Not My Canon!

Author Note: Fansplaining

Fansplaining: when a superfan explains the canon of a particular fandom to someone, typically a less obsessed fan, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing.

And now: Your fansplainer in Chief, the Fan King, the guy who shares a name with a famous Australian drummer, the indie author... M. Clifford!

Thank you, thank you. Really...it's my honor. Let's take a moment here by the fire. Have one of those fireside chats that make the speaker sound shrewd and charismatic. Join me, won't you?

*Sits on overstuffed leather chair, lights pipe garishly.*

Last night, I got into a debate with another Harry Potter fan about the canon errors in Cursed Child. It must have gone on for two hours.

Yes, I have a problem.

Now, of course, we ended things amicably and are "friends", but I think it served me well to have such a lengthy discussion because, at least for me, it reaffirmed a lot of the frustrations I have with the play. I was forced to defend my position, rather than just throw my thoughts up on Wattpad where everyone basically agrees with me. Secondly, it shined a light on my insufferable know-it-allness, which is not necessarily a quality I want on display in public. The person with whom I was battling, for lack of a better word, ended the argument by pointing out that there were glaring inconsistencies with logic and so-forth in the original seven books. And if the books are considered canon in my eyes, how could I negotiate those irregularities, but not the ones from Cursed Child? Which is a reasonable argument.

Of course, I have a response to that, could even write a dissertation on that, but it doesn't actually matter. The debate reminded me that there are some fans who just wanted more. They wanted a chance to enjoy Harry Potter in a new way again, and they don't appreciate people like me who point out its flaws. Because, to them, Cursed Child is a valuable, emotional experience. It's a few hours of memory that they don't want ruined by some pompous "better-fan", sitting behind a stack of books filled with post-it notes and a list of internet bookmarks on his laptop as long as a football field of every interview JKR ever gave.

Again, I have a problem.

They aren't interested in having someone like me devaluing their feelings or showing them why their experience with the play could've been wrong. They aren't canon obsessed fans, who seek to tell canon-compliant fanfic...obsessively. All that to say, I want to offer something of an apology to anyone out there who feels I may have done that, and I would like to reframe how I could be seen moving forward.

*Reaches for fire poker. Jabs randomly at spitting logs as if he knows what he's doing.*

One of my biggest mistakes as an author is that I'll compose a thought and put it to paper, and yet fail to properly express what I was imagining. I may not even be aware of this because I'm so lost in that next scene or exchange of dialogue.

I don't want the "M. Clifford" character, the guy who is pointing out all the errors, to be misconstrued as someone who is just hating on the play or looking to find something wrong with it. To be completely honest, I desperately wanted this play. Despite all the chaotic events leading up to its release that caused the fandom to fracture, I was so eager. I wanted it to be everything I had imagined, and it let me down. Does that factor into this? Am I allowing my emotions to shape this narrative? I'm sure. How could I not? But I'd like to think that my views are rooted in the canon that has been established in the books, and how the play routinely refutes that canon, and how the characterizations seemed off-kilter to the point of absurdity. I'd like to think this isn't an opinion or bias.