tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690531243009775086.post65311369082964999..comments2012-01-25T02:00:18.833-08:00Comments on Flight of the Icarus: Steampunk's Reappropriation of Entertainment MediaCaptain JHWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16773344254575527055noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6690531243009775086.post-69145844770300707102009-10-16T19:06:30.164-07:002009-10-16T19:06:30.164-07:00Some responses:
"steampunk came before it ha...Some responses:<br /><br />"steampunk came before it had legit media to spread it"<br /><br />I need a clarification of what qualifies as "legit" media here. I have the sense that you're talking "retrofuturism existed before it was called steampunk".<br /><br />"once your art leaves you, you sort of don't have any right to it anymore minus copyright and so forth."<br /><br />Yes and no. I agree with this insofar that art goes out and is created for an audience. It is therefore open to critique and appropriation. It is open to re-imagining. <br /><br />However, I think it is sign of respect to the creators if we refrain from doing something to their products that they strongly oppose. For example, I will not call Girl Genius "steampunk" because the Foglios aren't comfortable with the term. As a fan, and out of appreciation for the amount of work they put into the comic, I simply will refrain from calling the work, in itself, steampunk. I may say that it conforms to the steampunk aesthetic as well as many tropes found in steampunk literature, and that it can fall under the steampunk umbrella, but I won't re-label it. I'm sure the Foglios understand that the steampunk feel of the comic is what draws a great deal of people to it. It doesn't strip their original purpose: to entertain. <br /><br />There is nothing wrong with retroactively labelling something steampunk. Not all creators react against this label negatively. But if creators want distance from the label they don't want to own as part of their repertoire, why force the label on them? It's not like their refusal to take the name steampunk is depriving us of the steampunk-y headspace we get from their works. Nor are we unable to find other creators who will enthusiastically embrace the label. <br /><br />I said somewhere else - names are important. Being able to name ourselves even moreso.Jhahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16985629384463009968noreply@blogger.com