Obsessing Over Canon

[CensoredAlso]

I know we often talk about how, um, loose Muppet canon can be, lol. But I was wondering just in general, for any franchise, should fans be so concerned about the canon of story lines, etc., or can we get too bogged down in these things and lose the big picture?

For instance I was recently reading this Trekkie blog entry that shed some interesting light on the topic:

"Cataloguing the details of Trek had been a fan fascination since the original show. Fans like Franz Joseph, the draftsman behind the Technical Manual (1975), had followed the urge to write Trek Bibles of their own. But there hadn’t been the strong demand, in those days, that an “official” Star Trek canon be followed in return by the franchise. Not until the 1990s–when Star Trek became a company show. Fans obsessing about canon now don’t realize they’ve been played by the marketing strategies of a huge conglomerate."

Your thoughts?

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I've given up on following the Rayman canon. Everything just contradicts itself. I've decided to just make up my own. The Rayman community doesn't exactly approve of it Kingdom Hearts is so convoluted that even scouring wikis I still don't get it. I don't think I should even mention the Sonic fanbase.

I think if you think too deeply into whats canon and whats not, you are forgetting the whole point of watching something or playing a game.

 

[CensoredAlso]

The Rayman community doesn't exactly approve of it.

Yeah I've definitely encountered that kind of thing, lol. I mean I can see objecting to someone being out of character and all. It's when fans pull the "it wasn't filmed therefore it's not canon" card that I get slightly frustrated, lol. Sure an idea may have made it to screen but that doesn't mean it was correct for the story or a character arc. A show can jump the shark or have the wrong writer or be subject to network/studio interests. Why blindly accept something that's clearly inferior just because some executive approved it?

 

[D'Snowth]

I know I've mentioned this before, but for the purpose of this thread, let me tell you a story.

Being a member of deviantART and being a part of The Chipmunks fandom, I can tell you a lot of people will get absolutely OCD about this kind of thing. There are those who strictly ship canon, especially when it comes to the couples (i.e. Alvin and Brittany must always be paired together, as does Simon and Jeanette, and Theodore and Eleanor); but at the same time, there are also those who would rather ship mixed instead (it goes in phases it seems, like pairing Dave with Brittany, Simon with Brittany, Dave with Vinny (The Chipmunks' birth mother), and presently an incestous pairing of Alvin and Simon). Now then, I SWEAR to you guys, this has actually be fire fuel for a LOT of flame wars and disputes between the canon shippers and the mixed shippers, that's how obsessive these people can get, and I'll tell ya, these wars get absolutely ridiculous! I will say this though, it does seem like it's usually the mixed shippers who like to instigate it a lot.

That's just an example of how ridiculous it can get within fandoms.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I don't like shippers. They creep me out. Its one thing to think X belongs with Y, but some people take things to the extreme

 

[D'Snowth]

I don't like shippers. They creep me out. Its one thing to think X belongs with Y, but some people take things to the extreme

Oy... do you even remember that whole "underwear" controversy that started up last summer? Well, let me just say this about that: if people were making such a big deal that I drew something like THAT, I don't understand why they wouldn't be appauled by some of the other work some artists come up with... even my "naughtiest" artwork pales in comparison to some of the stuff I've seen.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Oh I remember. The standards of fans boggles my mind

 

[D'Snowth]

Of course then again, that controversy wouldn't have ever really started if it wasn't for my arch nemesis, who must have been extremely bored and wanted to have some "fun" that day... I'm not sure, I think I may have finally put her in her place by "firing back", because since the demise of the underwear incident, she hasn't done anything to stir up trouble, at least with me anyway.

As far as Muppet canon goes, I think we may have had this discussion a while back, but most fans feel there really isn't any kind of "canon" that exists within the Muppet, since Jim never really treated them or passed them off so much as "characters" as he did a troupe of actors that just happened to be puppet creatures. But now as far as SST goes, I think Drtooth said something along the lines of pairing Elmo with Zoe in a scene seems like a more natural fit, but pairing him with Abby seems "forced" and not convincing.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I think Drtooth said something along the lines of pairing Elmo with Zoe in a scene seems like a more natural fit, but pairing him with Abby seems "forced" and not convincing.

That's kinda what I'm talking about. TV shows won't always make the best choices for the characters. When that happens I don't think fans necessarily need to be beholden to them.

 

[D'Snowth]

That's kinda what I'm talking about. TV shows won't always make the best choices for the characters. When that happens I don't think fans necessarily need to be beholden to them.

Well, unfortunately, that's how it gets sometimes, especially with shippers like Sarge and I were talking about, and when they get a little TOO obsessive over like pairings and such to the point that flame wars will erupt over disagreements over which character should be paired with which other. I swear, it just gets really ridiculous, sometimes it gets to a point that I just try avoid making any kind of reference to canon or non-canon, so as to not "offend" either side of the spectrum.