I’m going to add a little context, but for the most part I think the tweets should speak to themselves.
Yesterday I heard about a service called CleanReader, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. This morning K.B. Spangler, a fantastic web cartoonist AND author, had some very clear opinions on it:
Gonna be grumpy about #CleanReader now. Rant mode enabled (1/5)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
There’s a new app out which allows ebooks to have “clean” to “squeaky clean” filters applied (2/5). http://t.co/U66NHinAas
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
Ostensibly, this is to promote a more comfortable reading environment for persons who object to certain concepts and words. (3/5)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
Books which contain concepts/words that (quote)need(unquote) to be sanitized in such a manner were not written TO be sanitized. (4/5)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
Such books can and should push readers out of their comfort zones to make them THINK and EXPERIENCE unfamiliar/uncomfortable things (5/5)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
p.s.: Speedy doesn’t swear his goddamned furry ass off because it’s fun to write him that way. (1/2)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
p.p.s: His filth is supposed to make the reader slightly uncomfortable, so they pay more attention to him than if he was sanitized. (2/2)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
I, on roughly half a cup of coffee, replied:
@KBSpangler While I agree with you from an author’s perspective, from a reader’s perspective I don’t.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler As a reader, however I choose to experience the work is my business, so as long as I’m paying the author for the original copy –
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler if I’m also paying someone to “doctor” it to remove whatever I object to, then author-me has to grit my teeth and deal with it.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler The movie version of this, when it came out, bought an original copy each time someone ordered a doctored version…
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler …and if the book version does the same, the most I can do is shake my head and mutter.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
This led to the following conversation, which I enjoyed a lot, so I want to save it here, for semi-posterity.
NOTE: Some of the tweets are a little out of order, because there were times when we “interrupted” each other in the middle of multi-tweet comments. I’ve grouped the multi-tweet comments together to make the conversation easier to follow.
@ubersoft You’re suggesting that a work of media can be changed without creator’s/producer’s permission? @revvoice
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice essentially yes. Source: Everything on YouTube.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice If someone can take the Battle of Five Armies and replace all swords with light sabers, someone can do this, too.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft My bad. Replace “can” in previous tweet with “should”. @revvoice
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice “should” is a charged word. As a writer I want people to read the words I wrote. But as a reader?
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice As a reader, the minute I buy the book is the minute the author loses control over what I do with it…
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice This is the “it’s okay to modify whatever I’ve bought to get the product I want” argument. (1/2)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice I think there’s a world of difference between modding out the chair you bought at Target and changing a book. (2/2)
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice If I bought the Mona Lisa outright — if it was physically mine. Which, granted, is a laughable idea, but bear with me
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice If I *bought* the Mona Lisa and as the owner I decided I wanted to draw a mustache on the painting, I could.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice it would be a horrifying act of disfigurement, and I’d probably wind up getting lynched by irate art fans…
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice You CAN do whatever you want with it, but then you’ve altered the reason the Mona Lisa was created in the first place.
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice (keep in mind that I publish everything under a CC license that permits the kind of behavior I’m talking about, so…)
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice (… my bias is kind of baked in.)
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice No, no, I see exactly what you’re talking about and I agree. But why invest in a specific creative work (or product)…
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice … if your goal is to change it to make it more palatable to your tastes? Applying a “second generation” to…
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice … creative works transforms them from what they were intended to be, to something different.
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice I can’t speak to why someone would WANT to do it, because I’m not someone who would…
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice … but it appears there are people who do.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice I AM OKAY WITH THIS!!! when it’s creating art or parody or something that adds an extra layer of emotion.
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS!!! when it applies a soothing filter to the original content which changes intent.
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice yeah, but isn’t that saying “it’s OK when it’s someone else’s art?” (it may not be, I’m only on half a cup of coffee)
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice I’m making an active distinction between creating a new generation of art from the original, and applying a filter.
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice Yeah, ok, I can see that now.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice You can draw as many beards on the Mona Lisa as you like, but if you buy her just to paint over her cleavage?
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice what’s the difference? It’s tacky either way.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice the horrifying truth is that as soon as we finish and “release” art into the wild, artists lose our grip on it.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice It becomes something other people experience and interpret, and snobby english professors get to say things like…
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice “death of the author” and “authorial intent means nothing…” (also non-snobby ppl like @demiurgent, for that matter)
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice but essentially we don’t get to define how people choose to experience it. So if someone chooses to experience…
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice …a watered-down version, well, as long as they aren’t forcing everyone else to do the same, all I can do is sigh.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice all of that said, someone might wind up suing them for infringing copyright. That’s what happened to the movie service
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice that came out in the 2000s and I can’t remember how that played out.
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice I agree that’s all we can (and should) do. I’m arguing that they’re no longer reading the book I wrote.
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice yeah, but it’s more your book than the Cliff’s Notes version. And some day, when your book is required reading…
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@KBSpangler @revvoice …in High Schools all across the land, the Cliff’s Notes version is all most of the students will read. 😉
— A Madman Unhing’d (@ubersoft) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice I love that story of Greg Bear’s daughter assigned her dad’s books for a high school English class…
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
@ubersoft @revvoice “Dad! This stuff in this book is incredible! You wrote these subplots & hidden meanings?” “Uh… sure. I mean, YES.”
— K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) March 25, 2015
