Text 493, 63 rader
Skriven 2006-05-25 07:51:00 av Robert E Starr JR (939.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: An Open Plea to Mr St
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>>On Fri, 19 May 2006 01:25:40 -0400, matthewstaab@gmail.com wrote
(in article <1148015697.125800.263060@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>):

> I read this whole subject and I seems to me like JMS GOOD, mongoose
> BAD. People are fighting like Democrats and Republicans. It might also
> be pointed out that Mr. Strange isn't a PR person he just head of his
> company. From my reading he's just trying his best to handle all this
> craziness. JMS has nothing to gain by hurting mongoose other than to
> show them he's a bigger man then they are. I don't understand why
> someone has basically given up on a show would want to hurt the fans
> who just want to continue his work <<

Oh, please.

First of all, this is the moderated Babylon 5 newsgroup; do you think you're 
going to find many JMS detractors here?  But just because people have chosen 
to side with him on a particular issue doesn't mean we all think his shit 
doesn't stink the same as all the rest of ours does.  He's a person, who 
happens to be extremely gifted and who created an incredible work of art that 
all of us here cherish quite a bit.  But a person nonetheless, and with 
similar imperfections as any other person.  I just get so tired of the 
perception of this newsgroup as being some sort of Church of Joe.  (No 
offense, JMS - but I'm guessing you're probably relieved that most of us 
think you're a regular old human being.  :-)  )

Having said that, I'll also say this.  As a person who has worked 
professionally in the business side of the entertainment industry, I don't 
care whether the target of the correspondence was JMS (whose work I generally 
respect) or Paris Hilton (who probably couldn't write a grocery list in which 
I'd be interested): the manner in which contact was attempted via Usenet was 
completely, thoroughly, and embarrassingly bush league.  It was such bad 
business etiquette, I don't know where to begin.

This is not someone saying JMS GOOD, Mongoose BAD.  This is someone saying 
that the public posting of a business overture by ANY business, in seeking 
cooperation with ANY artist, is just the wrong way to go about things.  
Incredibly wrong.

This assessment of Mongoose's business practices in no way reflects upon 
their ability to create decent fiction.  I have no idea what sort of writing 
talent they have on hand.  My concern in that arena is that they are 
predominantly functioning as a manufacturer of roleplaying games (unless I 
misunderstand the situation greatly), and I'm not sure that talent in writing 
roleplaying games necessarily translates to talent in writing prose novels.  
But I'm not making any judgement whatsoever on the quality of their materials 
based on my opinions about their business practices.  Nor, I think, is anyone 
else here.

Finally, as Bill has noted before me, you're probably not a creator of any 
kind yourself, or you'd never have been able to make that last statement in 
your post.  It betrays a woeful lack of understanding of what it is to create 
art, and a similar lack of understanding of the business of creating art.

Amy
     
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