This is sort if in response to the fanfic anon. In my humble opinion one should not look to fiction (especially the fantasy driven faire that is most ff) to morally, socially or historically educate people. Fiction can have sociopolitical themes and bring contemporary issues to life, but it is also usually framed and governed by a specific narrative.
Take Jane Austen's works for example. (I, like many people around here, enjoy reading them so that is why I am using them as an example). So, reading Austen, you get swept up in the romance and tension of the narrative. You also get a bit of the reality of social stratification and wealth distribution of the regency era- keeping in mind that servants rarely have much more than one line speaking roles and most heroines (basically, the pov) are landed gentry living in comfortable circumstances and afforded a lot of leisure time in which to fall in love and read poetry. Reading her books, one can easily forget about contemporanious events like the Napoleonic Wars and the persistent horrors of the slave trade. In 'Mansfeild Park', the slave trade is directly mentioned for the first and only time in her canon. The context? The heroine's failed attempt to engage her uncle in conversation (said Uncle owns a plantation in Antigua). Fanny's Uncle, Aunt and cousins- one of whom she will marry by the end of the novel- owe their wealth to slavery. This is acknowledged, and a lot if scholars say that Austen was condemning the existence of slavery in her own subtle way, but then... you just kind of move on. The books continues. The food that is being eaten, the dresses worn, the houses and fripperies, everything material, is there because of the plantation overseas. And yet we are supposed- and most people do- continue on with the story and invest emotionally in the romance of the two romantic leads.
During Austen's lifetime, British ships were involved in transporting enslaved people from the eastern seaboard of Africa to the West Indies and the American South. The horror was profitable to the nation. Of the 74, 000 slaves being transported at the peak, 38, 000 would have travelled on British ships. Though Britain's involvement in the slave trade was abolished in 1807, it was not until 1833 that slavery was made illegal in Britain (32 years before the United States).
The reason I say all this is because even though Austen's works are beloved and considered classics, even though they are said by many to be steeped in a kind of proto feminism, and considered valuable and timeless, they do not portray EVERYTHING- namely the horrifying and the unspeakable- that was going on in their era- even that which affects the main characters. So is this a moral failure? Is this an artistic failure? Many people think not. Some think so. Applying current day social standards to historical works can be a minefield.
Maybe fanfics are a lower rent version of this. In a time when many LGBTQ+ people are being persecuted in parts of the world (and there is no legal protection of the human rights of sexual minorities in Jikook's own country), people still use the narrative of a same sex relationship as escapist fantasy. I can understand where some members of the lgbtq+ community might be unhappy with this. (I am lgbt and ok with it, but that's just a personal, subjective thing). Hopefully, people whose imaginations are captured by Jikook (or anyone else), can parlay that interest and support into educating themselves about the real life plight of lgbtq+people around the world. Having a parasocial or personal investment in the happiness of someone you think might* be a member of a marginalized minority hopefully leads people to read, learn and do more.
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei once said that, 'if anything, art is... about morals, about our beleif in humanity. Without that, there simply is no art.'
Not all creative imput has to explicitly address injustice or politics. Not every lgbtq character has to be politicized. Figuring out what one personally considers to be 'harmless fun' and what may be misguided or hurtful can be very complicated. Listening to people, reading and learning certainly helps.
*Also, fiction is weird. It can be totally morally rotton and come from baaaaaaad people and still have certain objective artistic merits (???). You can read a novel from the pov of a twisted, evil person and find yourself weirdly empathizing. You can go on a journey through the eyes of an anti hero. You can commit crimes. You can explore eroticism that you wouldn't want to explore irl. You can read propaganda and be like 'hmm but it's fun tho'. Fiction is fascinating like that.
I love this. Anon, thank you 💜
“Applying current day social standards to historical works can be a minefield.”
“Hopefully, people whose imaginations are captured by Jikook (or anyone else), can parlay that interest and support into educating themselves about the real life plight of lgbtq+people around the world”
I suppose this is exactly what happens sometimes. I obviously can’t speak on behalf of Koreans and how they perceive it, as well as I don’t fully understand how an average Western person (namely from an English-speaking country) sees them. But observing some Russian-speaking KM spaces I’ve seen people saying that they weren’t really engaged with the problems of LGBTQ+ before or even were low-key homophobic (which feels like a norm for an average person here), but after becoming familiar with KM and immersing themselves into the narrative, they started to see the bigger picture and changed their attitudes. The same works with other fandoms. Yuri on Ice dragged some people not only to the figure skating 😉 Art is really powerful.
Speaking on the escapism fantasy. I gotta be honest, sometimes I read these very cheesy fluffy unrealistic fics exactly because they are nothing like the reality I see every day. So what? I’m gay and I need some serotonin 😀
P.S. Having the POV of a twisted morally questionable character is amazing, and it works not only in books. Love this. And it’s not like after watching Joker I started killing people (or approving it).
