"It seems elitist and wrong"

[donnaimmaculata]

I've made a worrying observation about my reading habits. I haven't been reading much fanfics lately, partly due to RL, and partly due to the fact that I have less and less tolerance for things that don't fit into my personal view on canon. Wading through the fics that I have saved for later perusal in the course of the last few weeks, I came across one which I liked a lot. It's got some of my favourite characters, it's got excellent characterisation, it's touching and well-written and lovely. But. It also works on an absolutely uncanonical premise, which I can't overlook, as much as I'd like to. This is something that happens a lot to me and stops me from sending feedback for an otherwide excellent story. As I don't want to point out that fic, I'll use a purely hypothetical example: Imagine this fantastic story, full of dark realism and understated communication, which works around the plot point that Peter is unable to cast the Killing Curse. In fact, the story is called "The Death Eater who couldn't kill". - No matter how brilliant the fic otherwise is, this uncanonical plot point would grate on my nerves so much that I would not be able to fully enjoy it. Am I too fastidious? I fear I am.



Another aspect that puts me off instantly are Remus' ubiquitous facial scars. Now, about 60% of all fics I read have Remus in them, and the scars make me shudder. They don't exist in the books. Harry would have noticed them. He mentions the "lines" on "Lupin's young face" several times, and scars would be somewhat more visible. Ron and Harry talk about how ill Lupin looks when he comes back to teach after a few days absence. The state explicitly how pale he is and that he's got shadows under his eyes*. No scars are mentioned, ever. (The same goes for the cardigan. Book!Remus wears robes, as it is explicitly stated several times.)

I wouldn't mind the occasional scarred!Lupin fic, honestly. Scars can be used to great effect every now and then. But what annoys me is that they have been adopted as an element of canon and are everywhere. It also makes me wonder: If movie!canon is so well accepted when it comes to Lupin's appearance - why is it wrong to do the same for Snape? Embrace the shiny, glossy, fluffy hair. It's in the movie, after all.

*Yes, he takes Wolfsbane when in Hogwarts, so there would be no fresh wounds after full moon. But Harry doesn't notice any older scars, either.

Comments

[titti]

And Jo is very, very specific to let us know when they are wearing Muggle clothes, like it's an event. It was very obvious in OotP (and it's amazing I remember the description of Remus's clothes, but have forgotten lots of other things).

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

Yes, she is quite specific when it comes to pointing out things that stand out. (I, too, remember the description of Remus' clothes, but that's hardly surprising.)

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

You know, I saw PoA three times in the theater, and I never cottoned on to the scars on his face. So when I came into fandom, I had no idea why so much of the art (and fic) depicted him with scars. It wasn't until I watched the DVD that I noticed it. Apparently I am that unobservant! But I really don't like the scars at all. And I cringe when someone makes Remus wear a cardigan. And why is he always dressed in patched clothes while at school? I can accept second hand clothing like the Weasleys, as perhaps his parents spent a lot of their savings searching fruitlessly for a cure, but when we meet him, he's apparently lived for 12 years in poverty (probably) with no friends. Of course his clothes would be old and patched then.

While I do enjoy the movies, they are almost like a separate entity to me. Sometimes I can picture some of the actors when I'm reading - most noticeably Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, Jason Isaacs, Emma Watson (with bushier hair) and Rupert Grint. Harry looks a little like Daniel to me, but not so much so. Sirius and Remus? Definitely not Gary and David, though I did enjoy their performances. As for Snape, I envision Alan Rickman's mannerisms and voice - he really does have a wonderful Snape voice, but looks wise? The Snape in my head is seriously homely. (I suppose I can see Branagh as Lockhart as well, though I always picture him with longer hair for some reason)

When I write fanfic, the movies don't exist for me, except as pictures of the characters as the actors I mentioned above. The settings are sometimes similar (though the Great Hall in my head is larger) but I take little bits and pieces and discard what doesn't fit with my mental picture.

You're not being elitist at all. Sometimes I can accept really minor canonically inconsistent points - like making Alice Longbottom an auror (she wasn't, despite fanon thinking). But the bigger things - like Lucius being a contemporary of MWPP, Peter being evil while at school, the Dursleys physically abusing Harry, etc., just throws me out completely. Ironically, I do make concessions for fics written before OotP was released. And I admit to being somewhat indulgent of fics where Sirius didn't die - though most of the ones I read with that are admittedly AU anyway. And I do love AU's, but they have to be canonically consistent up to where they split with the main timeline.

And also, being a huge fan of a non-canonical slash pairing - of course I make concessions there, but I want it to be canon-consistent and canon-plausible nontheless.

Having just finished reading books 1-4 (and about to start 5) I'm noticing a lot of little things I didn't remember, many of which contradict fanon notions, and I suspect I'll end up being even more nitpicky.

But if an author can make an unorthodox idea work in fanfic - that is, make me believe it from their storytelling ability alone, I'm happy. I suppose I'm also lucky to have so many wonderful authors on my flist. :) I love when authors are creative - I want to be awed and amazed. But I also want Snape to be a snarky, petulant, cruel bastard with greasy hair, thank you, and not a secret lothario with buns and abs of steel hiding under his robes. :)

[imadra-blue.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel. I've been getting the same way with SW fics. (I've pretty much stopped reading HP fics.) If the fics don't fit into how I see canon and canon-plausible thing,s I'm out. I'm a stickler for characterization, and the sameful disgrace, the absolutely horrid versions of Obi-Wan and Anakin drive me batty. Why am I such a bitch? It's opinion after all, I may not be right. Except for the part where I think and feel I am, and I can back my statements up, and I've read their "meta" posts (blurbs, really), and they very simply can't back themselves up. Am I being an elitist bitch? Probably. But it's not my fault they're assraping canon for their own purposes. Sure, by anture, my ship kinda sticks its hand down canon pants and gives it a handjob, but canon enjoyed it. These people are flat out assraping canon without lube. :/

Wow. Sorry for that impromptu rant. *slinks off*

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I'm curious as to how much more scarred Remus got after the movie came out. Unfortunately, I didn't read much Remus-centric fic prior to the movie, so I have no basis of comparison.

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

I wasn't in fandom before the movie came out, but I think that most people (myself included, though now I waver) rather imagined Remus to have scars on his body from when he "bit and scratched himself". Plus the original bite scar - which people have put anywhere from his neck to his waist to his thigh, from what I've seen. It's also popular for him to be wearing bandages after transformations - especially while in school, and while it didn't bother me at first, I look at how quickly Madam Pomfrey heals Harry's injuries and I very much have to wonder. I suppose it also depends on whether you ascribe to the notion of werewolves having some sort of (major or minor) healing powers. So many theories about werewolves are rampant in fandom (including the silver thing - i.e. Peter's hand) that I was rather disappointed by the lack of information in "Fantastic Beasts" myself. :)

After the movie came out, the scars on his face became much more, err, visible in the fics and art I've seen.

[crazysexy-cool.livejournal.com]

I don't particularly imagine Remus with facial scars, either. Besides the fact that there's no mention of that sort of thing in canon, I would think that they'd have ways of healing wounds without leaving a scar.

I don't think you're being elitist at all; if I came upon an otherwise wonderfully written fic in which Dumbledore, upon learning that Snape has been having an affair with a fifteen year-old student, merely smiles (with a twinkle in his eye) and offers a sherbet lemon, I wouldn't be able to stand it either.