian believe that the government is doing things for the benefit of our country. When, in actual fact, it will do fuck all. If anything, censorship in most of its forms promotes fear rather than acts as anything constructively preventative.

For all it's worth, the government might as well slap a blindfold on Australian people and say, "If you can't see it, then it doesn't exist."