{"id":8338,"date":"2017-11-06T13:31:35","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T18:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=8338"},"modified":"2018-06-28T13:33:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:33:26","slug":"fan-fiction-is-taking-over-movies-and-thats-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/fan-fiction-is-taking-over-movies-and-thats-ok\/","title":{"rendered":"Fan Fiction is Taking Over Movies \u2014 And That\u2019s OK"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you hear the words \u201cfan fiction,\u201d you might think\u00a0of something\u00a0like a 2,000-word wish fulfillment detailing Luke Skywalker\u2019s\u00a0happy marriage to Han Solo as they take care of\u00a0an idyllic forest\u00a0cottage\u00a0in\u00a0a galaxy far, far away. In your head, it\u2019s probably riddled with grammatical errors,\u00a0flat or flowery narration, and poorly written dialogue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s true that fan fiction\u2019s bad reputation comes from the fact that anyone can write it \u2014 which makes it prime territory for amateurs more interested in their\u00a0fantasies\u00a0than the actual art of writing \u2014 the stereotype often causes people to miss its real scope and\u00a0definition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both\u00a0Dictionary.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Oxford dictionary<\/span><\/a>\u00a0essentially say the same thing: fans writing their own stories about the characters from movies, TV series, etc.\u00a0Merriam-Webster<\/span><\/a>\u00a0makes the distinction that the stories are\u00a0\u201coften\u201d posted on\u00a0the Internet, though M-W also observes that the first known usage of the term “fan fiction” was in 1944.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The point is that absurdity and poor quality are not inherently part of fan fiction. Fan fiction is very simple and broad \u2014 it\u2019s somebody other than the original creator considering\u00a0new\u00a0angles or devising new\u00a0plot lines for an existing story and its characters.<\/span><\/p>\n

People have this weird\u00a0tendency to look down their noses at fan fiction because of its reputation, but what about movie adaptations?\u00a0They do\u00a0all the same things that fan fiction does \u2014 playing with someone else\u2019s\u00a0story according to the whims and interpretations of the person with the pen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0describes\u00a0most\u00a0<\/i>popular entertainment nowadays.\u00a0They just get to call themselves adaptations because they\u2019re officially authorized. That\u2019s right \u2014 the main (if not only) real difference between fan fiction and adaptation is a legal technicality.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can hear it now: \u201cOh,\u00a0adaptations are different because \u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Because why? Because adaptations give a different\u00a0perspective,\u00a0elaborate upon some plot point,\u00a0back story, or subplot,\u00a0or\u00a0present something new altogether?\u00a0Most\u00a0fan fiction\u00a0tries to do\u00a0that, too. Christopher Nolan\u2019s\u00a0Batman\u00a0<\/i>trilogy even got away with creating a whole new character (Rachel Dawes), a common aspect of fan fiction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because adaptations don\u2019t focus on wish fulfillment to the extent that fan fiction does? How does that explain the fact that\u00a0Rachel McAdams\u2019 Irene\u00a0Adler (in Guy Ritchie\u2019s Sherlock Holmes films) was written as an\u00a0independent Victorian-era\u00a0divorc\u00e9e\u00a0capable of\u00a0beating\u00a0people up for an audience that increasingly demands diverse and strong women?\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

Because adaptations are well done\u00a0and fan fiction is not? I suppose that\u2019s why\u00a0Suicide Squad\u00a0<\/i>was so great,\u00a0isn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n

The trend of retelling old stories in different ways has been happening for centuries and will not end anytime soon.\u00a0We should\u00a0recognize\u00a0the\u00a0minor distinction between\u00a0adaptations and fan fiction\u00a0and start\u00a0embracing\u00a0the latter\u00a0for its potential\u00a0in the movie industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve\u00a0recently\u00a0seen\u00a0what\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0capable of producing\u00a0for\u00a0superheroes. Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe films have\u00a0generally garnered favorable reviews from critics and audiences and\u00a0retain many of the most vital storytelling elements from the comics,\u00a0most of them\u00a0take\u00a0very\u00a0<\/i>liberal artistic license.\u00a0Some examples include:<\/span><\/p>\n