Fursonas and Furries: A Tail of Two Docs (Part 2)
by Patch O'Furr
(Continuing yesterday’s Part 1.)
Here’s the thing – most of the anger towards Fursonas is because it wasn’t the doc we expected, or to some, what they wanted.
A lot of that comes with the general history of the fandom. How media took our hobby and portrayed it as a pagan cult of sex crazed orgies, by animal-suited maniacs. From Vanity Fair, CSI, MTV, etc portraying us as a fetish rather then a community of artists, writers, dancers, and more. The way they just don’t get what we are about is what many members in the fandom have been fighting to overcome for years.
And it’s been more or less a success, even with the press, as the fandom evolved to what it is today. To how we see each other, what we believe in, and just enjoying the weirdness that we are. After newly turning that corner, perhaps Fursonas could threaten to bring back all the negative old things they been working to overcome.
But that’s not what Fursona is or ever tries to do.
[DR]: My movie is meant to question what a “negative view” of the fandom is. While furry is definitely an accepting place, I do think that there’s a double standard in this community. People want to be accepted for themselves, but sometimes find it hard to accept things that are outside of their own comfort zone. I see this all the time in communities and I see it all the time in furry. Just look at babyfurs, and how plenty of more “normal” furries don’t want to have anything to do with them.
I love this fandom so much that I want it to be better. I think if we’re going to keep patting ourselves on the back for being so accepting, that means having to ask some difficult questions of ourselves—how much do we accept? What is the price of individual expression in the fandom? What is a “good image” and much is it worth? I still grapple with these questions all the time.
This is something I agree with. Our fandom does have a double standard. I know it because as a gay man I’ve seen how a community that views itself as open minded and accepting of all walks of life is also filled with selfish, shortsighted, rude, or even despicable people. Same with the kink community, with it’s view of itself as open minded and accepting to all walks of life, only to see some sides view other sides as inferior or even taboo. It’s the very same with the Furry fandom. We’re a community that is open minded and accepting, and guess what I’m going to say next. We’re also regular flawed humans. It’s not hard to see a pattern when you’ve seen it repeated many times.
This is what Fursonas talks about, and it’s not what everyone in the fandom wants. Which is why many have seen Furries as the preferred doc, with its more positive view of the fandom over Fursonas criticisms.
But here’s the other thing, Furries wasn’t made for the fandom. Let me ask you a question: if you’ve seen Furries and are a member of the fandom, what do you learn from it? What information does it provide that hasn’t already been discussed time and again from other members of the fandom?