The big difference

[larryhammer]

For kate_nepveu:

"The essential difference between porn and erotica is that porn has Mary Sues and erotica doesn't." Discuss.

It would explain the similarities between certain types of amateur porn and fantasy: the sort that starts with the stats (measurements and race/class, respectively). On another paw, can one meaningfully distinguish between a wish-fulfillment character and a Mary Sue? I'd argue the other is a subset of the one, with certain identifying characteristics mostly relating to how other characters react to her/him, but others disagree. Or even argue a Mary Sue by definition cannot appear outside of fanfic.

---L.

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Hmm, possibly. But definitional arguments don't usually go well, so I'll stop there.

[larryhammer]

Hmm -- which definitions seem weak to you?

---L.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

None of them...but I always spend all day discussing, and then having to get vaguer and vaguer as I find more exceptions.

I think I will just accept your defs and move on!

[larryhammer]

I know what you mean -- I usually get that way about litcrit discussions outside of close readings.

---L.