"But see, that was the point of the analogy: stories shouldn't be chattel any more than daughters should be. You don't own the story, either."
We're just going to have to agree to disagree on that one. I feel I own my ideas just as much as I own the chair in my backyard. I feel I have the right to ask you to not sit in my chair, even if you 1. Don't damage the chair. 2. Aren't taking the chair anywhere 3. I wasn't intending on sitting in the chair the same time you were. 4. I don't actually mind you sitting in the chair, and in fact you do so frequently. I still feel I have the right to ask you not to sit in the chair and have that be respected.
*shrug*
"I know that many people (even many fanfic writers, actually) feel very strongly that they should own their stories absolutely. (There are many people who feel they should own their daughters, too.) I just find this position *completely* indefensible from any perspective broader than "me! Me, look at me!"
Many fanfic writers write for no greater purpose than to gratify themselves, serve their own egos, attract prise, etc. Why is it a defensible motivation for them and not for me?
"Writing fanfic isn't like pirating music on the internet. Writing fanfic is like *humming a song on the street*. If I'm singing "Strawberry Fields Forever" in the car on the way to work, am I turning into something the Beatles never intended? Why, yes: if you'd ever heard my singing voice, you'd certainly agree."
Well no, that's just singing a song poorly. If you read my story and have poor reading comprehension, or a learning disability, or vision problems, or the copy you've procured is misprinted with errors, or if you're reading it to kids and you're a poor storyteller, that's unfortunate, but it's not a philosophical denial of my rights as a creator (no more than singing a Beatles song badly for the Beatles).
"No. And the same way, I refuse to be told that I'm not allowed to retell a story. Songs are meant to be sung. Stories are meant to be told. That is the whole point of making them! "I told this story once, and so I am the only one who is ever allowed to tell it again, ever, and everyone who wants to know about it has to come through me."
I think you're conflating two things together there as fact. Yes, stories are made to be told, songs are made to be sung. It doesn't inherently follow that they're made to be told by other people. Perhaps I tell you a personal story about my life. It is mine. There may be some value to you to hear it, or me to tell it to you. But there may be harm in you telling it to another. And it might be fairly monstrous for you to change it. I don't know what your values are. I could never ask a white person to become black (had I the power in the first place), just because I preferred it and it suited my emotional needs. What of a story with a white character? Does Le Guin have a right to be upset that someone retells her story and obliterates things in it she finds important? What's the point of telling a story if any element of it can be dismissed, subverted, inverted to suit someone else's whims?
no subject
We're just going to have to agree to disagree on that one. I feel I own my ideas just as much as I own the chair in my backyard. I feel I have the right to ask you to not sit in my chair, even if you 1. Don't damage the chair. 2. Aren't taking the chair anywhere 3. I wasn't intending on sitting in the chair the same time you were. 4. I don't actually mind you sitting in the chair, and in fact you do so frequently. I still feel I have the right to ask you not to sit in the chair and have that be respected.
*shrug*
"I know that many people (even many fanfic writers, actually) feel very strongly that they should own their stories absolutely. (There are many people who feel they should own their daughters, too.) I just find this position *completely* indefensible from any perspective broader than "me! Me, look at me!"
Many fanfic writers write for no greater purpose than to gratify themselves, serve their own egos, attract prise, etc. Why is it a defensible motivation for them and not for me?
"Writing fanfic isn't like pirating music on the internet. Writing fanfic is like *humming a song on the street*. If I'm singing "Strawberry Fields Forever" in the car on the way to work, am I turning into something the Beatles never intended? Why, yes: if you'd ever heard my singing voice, you'd certainly agree."
Well no, that's just singing a song poorly. If you read my story and have poor reading comprehension, or a learning disability, or vision problems, or the copy you've procured is misprinted with errors, or if you're reading it to kids and you're a poor storyteller, that's unfortunate, but it's not a philosophical denial of my rights as a creator (no more than singing a Beatles song badly for the Beatles).
"No. And the same way, I refuse to be told that I'm not allowed to retell a story. Songs are meant to be sung. Stories are meant to be told. That is the whole point of making them! "I told this story once, and so I am the only one who is ever allowed to tell it again, ever, and everyone who wants to know about it has to come through me."
I think you're conflating two things together there as fact. Yes, stories are made to be told, songs are made to be sung. It doesn't inherently follow that they're made to be told by other people. Perhaps I tell you a personal story about my life. It is mine. There may be some value to you to hear it, or me to tell it to you. But there may be harm in you telling it to another. And it might be fairly monstrous for you to change it. I don't know what your values are. I could never ask a white person to become black (had I the power in the first place), just because I preferred it and it suited my emotional needs. What of a story with a white character? Does Le Guin have a right to be upset that someone retells her story and obliterates things in it she finds important? What's the point of telling a story if any element of it can be dismissed, subverted, inverted to suit someone else's whims?