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tocryaboutMetafandom had a post yesterday about religion in fanfic, mainly discussing the danger of the "mass conversion mary sue". Since I write religion kind of a lot in my fiction, both original and fan, and since I'm insecure about it, I thought I'd make a few remarks on the topic.
Where religion is concerned, the badfic possibilities are endless. They include:
a) The aforementioned "Mass Conversion Sue" (aka Virgin Mary Sue, aka Morrigan Sue, among others). Within Catholicism, I can think of no better example than the dubiously pro-fic Bud Macfarlane's Pierced by a Sword and Conceived Without Sin. These are available for free, and if you're the type who enjoyed laughing at Left Behind, I highly recommend them. Pierced by a Sword is sort of the radical traditionalist Catholic version of Left Behind. Characters in these novels have long, earnest arguments (okay) in which the atheist/Jewish/Protestant characters always lose (not okay). Spoilers: the ugly female character realises that she is ugly because she was meant to be a nun, but the ugly male character ends up with a woman who "looks like Grace Kelly".
But while Catholics do it with a certain hard-earned expertise, pagans are the second worst offenders. Marion Zimmer Bradley springs immediately to mind. Nuance is not her strong suit, admittedly, but she completely fails to explain why some people did choose to convert from their pagan religions. Brainwashing and hatred of their fellow man, perhaps. Both Bradley and Macfarlane have the same problems: inability to see flaws in their religion, and a poor understanding of their "opponents".
b) A close relative of Virgin Mary Sue is Library Sue. Here the writer is working with a character of a different religion, so she makes sure to do some research first. This is a good thing as far as it goes, but it lends itself to abuse.
You see what I'm talking about here.
But Library Sue is still better than her counterpart, Lazy-Ass Ignorant Sue (okay, that name's not very clever, but neither is she). This is the person who's never set foot in a church and thinks she can write accurately on Catholicism because she's watched Constantine or seen Confession scenes on television. I don't know how badly TV butchers other religions, but you want to know how many accurate depictions of the post-Vatican-II sacrament of Reconciliation I've seen recently?
One.
Everybody Loves Raymond. I'm serious. So don't do your research by watching TV.
c) The WTF Factor, sometimes the Racial Stereotype Effect. This is where a character who was never particularly religious in canon suddenly becomes that way, often just because of the character's ethnicity. For instance, Dr. Bashir is written as a religious Muslim or Hindu in a slash fic, for no apparent reason. WTF?
Now, if you avoid all these pitfalls, there's no reason why you can't write a beautiful little Kurt Wagner fic where he discusses the influence of Augustine on the doctrine of predestination. Seriously. I'd read it.
Where religion is concerned, the badfic possibilities are endless. They include:
a) The aforementioned "Mass Conversion Sue" (aka Virgin Mary Sue, aka Morrigan Sue, among others). Within Catholicism, I can think of no better example than the dubiously pro-fic Bud Macfarlane's Pierced by a Sword and Conceived Without Sin. These are available for free, and if you're the type who enjoyed laughing at Left Behind, I highly recommend them. Pierced by a Sword is sort of the radical traditionalist Catholic version of Left Behind. Characters in these novels have long, earnest arguments (okay) in which the atheist/Jewish/Protestant characters always lose (not okay). Spoilers: the ugly female character realises that she is ugly because she was meant to be a nun, but the ugly male character ends up with a woman who "looks like Grace Kelly".
But while Catholics do it with a certain hard-earned expertise, pagans are the second worst offenders. Marion Zimmer Bradley springs immediately to mind. Nuance is not her strong suit, admittedly, but she completely fails to explain why some people did choose to convert from their pagan religions. Brainwashing and hatred of their fellow man, perhaps. Both Bradley and Macfarlane have the same problems: inability to see flaws in their religion, and a poor understanding of their "opponents".
b) A close relative of Virgin Mary Sue is Library Sue. Here the writer is working with a character of a different religion, so she makes sure to do some research first. This is a good thing as far as it goes, but it lends itself to abuse.
Completely inappropriate character, like Mystique: "Hey Kitty, what's that you're doing?"
Kitty: "Oh, I'm lighting the menorah. Tonight is the first night of Hannukah, also spelled Channukah, a holiday that commemmorates the victory of the Maccabees. This candle is called the Shamash, or helper candle, and it lights the others, so there are nine candles in all. If you want I can sing you Adam Sandler's 'Hannukah Song'."
Mystique: "Wow, Kitty! I never knew all that about Hannukah! But tell me, what's the deal with latkes?"
Popularly disliked character, like Cyclops: "Hey, didn't I get shot in the last scene? And isn't this story supposed to be about Rogue and Logan getting busy while undercover on a Great Lakes steamship? By the way, I hate Jews."
Mystique: "Shut up, Cyclops. Kitty, what rules govern when Hannukah is celebrated every year?"
Kitty: "Well, in the Mishnah..."
You see what I'm talking about here.
But Library Sue is still better than her counterpart, Lazy-Ass Ignorant Sue (okay, that name's not very clever, but neither is she). This is the person who's never set foot in a church and thinks she can write accurately on Catholicism because she's watched Constantine or seen Confession scenes on television. I don't know how badly TV butchers other religions, but you want to know how many accurate depictions of the post-Vatican-II sacrament of Reconciliation I've seen recently?
One.
Everybody Loves Raymond. I'm serious. So don't do your research by watching TV.
c) The WTF Factor, sometimes the Racial Stereotype Effect. This is where a character who was never particularly religious in canon suddenly becomes that way, often just because of the character's ethnicity. For instance, Dr. Bashir is written as a religious Muslim or Hindu in a slash fic, for no apparent reason. WTF?
Now, if you avoid all these pitfalls, there's no reason why you can't write a beautiful little Kurt Wagner fic where he discusses the influence of Augustine on the doctrine of predestination. Seriously. I'd read it.
