Monday, December 30, 2013

I Want to Be a Producer~

I'm sitting in a Books-A-Million right now, mostly because I needed some free Wi-Fi while waiting for some things to print at a nearby Office Depot. BAM only has free Wi-Fi if you're a member of their club, which I'm not. However, the Lowe's hardware store across the street does have free Wi-Fi and, apparently, the most powerful signal in the world. Thanks, Lowe's!

Anyway, apparently Doctor Who has taken over this book store. I don't think Doctor Who even has many books (I'm sure it has at least one...), but that's not what they're selling. Nope, we've got posters, plush dolls, replica sonic screwdrivers, and a TARDIS cookie jar, among other things.

This sort of blatant monetization of other people's ideas makes me cringe and reflect upon what it means to be a content creator.

Obviously, being involved with Fangamer, I can't ignore my own part in this system. I have a series of defenses to make me feel better about what I do (we aren't as blatant, we do it with elegance/style/etc, we're raising the bar for what this stuff should be), but sometimes they just all seem like excuses, denying the facts of the matter: we're making a living because someone else made something popular.

Sometimes I wish that we could focus on something original, something inarguably ours, that would elevate us from being mere moons, reflecting the light of suns.

I believe that metaphor, equating content creators with the sun, is apt. So many things take their energy from the sun that it boggles the mind. It's practically an infinite source of energy, giving steadily with no signs of slowing down. It's the same with a strong original concept: a video game, a super hero, a fantasy setting. They compel people, inspire them, create jobs, and more.

I hope to be a sun some day.

4 comments:

  1. Doctor Who has had many novels based on the series released throughout the 50 years it's been on TV. I've only read a few based on the 11th Doctor and they weren't very good. I did read one good Torchwood book, though. The current books are all written by different authors, and it's just a matter of finding which author you like the most.

    Fun fact: while the 8th Doctor was only featured in one TV special in the 90s, he's had more books written about him than any other Doctor. Kinda wanna pick up an 8th Doctor book and see what he's like.

    And I absolutely abhor the sheer amount of terrible Doctor Who merchandise that has plagued the Earth over the past few years. They'll slap a TARDIS on anything these days :(

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    1. I see! So Doctor Who kinda has an Expanded Universe like Star Wars? Interesting...

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    2. Yup! I'd be happy to let you borrow any of my Doc Who or Torchwood books~

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  2. Just leaving this here.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdWlSF195Y

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