(no subject)

[cathybites]

Maggie does an EXCELLENT job of pointing out how fucked-up the J2 story set in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake is.

no, you read that right. J2 story. Haiti earthquake. Because nothing says romance like the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Comments

[roundaboutit.livejournal.com]

Fuck I am still at work and on my phone. I cannot wait to get home to just rage my ass off about this. How in the hell do the mods let this through?! Fuck I hope in 2 hours my anger doesn't diminish.

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

I don't blame the mods for this. It's really not their job to vet every single fic that comes through, especially for something as big as BB. What I don't understand is how, with all the people who DID see it beforehand, not one stopped to say, 'um, this might be a bad idea.'

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

I actually read that one (mostly because it was 5am and I couldn't sleep and it was kind of like a car crash reading the summary and thinking 'no one would REALLY do that, right?') and it's baffling because technically, it's well-written. And yet somehow no one involved anywhere in the process said "hey, maybe this is a bad idea?"

(I mention the writing quality not because it's some form of excuse, but because for me that almost makes it worse. If it's badfic, then I tend to figure that the person who wrote it really is just plain stupid/incompetent, and had awful betas. But if it's reasonably readable, then that suggests that people involved with the process had brain cells to rub together, and yet somehow did not actually THINK about the content of the story.)

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with the author, but I've heard from some people how disappointing it was that someone of her quality would produce a story like that. Which I think is understandable - we always think of the people we like as being above such things. I guess it just goes to prove that racism/sexism/whatever can show up anywhere. :\

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

i don't have a problem with anyone setting a romance in a Haiti per se but the RAGING racism in that story is jaw dropping.

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

no, I agree, a story could have been written in that setting and scenario and been just fine. I do, though, have a big problem with the fact that she was watching the news while it was happening and thought "best idea ever".

The racist crap in the story is just another big heaping of fail on top of that.

[walkawayslowly.livejournal.com]

Oh seriously, thank you for linking to this fuckery, I can't imagine how else I would have seen it, and my righteous indignation would have been wasted.

This shit is RIDICULOUS.

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

I just don't understand the thought process of someone who a) watched the news and thought it would make a great J2 story; and b) thought there was NOTHING wrong with how she wrote the Haitians. I just. I am BOGGLED.

[girl-wonder.livejournal.com]

UGH. Oh, SPN. WTF. For serious.

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

IT NEVER LEARNS.

[girl-wonder.livejournal.com]

The thing is that I honestly don't want to dogpile - she apologized, whatever, but I think that we need to talk about how no one along the way saw a problem with this.

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, discussion is very much needed because it seems like this is always happening. and while I have seen people who feel like they have learned something from all of this, it seems like there are a lot of people who want to sweep it under a rug, and it's like. That's why this keeps happening, people! Because people don't want to talk about, people don't want to examine themselves and their actions, they don't want to FIX things.

er. sorry for the mini-rant. but, as you know, it's just frustrating.

[loveflyfree.livejournal.com]

yeah I read maybe three quotes in Maggie's post and was like RAGE BLACKOUT. do I want to read about doctor Jensen running from his past? yeah maybe a little. I mean I've watched Beyond Borders so many times it's ridiculous. but why Haiti? why a real life tragedy? this same exact story could have been told using some fictional event. UGH. WHY DID NO ONE SUGGEST THIS?

I mean fuck. I'm sure the red cross will mobilize during the zombie apocalypse. make that the setting. you can still have doctors and photojournalists. and you know. you can not use a tragedy that is still being dealt with today. grrrargh.

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

I read a couple of quotes, thought 'WTF?!?!', went to the post, read her notes about changing some things for dramatic effect (lolz sorry Haiti, your suffering doesn't suit my fic) and how she was inspired while watching the news (BEST IDEA EVER. SHE ACTUALLY SAID THAT), raged and ranted, calmed a little, went back to Maggie's post to read the rest of the quotes, and completely lost it again.

WHY, REG, WHY?!?!

and really. She seemed to have a large support system for this fic. Nobody thought it was hinky? Really? ugh.

[winterweathered.livejournal.com]

From those quotes, it seems like the character of Abraham is EVERY literary stereotype rolled into one.

[cathybites.livejournal.com]

I kept thinking that if this were a movie, he'd be played by Michael Clarke Duncan.