Alright, at this point I've listened to the Knotcast discussion, and then I watched the documentary. I agree with a lot of Knotcast's points though not all of them. I can see why a lot of debate is breaking out over this thing, but I don't think it's anything to get especially huffy about. Could've been better, could've been worse.
However, Kage's really given bad treatment here. Like many of the commenters I think the way he words some things comes off as harsh and unprofessional, however it's obvious this has been cherry-picked and the documentary director (Video) has got a bias.
To outside viewers, they'd have no idea how much context is being left out. The huge size of Anthrocon, the financial figures that it brings to Pittsburgh, the years of negotiations with hotels and city officials, liability issues, and so on. Some furries may present a cleaner picture of the fandom than the director would prefer - more on this later. Also keep in mind Kage came into the chairmanship of Anthrocon at a time around 2000 when the fandom had almost zero positive PR from outsiders, it was being constantly raked over the coals by trolls and sensationalist media.
The thing that struck me the most about the documentary was that it seemed to be trying to figure out what it was about, over a period of several years. Like the Knotcast people said, the title of "Fursonas" is inaccurate. It starts off looking like a documentary about what fursuiting means to its practitioners, then as Video talks to his interviewees, he's saying things like "Who should I talk to next?"
Then it seems to be veering towards opposing contrasts in the fandom, pitting the less interesting vs. the more edgy (drug use, openness about adult aspects), and like a morning talk-show, pitting the participants against clips to see what reactions it can get. Once it seizes on Kage for narrative conflict, that takes over. Probably deliberately, to kick up just this kind of hot-headed debate within the fandom, and to increase viewership.
If you're a furry watching this documentary I think most of us take it with a grain of salt. Someone outside the fandom watching it might shake their head all like "Wow, this Kage guy!!" - Which certainly won't do Anthrocon any favors. Seriously, I hope it doesn't make his work more difficult. Does the director understand that a huge part of the reason Kage took his viewpoints in the first place is because of this kind of behavior by the media? Sensationalist detraction is exactly what created Kage's stance, and this work is perpetuating that documentary style.
I don't find the presentation overly Boomer-heavy, but Boomer is quite noticeably different from the other furries by a wide margin, so his presence in the documentary tends to stick out more. I'm very happy that Video gave him some depth, like the pirate radio thing; I really like it when there isn't a focus on just one thing about a person.
Whenever furries make short YouTube videos trying to explain the fandom (something I might attempt someday), it's usually very personal, and it can get people grumpy because it doesn't capture everything (which is pretty damn hard to do). The key is to tack on "... to me", to indicate there's a bigger picture and other viewpoints. So personally, I don't find this documentary especially different from other ones out there, except in length. If not for the parts about Kage, I don't think this would stand out at all, so I'm inclined to partly think it was deliberately put in to stir people up and get the final product more attention.
However I don't entirely think that's the case. Actually I found it refreshing to see a director willing to tread where shorter fandom-made documentaries don't often go, by showing some of the conflict within the fandom. But I disagree with the way the conflict was presented.
Some of the words near the end of the documentary, from Grix, are "The people that are enjoying the fandom the most ... are the ones that basically say 'I don't give a fuck' [about what other people say about them]". This is frighteningly close to how I closed my earlier comment (before I'd watched the video), with "Some of us in this fandom over-think issues, and care very strongly about them. Some of us are in the fandom to avoid over-thinking stuff, and don't really give a shit what you or anyone else thinks. The trick is to find a workable middle ground."
By contrasting statements like Grix's against statements of Kage's - it doesn't encourage a middle ground. Grix's comment seems... too self-evident. To generalize it, it's "Don't worry, be happy" - and that's a nice rule to follow, sure - but in all things in life. There's nothing about that philosophy that's particular to furry fandom, that one's participation in the fandom should be measured according to that particular metric.
There's also an implication that in the fandom, not only do you have to be comfortable with yourself, you have to be outspoken about it - to be silent is to lie, to deny a truth, and that this is a moral failing. Kage is made to look like the most exaggerated version of following this dark side, that it turns you into a close-minded, control-freak dictator.
Go back and watch the beginning third of the documentary, and you'll notice that the clips with all the other participants also don't bring up the fandom's adult side - at first. So, to me, the documentary is subconsciously delivering a back-handed insult, that it's only due to further prompting that they'll "admit" to the full truth, unlike Kage.
Being selective about what information you share with other people is part of life, and it's often practical, as when Diezel describes his workplace harassment. Being selective doesn't mean you're not comfortable with yourself, doesn't mean you care too much what other people think of you, and it doesn't mean you're not enjoying the fandom any less than anyone else. In my opinion, you should try to avoid denying things about yourself, which can be hard. But if there are practical reasons to not share certain things with other people - that's absolutely fine.
The "don't give a fuck" people in the documentary are Varka, Grix, Quad, Boomer, Chew Fox and Tom Cat. The middle views are provided by Diezel, Freya and Kato, but their stance is implied to be weaker, because of how Kage is portrayed. I think it was very honest of the director to put in the clip where Kato is politely questioning the director's narrative, including Video's reaction to it ("Fuck, dude, really?"). I also liked that Chew Fox was given time to defend her appearance on the Tyra Banks Show. As for the other participants, Bandit could've used some more screen time, and I really liked the youthful energy that Skye added.
My go-to documentary video for outsiders would still be Fanboy Confessional: The Furry Edition, although it's equally fursuit-heavy. The only advantage that Fursonas has over it, for me, is a larger feeling of intimacy about the fandom's personal meaning for everyone that was interviewed, because there was the extra time available to build that depth. I'm really interested in seeing Eric Risher's Furries documentary, which I hope gets equal exposure.
I don't think that any of the participants in Fursonas should be given any flak for being in it; they were all wonderfully articulate. I do wish the director had put in a slightly larger number of people to interview, and like Knotcast said, there were big things left out. Where are the furry artists and writers, where's the charity fundraising? Still, the director has the right to be selective about what he shares - and since Video can complain about Kage in this respect, we can complain about Video.
Also, Knotcast guys, I really loved the #notallfurries hashtag idea. We should have self-parodying fun with that!
Alright, at this point I've listened to the Knotcast discussion, and then I watched the documentary. I agree with a lot of Knotcast's points though not all of them. I can see why a lot of debate is breaking out over this thing, but I don't think it's anything to get especially huffy about. Could've been better, could've been worse.
However, Kage's really given bad treatment here. Like many of the commenters I think the way he words some things comes off as harsh and unprofessional, however it's obvious this has been cherry-picked and the documentary director (Video) has got a bias.
To outside viewers, they'd have no idea how much context is being left out. The huge size of Anthrocon, the financial figures that it brings to Pittsburgh, the years of negotiations with hotels and city officials, liability issues, and so on. Some furries may present a cleaner picture of the fandom than the director would prefer - more on this later. Also keep in mind Kage came into the chairmanship of Anthrocon at a time around 2000 when the fandom had almost zero positive PR from outsiders, it was being constantly raked over the coals by trolls and sensationalist media.
The thing that struck me the most about the documentary was that it seemed to be trying to figure out what it was about, over a period of several years. Like the Knotcast people said, the title of "Fursonas" is inaccurate. It starts off looking like a documentary about what fursuiting means to its practitioners, then as Video talks to his interviewees, he's saying things like "Who should I talk to next?"
Then it seems to be veering towards opposing contrasts in the fandom, pitting the less interesting vs. the more edgy (drug use, openness about adult aspects), and like a morning talk-show, pitting the participants against clips to see what reactions it can get. Once it seizes on Kage for narrative conflict, that takes over. Probably deliberately, to kick up just this kind of hot-headed debate within the fandom, and to increase viewership.
If you're a furry watching this documentary I think most of us take it with a grain of salt. Someone outside the fandom watching it might shake their head all like "Wow, this Kage guy!!" - Which certainly won't do Anthrocon any favors. Seriously, I hope it doesn't make his work more difficult. Does the director understand that a huge part of the reason Kage took his viewpoints in the first place is because of this kind of behavior by the media? Sensationalist detraction is exactly what created Kage's stance, and this work is perpetuating that documentary style.
I don't find the presentation overly Boomer-heavy, but Boomer is quite noticeably different from the other furries by a wide margin, so his presence in the documentary tends to stick out more. I'm very happy that Video gave him some depth, like the pirate radio thing; I really like it when there isn't a focus on just one thing about a person.
Whenever furries make short YouTube videos trying to explain the fandom (something I might attempt someday), it's usually very personal, and it can get people grumpy because it doesn't capture everything (which is pretty damn hard to do). The key is to tack on "... to me", to indicate there's a bigger picture and other viewpoints. So personally, I don't find this documentary especially different from other ones out there, except in length. If not for the parts about Kage, I don't think this would stand out at all, so I'm inclined to partly think it was deliberately put in to stir people up and get the final product more attention.
However I don't entirely think that's the case. Actually I found it refreshing to see a director willing to tread where shorter fandom-made documentaries don't often go, by showing some of the conflict within the fandom. But I disagree with the way the conflict was presented.
Some of the words near the end of the documentary, from Grix, are "The people that are enjoying the fandom the most ... are the ones that basically say 'I don't give a fuck' [about what other people say about them]". This is frighteningly close to how I closed my earlier comment (before I'd watched the video), with "Some of us in this fandom over-think issues, and care very strongly about them. Some of us are in the fandom to avoid over-thinking stuff, and don't really give a shit what you or anyone else thinks. The trick is to find a workable middle ground."
By contrasting statements like Grix's against statements of Kage's - it doesn't encourage a middle ground. Grix's comment seems... too self-evident. To generalize it, it's "Don't worry, be happy" - and that's a nice rule to follow, sure - but in all things in life. There's nothing about that philosophy that's particular to furry fandom, that one's participation in the fandom should be measured according to that particular metric.
There's also an implication that in the fandom, not only do you have to be comfortable with yourself, you have to be outspoken about it - to be silent is to lie, to deny a truth, and that this is a moral failing. Kage is made to look like the most exaggerated version of following this dark side, that it turns you into a close-minded, control-freak dictator.
Go back and watch the beginning third of the documentary, and you'll notice that the clips with all the other participants also don't bring up the fandom's adult side - at first. So, to me, the documentary is subconsciously delivering a back-handed insult, that it's only due to further prompting that they'll "admit" to the full truth, unlike Kage.
Being selective about what information you share with other people is part of life, and it's often practical, as when Diezel describes his workplace harassment. Being selective doesn't mean you're not comfortable with yourself, doesn't mean you care too much what other people think of you, and it doesn't mean you're not enjoying the fandom any less than anyone else. In my opinion, you should try to avoid denying things about yourself, which can be hard. But if there are practical reasons to not share certain things with other people - that's absolutely fine.
The "don't give a fuck" people in the documentary are Varka, Grix, Quad, Boomer, Chew Fox and Tom Cat. The middle views are provided by Diezel, Freya and Kato, but their stance is implied to be weaker, because of how Kage is portrayed. I think it was very honest of the director to put in the clip where Kato is politely questioning the director's narrative, including Video's reaction to it ("Fuck, dude, really?"). I also liked that Chew Fox was given time to defend her appearance on the Tyra Banks Show. As for the other participants, Bandit could've used some more screen time, and I really liked the youthful energy that Skye added.
My go-to documentary video for outsiders would still be Fanboy Confessional: The Furry Edition, although it's equally fursuit-heavy. The only advantage that Fursonas has over it, for me, is a larger feeling of intimacy about the fandom's personal meaning for everyone that was interviewed, because there was the extra time available to build that depth. I'm really interested in seeing Eric Risher's Furries documentary, which I hope gets equal exposure.
I don't think that any of the participants in Fursonas should be given any flak for being in it; they were all wonderfully articulate. I do wish the director had put in a slightly larger number of people to interview, and like Knotcast said, there were big things left out. Where are the furry artists and writers, where's the charity fundraising? Still, the director has the right to be selective about what he shares - and since Video can complain about Kage in this respect, we can complain about Video.
Also, Knotcast guys, I really loved the #notallfurries hashtag idea. We should have self-parodying fun with that!