An Editorial

I began writing The Daria Fandom Blog on December 26, 2004. My goal was to compile all that was interesting that was going on in Daria Fandom. This involved reading the major message boards again, PPMB and SFMB in addition to Scorched Remnants and catching up just about everywhere. (You never know what might be buried in what forum.)

This included "Nick's Corner" of PPMB. I read "Nick's Corner", not really expecting anything from it -- but you never really know. Rather than try to catch up with EVERYTHING, I figured I'd just read from December 26th and try to get the jist of what had been discussed before that date.

On December 27th, Father Martin Sylvester printed this statement at Nick's Corner:

Y'know, I used to enjoy PPMB.

But when the minority I belong to is targetted again and again here with this sort of ill-informed, bigoted crap, it gets tiresome.

Present the failings of a shameful few as the policy of a community. Attribute positions never held (the Vatican spoke out against anti-Harry-Potter hysteria). Make snide remarks about a deeply-held human rights issue without addressing the philosophy and ethics behind it.

Dervish's hate speech has been tolerated here sufficiently to make me doubt any prospect of improvement.

Bye.

Martin.

I figured this was just a flare-up of some type and that tempers would return to normal -- fans can find themselves launched in massive wars about nothing. Father Martin Sylvester, however, appears to be a man of his word -- he hasn't returned to PPMB since December 27, 2004 and no one has stated whether they've received e-mail from him or not.

Right now, there appear to be two schools of thought about Father Martin's disappearance. The first is that all involved are adults, that they should take the good with the bad, and that they really need to get over themselves or solve problems like this in private e-mail. ("If you can't take the heat, don't post.") The second is that it was a shame that Father Martin felt that he was being "dog-piled" on, to have to answer for all of the faults, real and imagined, of his church.

Most of fandom seems to take a third school of thought. Say nothing about it. "Ignore the problem long enough, and the problem will disappear."

I'm of many different minds about this.

I'm one of the few Daria fans who has actually met Father Martin personally. While my wife and I were living in Florida, we were fortunate enough to have Father Martin in our home for a few days.

Our goal, as a couple, was NOT to talk about Daria and Daria episodes. We wanted to get to know him as a person, and we felt that the poor man, on his first stop out of the country, should not be assaulted with show trivia and fan politics. As a result, during the entire four days, we saw a grand total of two Daria episodes (in silence) and the only political discussion we had was about the George W. Bush administration, with me being suitably apologetic about it.

Certainly, there are a lot of things Father Martin COULD have brought up. He could have brought up the entire CINCGREEN history, for example, and put me on the spot with much to answer for. We could have argued whether or not it was right to flame reviewers, he could have brought up Canadibrit (he HAS met her), he could have pointed to any instance of selected quotes from me he cared to and given me a stern upbringing.

Would I have taken it? Probably not well, but the history was there and he certainly had the right to talk about it, maybe not for himself, but for other people.

Instead, he chose not to do that. Perhaps he merely felt that as a guest in my home, that that wasn't his place. And frankly, I was glad that he didn't bring that up. It made our time together much less awkward and I was glad to share the pleasure of his company.

This brings me to the Scorched Remnants Message Board, and its history. Since I felt much more at home there than on PPMB, I posted there with one thought in mind -- to make it a board devoted to Daria discussion, and Daria discussion only. Not birthday greetings, not esoterica about United States policy in China, just Daria talk and ONLY Daria talk. When people (who I will not name) arrived there who I felt would serve as distractions, I did my best to drive them off the board as quickly as possible, wanting to preserve what I had there.

I remember telling off one fan by asking him what exactly had he contributed to Daria fandom in all of his years haunting the message boards? Had he run a website? Had he written fan fiction, or created fan art? What had he CONTRIBUTED? My answer was that he had contributed absolutely nothing, and his LACK of contribution was not needed on "my" message board.

After much reflection, I have come to realize that this policy was wrong. Father Martin is one of the people who unwittingly made me realize that.

You don't have to be a writer of fan fiction, you don't have to be a fan artist, you don't have to point to some imaginary benchmark to somehow earn entrance into the fandom. The only requirement should be that you love "Daria" as much as anyone who calls himself or herself a Daria fan loves Glenn Eichler's creation. That's your ticket in; everything else is just extra.

I don't think there's any doubt that Father Martin loved "Daria". True, he does have a concrete creation to point to, the "Irony Maiden" web site. However, his primary contribution to Daria fandom exceeds even that. Father Martin's contribution was being a friend -- even to those who had few friends or who didn't want any more.

He could have set aside the priestly role and limited himself to strict episode or political commentary. He could have not gotten involved in other people's problems. (Isn't that what Daria would have done? To not get involved?) However, from the few times I read Father Martin's comments (yes, I would sneak over to the PPMB every now and then), Father Martin really cared about the other fans. He was always there to lend a sympathetic ear, a word of advice, really, anything he could give, within reason.

When I did my "Ten Daria Fans" post, I was thinking not only of the contributors on the creative side, but also on the fan side as well. I wanted to award people who represented, in some way, the best of Daria fandom, regardless of accomplishment. And of each of the ten people represented there, I felt that Father Martin represented best what Daria fandom was all about. When I give my "Excellence in Fandom Award" (or whatever I end up calling it), Father Martin Sylvester will get my first vote.

Father Martin and I never discussed anything after he left Florida. We never traded mail, we never talked on the phone, he disappeared from the world of my wife and I, and vice versa. Yet I feel that if I had a problem, and needed to send him e-mail, he would give what advice he could, and listen otherwise.

It's odd that there are three messageboards in Daria fandom (four if you count The Rubber Room, and maybe I should). There's Scorched Remnants, a stripped-down, Daria-only messageboard which is not moderated at all. There's Sheep's Fluff, which is a more "adult" message board with moderation only when certain lines are crossed.
And finally, there's Paperpusher's Board, supposedly the most "family friendly" of the message boards (save possibly Noggin's) with the most active and most vigilant moderators of the three message boards.

It is my PERSONAL opinion that if Father Martin couldn't feel welcome on PPMB, that's a very damning statement on the state of Daria fandom. Maybe it's not YOUR fault, personally, dear reader. Maybe someone out there in the know can tell me who SHOULD be placed at fault.