I am still not clear how what Big Finish do and what fan writers do are different - they're both about world expansion, they're both technically non-canonical, and they're both a "filling in the blanks" of characters. I don't see the artistic difference.Alan wrote:OK, one last reply on this thread.
My point is that what Big Finish do and what fan writers do are different things. That does not imply that one is "better" than the other, just that they are different animals.
My comments regarding fan fiction in this thread have stemmed from the way in which posters here have used fan fiction as a barb (or have suggested that what Big Finish do is worse than fan fiction, which is similarly a barb). If anyone's making a value statement, it's not me.
I fully understand that the existence of the Big Finish Avengers offends some fans, yourself included, and I also understand how hard it is to let something go - even an off-shoot from the series like the audios - and just say "not for me". There's no part of The Avengers that I feel like that about, not even the movie, but there are other series I love - Doctor Who, for instance - where I feel completely disengaged from parts of the whole. I try to let them go, not watch, not get angry, but I often do - but other people enjoy those bits, so I just think "live and let live" and get on with enjoying what I do enjoy.
Unfortunately in terms of this thread, that includes the Big Finish Avengers, and I apologise if my bemusement at the saddening amount of negativity on display in this thread has caused me to say some things that have caused any upset.
Now, that is my last word on the subject.
For myself, my initial response to the idea of Big Finish being fanfiction was to make a joke out of it, because honestly I think it's pretty much one and the same. I write and read fanfiction. One of the points of pride of any fanfiction writer is that we're not paid for it: we do it purely on the basis of loving the show. I have seen several posters make comments about fanfiction as being "just about sex" and a lesser form of writing and of fandom. To then be told that these audios are quite obviously not fanfiction because they're "professional" further diminishes fanfiction: fanfiction isn't worthy enough to be classified with Big Finish. I resent then being told that Big Finish are just a bunch of fans who love the show, but they're in a different category because THEY are professional - it's tantamount to being told that my fandom isn't good enough.
I apologize for my negativity, but it is not an unexamined negativity purely there because I'm prejudiced. My negativity is reinforced by the fact that the first new products we get for The Avengers in many many years have been so consistently disappointing to me. Wadham's performance in particular has become a very sore point with me because it's so anathema to the Steed that became my favorite character. It offends me because I think it offends the character and Patrick Macnee. Having those concerns and that anger consistently dismissed only entrenches it more.
It is not my intention to make you or anyone feel badly for enjoying these adaptations, or to say that you shouldn't (though I am sorry that it may come off like that). It is my intention to make criticism heard and to be allowed to make it.
