An Open Letter to the JAR Media Sub-Fandom
I’ve thought about posting this for a long time, but I always put it off; but now that @jarruben and @jarjames are here, I think it’s time to say it.
This fandom was created to appreciate JAR Media’s childish, offensive, and weird humor. Tumblr took it upon themselves, at first, to imitate JAR’s humor through fan fiction (the first story posted was a story about IHE and Cool Cat, mind you), fan art, and general posts that showed that fans appreciated JAR’s work. Unfortunately some fans have adopted JAR’s humorous qualities in a way that is more odd than it is funny. These people have thus create a disrespectful, weird sub-fandom that has given the tumblr JAR fans a bad name as a whole. I have ignored this sub-fandom for a long time, but myself and other accounts can’t stand to see your posts about stalking or stomach the energy to read your fan fiction.
The following letter is directed to the JAR Media sub-fandom:
Alex, Jamie, James, and Ruben are people. Despite the fact that they put on personas on camera and social media, they are conscious, dimensional individuals who have lives with friends, family, and loved ones. In other words, they are people like you and me. Yet, you people can’t seem to create a distinction between your delusions and the fact that JAR are normal people as evident to you lot being obsessed with befriending them and your fan fictions.
You are most likely never going to have an opportunity to know who JAR are behind the scenes. Sure, some fans have succeeded in befriending them, but those guys were just lucky. That most likely won’t happen to you, and you need to accept it. Even if you are scouring through their spotify playlists, looking them up on facebook, trying to soak up their leaked information, and trying to get their attention on twitter, you will never succeed in getting any closer to them. You won’t ever befriend them, and that’s final.
Worse than obsessing over them is the fan fiction you have written. I feel that fan fiction has given you an opportunity to exaggerate JAR’s personalities. It is as if you have created characters out of real people, and it’s uncomfortable to read what you have written.
Now before I go even further, I want to say that I for one am a writer, and one of my firm beliefs is that one should have the opportunity to write and publish whatever the please. No one should ever be censored for something because it’s weird or obscene. Nevertheless, I ask that you think about how uncomfortable your fan fiction is for JAR.
Do you think it is justified to write explicit content between friends, especially when no one knows about their sexualities (not that it should even matter)? Someone’s sexual life should not be of any concern to anyone, and the fact that you are treating their sexualities as something that is true simply because you want it to be true or because you think it would be cute is demeaning. It’s not your business to decide someone’s sexual orientation or make assumptions about it.
Another thing, many of you should think twice about writing “JAR x Reader” fan fictions. The fact that you are sexually attracted to them is not a problem. You feel that way, and it’s not a big deal, but it’s something else when you are writing explicit prose between yourself and JAR. They aren’t fans of gay fan fiction, so think about their reaction if they discovered JAR media porn between themselves and a fan. I don’t think they would be too appreciative of that.
Please keep in mind that JAR are people like you and me. They do not deserve to be made into caricatures, their privacy should not be invaded, and you have no right to surpass their boundaries. This is not what the tumblr JAR fandom stands for, but more importantly, this something no one should ever have to tolerate because it is baffling, weird, and above all, insulting.
blakekathryn
jbbartram-illu
andulkaphoto
origamiaround
ellievsbear
snowghoul
