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Ne Diskuti
by Selma McCrory
copyright 2000

Ne: No, Not
Diskuti: To discuss

Slightly under two years ago, I wrote a little essay called Ne Eliri. It had to do with the fact that various and sundry factions weren't talking to each other, and that our fandom was falling apart.

You know what? I'm still amazed it's holding together. Things got a little better beginning of third season, but got worse again. And this time, I think I have a slightly different view of why it is happening.

Communication is one part of it, true. The division between those who continue to like the show and those who have given up on it is still very real. But, I think, it goes down to something very different: socialization. The way we view the world and the way we view interpersonal relationships.

Or, actually, the way I see personal relationships and intercommunication: a person talks to another person and takes their desires into account. When someone is unwilling to do that, I see them as uncommunicative, unwilling to discuss and compromise. It is a breaking of the web in which we all belong, or in the case of a fandom, a miniature web that connects us together. It is the breaking of that web which brings me pain. It is my breaking of the web which has caused me, and others in the fandom, pain.

And, I think that pain which causes me to react the way I did in a recent thread on PhilosophySphere's posting boards, which are one place the Earth: Final Conflict fans meet and discuss the show. The thread had to do with a recent revival in the use of the term "Lame" and variants for the character of Liam, a practice common in early season 2, despite an informal ceasefire agreement by various posters on the board, which has been more or less maintained for about a year and a half at this point.

For those unfamiliar with this conflict, I can only tell you the summary of what happened from my point of view and from what I know of show history and gossip. Someone had decided to boot Kevin Kilner (who played Boone). As a result, a character whose existance was hinted at in the season 1 finale, "The Joining", was put into the lead role and the role rapidly cast. This character was Liam, a human-alien hybrid who grew rapidly into adult form, one who rapidly took over Boone's role as a Companion Protector. The character suffered, among other things, from what a aquantience of mine in another fandom calls "Ranger Replacement Syndrome", or what we in E:FC fandom might call "Boone Replacement Syndrome", the unfortunate luck to replace a popular character.

It didn't help, either, that second season hit what is commonly known as a "sophmore slump", the most common complaints from fans being that the season suffered from extremely poor writing (not to mention the loss of the beloved first season arcs), including the "new shaquarava power of the week", plus the accusation that Liam could do no wrong. Fans not fond of the character Liam were fond of using the term "Lame" and variations, the term originating from "Laim", an apparent typo when spelling the character's name.

Of course, not everybody hated the show and the character of Liam. Season two and the character had its supporters, and they (I among them) did not like the term "Lame". It seemed to them that the character, the series, and the season were being attacked baselessly, with people reacting badly to a new character. The term "Lame" became a universal sign of people who slandered the character and the actor for no reason, for not all the people criticizing the show were very articulate about the reason for why they didn't like the character/actor/season. It was war, and everyone picked up weapons.

Among the wounded were the fandom (fractured into factions), friendships, and the sanity of people who were otherwise coolheaded. I, myself, managed to lose my cool... and permanently alienated someone who hated the new season. To this day, I have a bad view of her... and she has a bad view of me. All because we stopped listening to each other and only cared what happened to ourselves and our pain.

It seemed like the conversation between the two 'sides' was never going to amount to anything again... but then something amazing happened. Someone on PhilosophySphere (I wish I knew who) proposed that people stop using the term. Somehow, people listened, and things calmed down. While our fandom, in my view, would never be the united entity it was prior to the beginning of season two, tempers were starting to calm down. People were starting to talk again, concientiously avoiding the use of the words that had inflamed a segment of the fandom so much.

In fact, by the end of season three, a minor miracle had occured. There were threads criticizing Liam... from both those who disliked the character and those who liked him. A year and a half to two years prior, if you criticized the character of Liam, you were seen on the side of the Liam-bashers by those fond of the character. Now, there are some fans who like the character but wish that they'd developed the character more, and they find common ground with those who dislike the character for that reason. Fans of the character and of the way things have gone in the later seasons have a ground where they can argue things out with those who believe the show is still going downhill, without resentment.

The return of "Lame", the breaking of the informal cease-fire, threatens all that. In the thread I spoke about earlier, the originator was attempting to explain to those using the term (directed to one person in particular, I believe) that it was hurtful to use, for a variety of reasons. I disagreed with several of the reasons, but the one I agreed with the most was that using the term alienated people. In a post (or three, by the end), I explained that the name had a past negative connotation to those Liam fans who had been there a while, and to me, those who used the term gave me the impression that by deliberately using a term that was still a sensitive term, that they gave the impression that they were close-minded, unwilling to listen. In addition, that they were insensitive to those to whom the term still caused painful rememberances.

Of course, the people who continued to choose the term had their reasons, reasons which I would consider invalid but not to someone who didn't see the world as I do. After all, "Lame" and variations are close to the characters name and *did* sum up the state of the character (given a slightly different term, the Liam fans who think he needs work would highly agree). And they do have the right to their opinions after all.

In fact, in a different context, in a less touchy situation, I wouldn't have any problem with them. For example, I have a strongly opinionated co-worker. He is more than glad to express his opinions to me, and since I am not interested in changing his mind, we get along fine (and even have a tenative bond of semi-friendship due to both being low on the totem pole). But I haven't had prior problems with him. There is no situation where we've had a tremendous argument in the past. It is different in E:FC fandom, where the potential is there to re-engage in the conflict that existed in early season two. It is a conflict that I hope will never happen again.

My hope, at this point, is not high. Late in the aforementioned thread, I emailed one of the participants, the one I believe was the reason that the thread was started. In my exchange of emails, I learned two things: that he was not interested in talking about it, and that he was not going to stop. If his posts offended me, I was free to skip over them. 

And since I try to avoid intentionally ticking off the people I'm discussing things with, I politely told him I disagreed, but I wouldn't argue further. After all, how could I?

If I follow his advice, if I skip over his posts (and all those that offend me), then I could be left with those who agree with me. I lose those people who have valuable viewpoints just because they refuse to stop using terms. If everybody follows his advice, we could start floating back into the factions that I talked about in "Ne Eliri".

I vowed never to leave the fandom, even if I stopped watching the show, as I have stopped watching. Even if I stood on the sidelines and lurked most of the time. But, upon occasion, I speak up. I want to discuss. I want to know that I have the resource of those lovely opposing viewpoints that I value so highly.

Do I dare have hope?