From some time there is a huge discuss about doll recasting on Polish forum, BJDream. I didn't really try to join to this conversation, because I know they don't really care about my opinion and sadly, they are pretty blind for the truth. But this subject is still fresh on the forum and day by day it gets more nasty look. Finally, I got so annoyed that I decided to write about this, and well, not on the forum, they would never agree with me because they simply do not see their hypocrisy.
Because hypocrisy is what annoyed me so much. Saying that dolls are somehow "more artistic" than other things that are often copied. People hate or love recast, on the forum - mostly hate, because it is stealing from artists, because a fake doll is not origninal so automatically it is not valuable, because it shows no respect to creator and basicly, whole creation process. And of course I can do nothing but agree with this opinion. I do agree and most important, I really think and feel that way. I can't imagine how I could feel if someone would steal my artwork which I consider as a part of myself.
But what is disgusting in this opinion and argumentation is that for doll community (at least Polish one, I don't know how about others) only dolls have a right to be original and be protected by fans from stealing. Fans will always underrate recasts, they will always literally punish people who had bought recast (for example by not allowing them to post photos on the forum). Basicly, in BJD fandom, for most of the people, having a recast is like a stigma - of disrespect, lack of love for a hobby and being "not a true doll-lover". Because of this humiliation, people who have recasts (for a very different reasons!) are now completely separate fandom.
You may think it is a proper behaviour that people try to protect artist and their goods. That they try to keep a right level of morality. Regardless of methods used to do it.
And here comes hypocrisy. For people on BJDream forum, the only art that deserve protecting from stealing is, of course, dolls only. They copy books, buy fake clothes and handbags, they download music, movies and games. They admit it and they say that THIS IS DIFFERENT. It's not the same!
How a doll is different from a game? A game is a piece of art, a game is created by so many people who spent so many time working on it, who put a lot of work and affection in it. They were paid for doing it, of course, but dolls are not for free either!
But yet, they claim that this is something else. That only dolls are worth enough to buy them as originals.
I understand it is hard in Poland to buy everything, every single movie you like or every single music album. Poeple here are not that rich as in the US or in the UK. Let's just say that this is a right argument, which is not, because it is just ridiculous that people who can afford a doll for $1000 USD are so poor that they can not buy a game for $20 USD. But okay, situations are different, people are different, who knows how it really is.
And I really can not understand: what rights they think they have to judge others while they can't even judge theirselfs? How is that even possible that people who commonly steal from artists and authors dare to judge other people - people who are just the same as they are. Only one thing that is different is what they have stolen.
If they need so badly to protect artists - that is just great. But their morality is fake.
