--- In SkunkworksAMA_at_yahoogroups.com, "James La Bella"
<cheetah5_at_b...> wrote:
> It's not so much that, but the fact that the writer almost
immediately
> had to say something negative about you guys. Then of course had to
> quote things that should not have been said... I myself have never
tried
> to hide behind a name... Though they put that out immediately...
Maybe
> it would have been best for people that could not have been brought
down
> to do an interview. For someone to comment that they can't reveal
who
> they are for fear of reticule makes sense, but also brings to
question
> their own faith in what they enjoy.
I am one of the three "Furry Advance Team" members who agreed to
talk with Craig when he came to the Houston Furry web board, and
started snooping around. I don't know if Shockwave or KT are members
of this group or not. I asked Craig to use my pseudonym, Paracelsus,
because my real name is rather unique, and I really didn't feel like
answering a barrage of random phone calls from casual nutcases. It's
not like it would be hard to find my name out, though, just using
Google. I don't hide my hobby from my family and friends at all. I
don't babble about it at work, though, since work has nothing to do
with hobbies. I've enjoyed the whole furry thing for over 10 years
now.
We decided to talk to Craig after a bit of discussion. (You can
read the discussions we had on the web board, if you like) We came to
the conclusion that the historic PR strategy of the fandom, which is
Press Avoidance, is no longer viable. When the fandom was well below
the collective radar, and most people said, "Huh?" when someone
said, "Furry", avoiding the Press was prudent. Things have changed,
however, and that time is unfortunately over. Like it or not, furries
are now a blip on the cultural radar scope, thanks in large part to
CSI, a *very* widely watched program. The fact that Craig was looking
for a story in itself is indicative of the new situation we are in.
In this new situation, if you stay silent, others will speak for
you. These others, more likely than not, will be freakish and
embarrassing, because one- it makes for interesting stories for the
press, and two- the freakish and embarrassing generally relish
displaying their freakishness to whomever will watch or listen. If
they find *no one* to talk to, they will just recycle the stories
already written, treating them as the truth. This is just as bad. The
bottom line is that if you do not control your public relations,
someone else *will*.
So, with much suspiscion and some reluctance, we three agreed to
meet and talk to Craig, and to tell him everything we could about the
fandom, its history, cultural relevance, and to try to give as broad
a picture as we could portray. We waited for *him* to bring up
subjects we were avoiding, like erotica, and people fucking in
fursuits, or whatever. He never really did. He seemed on the level.
And the Press is a fairly liberal weekly paper. They usually do in-
depth long articles, and are pretty even-handed (Well, they slam the
local government a lot, but that is the realm of the alternative
weekly newspaper, it seems). We figured, if anyone would give us a
fair shake, it would be the Press.
I agreed to talk to Craig on my own after the initial meeting, and
I actually adressed much of what you say below, James. I told him
that everything I said, or KT said, or Shockwave said, or any other
furry he spoke to said, would be what furry meant to *them*, and them
only. I explained (as he quoted me in the article) that furry is a
meta-genre, and cannot stand on its own. It is always a modifier to
whatever interests the individual fan already has. So you have fans
who enjoy furry science fiction, furry fantasy, furry erotica, furry
bondage... but there is no "furry" by itself. This means you have a
huge group of people who share one aspect of their interests, but
also individually have wildly differing interpretations of that same
subject. Furries are generally accepting of one another, but there is
no consensus! There is lots of arguing, though.
I also explained in very clear terms to him that furry is
different than other fandoms because there is no "canon" material.
There is no TV series, or comic series, or movies. Either we take
films and books which were never meant to be "furry" per se (like
Disney's Robin Hood or Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH), or we make
it ourselves (like JMH).
I also went into my own theories as to what the appeal of furries
is, why we like it, but made very sure to tell him it was only my own
personal perspective. He didn't print any of that, though.
The three of us were very careful about what we said, and I was on
my guard throughout my second interview. But he didn't use a whole
lot of what any of the advance team said, possibly because hearing
about fandom history and how Paleolithic neo-humans painted animal
people on the walls of caves in modern day France is sort of boring :)
I think the article is generally a good one for furries. I would
not have framed it with the individual (Furboy Zero, who I've never
heard of) who has a mental disability. This almost suggests furries
in general are in some fashion mentally disabled. This was an
unfortunate decision, I think, on his part. I don't hold it against
Furboy Zero, though.
I do not mind being called a "geek on casual Friday". I was
wearing a silk Hawaiian shirt, and I *am* a geek, dammit. I don't
mind being a geek, though. It pays well.
I still think we did a good thing, on balance. The article could
have been better, and it could have been worse. But I'd like to think
that there are a bunch of people in Houston who will read it and say
to themselves, "Hey! There's a name for this! Cool! Where do I sign
up?"
Anyway, I thought I'd share.
-Josh
> Believe me I do understand, I've been the target of quite a few
things
> in my time... 9 years running TJA brings some light on a few things.
> Sometimes and most recently I can understand the premise behind the
> burned furs movement... The desire to remove from the forefront the
> small fetishes of certain fans that seems to embed themselves as
> mainstays of the fandom. Unfortunately 3 people can not talk for
> everyone. Also to try an arrange it so that all of the thousands of
> Furry fans out there think alike when , what's not so obvious is
that
> this fandom is so diverse it can not always be compared to stuff
like
> Star Trek and Star Wars ETC... there is no set story line, you can't
> have a set topic... Beyond the loosely set guidelines this is a no
holds
> bare group. Each with his or her own perspective. Sometimes I lose
site
> of the fact I need to be as open , not always jumping in at the
wrong
> time or saying the wrong things... But I do stand by the fact that,
more
> then likely our best bet is to stay not on the front page. Not draw
> attention, not shun it but again not draw it specifically. Like you
said
> earlier this might sound like babbling, and bad grammar so I'll
stop ,
> but I wanted to revise some earlier thoughts, so this was the best
> way...
>
> Best Wishes
> James La Bella - The Jab Archives www.jabarchives.com
Received on Sat Dec 20 2003 - 21:15:32 CST