We will discuss the role fanfiction and fanart play in providing the queer, neurodivergent, etc. representation still missing from movies, books, and other media.
6 p.m. – 7 p.m. CDT, Friday April 13
To submit a question for the Q&A of this panel, please leave a comment below. Questions that are actually questions will receive priority.
Stephanie Zvan is one of the hosts for the Minnesota Atheists' radio show and podcast, Atheists Talk. She serves on the board of Secular Woman. She speaks on science and skepticism in a number of venues, including science fiction and fantasy conventions.
Stephanie has been called a science blogger and a sex blogger, but if it means she has to choose just one thing to be or blog about, she's decided she's never going to grow up. In addition to science and sex and the science of sex, you'll find quite a bit of politics here, some economics, a regular short fiction feature, and the occasional bit of concentrated weird.
Oh, and arguments. She sometimes indulges in those as well. But I'm sure everything will be just fine. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
Do you remember the first queer character portrayal you encountered, about how old you were at the time, and what about it stood out to you/how it impacted you?
What do you make of instances where it’s canonically plausible, but not outright stated, that a character is marginalized in some manner? (Black Hermione, say, or autistic Hermione. Or for that matter gay Remus or gay Dumbledore!) Do you feel that fanworks that roll with these headcanons are different in any significant ways from fanworks that depict the canonical character as being thus marginalized while assuming that depiction to be counter-canonical?
You have mentioned problematic representations in media i.e. queercoding villians- What are some of your favorite examples of representation that are actually positive/healthy/supportive of to the community they’re representing?
I recently learned that the original Phantom of the Opera novel had an Iranian character who almost never appeared in later adaptations. Were you ever pleasantly surprised by the degree of diversity and representation in earlier incarnations of famous stories?
One of my favorite things about fan art is it’s tendancy to flip the original characters’ traits and physicality – ie: gender-bent characters, or fat characters who are typically portrayed as thin. I was recently pleased to see a trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse animated film that portrayed the typically white spider man instead as a young black boy. What are some of your favorite examples of reboots or fan art that transformed a typically straight/white/slender/cis/etc character to a version that better reflects an under-represented monitory?
Captain Marvel being given to a woman (not even the first time a woman became Captain Marvel!), the former Ms. marvel Carol Danvers, which in turn was given to Kamala Khan, a muslim teen.
Doctor Who finally being played by a woman!
As for fan art, Jiji Knight is an artist who paints fat characters, whether they’re mermaids or Sailor Scouts! She recently drew fanart of Harley and Ivy as fat babes.
In his book B.r.u.h, artist Markus Prime drew a bunch of characters from anime and Cartoon Network shows as black.
This panel accepts Q&A! Please post comments if there’s anything you’d like to have the panel discuss*
*(assuming they have enough time for it at the end of their discussion)
Do you remember the first queer character portrayal you encountered, about how old you were at the time, and what about it stood out to you/how it impacted you?
Which artists/producers are supportive of fan art and which are most opposed?
What do you make of instances where it’s canonically plausible, but not outright stated, that a character is marginalized in some manner? (Black Hermione, say, or autistic Hermione. Or for that matter gay Remus or gay Dumbledore!) Do you feel that fanworks that roll with these headcanons are different in any significant ways from fanworks that depict the canonical character as being thus marginalized while assuming that depiction to be counter-canonical?
You have mentioned problematic representations in media i.e. queercoding villians- What are some of your favorite examples of representation that are actually positive/healthy/supportive of to the community they’re representing?
I recently learned that the original Phantom of the Opera novel had an Iranian character who almost never appeared in later adaptations. Were you ever pleasantly surprised by the degree of diversity and representation in earlier incarnations of famous stories?
Billions has a nonbinary character http://variety.com/2017/tv/awards/asia-kate-dillon-billions-acting-non-binary-choices-showtime-1202454977/
One of my favorite things about fan art is it’s tendancy to flip the original characters’ traits and physicality – ie: gender-bent characters, or fat characters who are typically portrayed as thin. I was recently pleased to see a trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse animated film that portrayed the typically white spider man instead as a young black boy. What are some of your favorite examples of reboots or fan art that transformed a typically straight/white/slender/cis/etc character to a version that better reflects an under-represented monitory?
Captain Marvel being given to a woman (not even the first time a woman became Captain Marvel!), the former Ms. marvel Carol Danvers, which in turn was given to Kamala Khan, a muslim teen.
Doctor Who finally being played by a woman!
As for fan art, Jiji Knight is an artist who paints fat characters, whether they’re mermaids or Sailor Scouts! She recently drew fanart of Harley and Ivy as fat babes.
In his book B.r.u.h, artist Markus Prime drew a bunch of characters from anime and Cartoon Network shows as black.
These are just the ones of the top of my head 🙂