Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Fan Fiction & Poetry
Open Discussion of RPS Stories in Light of Heath's Death
louisev:
I know that this is a controversial subject. However, hundreds of tributes, expressions of sorrow and a wide gamut of expressions of grief have emerged from the entire fandom around Brokeback, and among the fans of Heath Ledger, since hearing of his sudden death. However, I am aware that open discussion of the future of fan fiction is very much affected by it, and that more than a few authors, as well as many readers, have felt uneasy about the subject of Real-Person Slash, fan fiction stories about Heath and Jake in a sexual relationship.
I myself wrote one, very reluctantly, a series of drabbles that speculated on the process Heath went through in "becoming" Ennis, and its affect upon him, and the possibility that he would have battled attractions to Jake as Jack, and was haunted by the character's secret desires. My very first reaction, within minutes of hearing of Heath's death, was the need to remove that story from where I posted it in the Brokebackslash community. A few other authors announced their intention to put their RPS stories on temporary or permanent hold, and many readers expressed mixed emotions - some feeling as though they wanted to keep the stories as a memento, and others that they could not bear to read them.
But because discussion has been largely quelled in other forums, I thought it was important to give the readers and the authors here a forum to express their own feelings about the future of RPS fiction, and also about general slash fiction if they wish. I have very strong feelings that writing any new RPS stories is disrespectful to the dead. Others feel completely differently about it. However you do feel, please feel free to express your opinion here, and be mindful of our policy of No Personal Attacks.
mvansand76:
Thank you for starting this thead, Louise. Other than responding to your post on bbslash I have personally hardly participated in the discussions on (the continuation of) RPS stories.
I don't read or write RPS and the idea of RPS has always made me uncomfortable. In the wake of Heath's death that feeling of discomfort about seeing RPS stories pop up has only increased.
souxi:
This is a good subject to discuss. I myself have read an awful lot of RPS, but, I,m in full agreement with Louise. I think to write it, let alone read it now, would be extreemly disrepectful. So I won,t be reading any more RPS and I would hope other fan fic authors, who I know have written it, would follow suit.
louisev:
As a matter of perspective, I found the following site set up for the Fanfic Symposium addressing the legal implications of writing Real Person Slash:
http://www.trickster.org/symposium/symp78.html
The warnings are dire. The possible charges that could be leveled against a publisher (any internet distribution) of real person slash include defamation of character, slander, libel, and invasion of privacy. And this legal source warns that penalties could be severe:
All of these words I'm defining and explaining describe activity that a judge and jury may well consider as illegal. How illegal? You could go to prison for it, or pay million-dollar fines. If you don't believe me, go to any legal database or law library -- or any newspaper archive or online news site -- and look up judgments and fines and damages in court cases concerned with libel, slander, invasion of privacy or defamation of character.
By contrast, the implications of writing a fanfiction about Ennis and Jack is a question that lies in the unproven grey area of copyright law concerning the Fair Use doctrine. There is no case law at present that would guide fan fiction writers in whether one or another piece of fan fiction constitutes "fair use", however such considerations are not black and white. However, with RPS, there is a very hard line, and that line constitutes a misdemeanor or possibly felony conviction for the writer who distributes their RPS.
Jeff Wrangler:
I'm probably out of line putting my two cents in, because even when Heath was alive I felt that RPS crossed a line, but I think it's a good idea of you, Louise, to bring this up for discussion, and I completely agree with the following:
--- Quote from: louise van hine on January 25, 2008, 03:20:48 pm ---I have very strong feelings that writing any new RPS stories is disrespectful to the dead.
--- End quote ---
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