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We Didn't Start The Fire [vid] | End OTW Racism

Summary:

Fifty years of fandom.

Notes:

The title of this work was edited in support of the first End OTW Racism action, which ran from May 17-31, 2023! The second action is currently running. Read more at the Call to Action, which gives details on the history of racist harassment and abuse on AO3, what OTW has already committed to, how we're demanding that they live up to their commitments, and how you can participate.

Also, if you are discovering this vid in the 2020s, caveat that it was made in 2012 so that is why it is dated! And there are sources we likely wouldn't use if we were making the vid now (Harry Potter, there's a Johnny Depp jumpscare, etc). But we still love this vid and hope you will too!

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So it's obviously been a MILLION YEARS (well, fine, four years) since this originally premiered at Vividcon 2012, but we're finally getting it up on AO3! \o/

Song by Billy Joel. Vid originally posted here, at Scribe's dreamwidth. Includes brief images of nudity, violence, and drug use. Oh, and since it's not always clear unless you read the extended notes, we chose sources for this vid that started between 1960 and 2010.

Thanks to petra, redbrickrose, and sparklyslug for betaing, as well as countless other people who helped in millions of different ways, including but not limited to: Zach, Greg, Asa, Elana, Chloe, Bill, Susan, David, Hansi, Rob, Patrick, Tegan, freckles42, fizzyblogic, selenak, such_heights, denorios, spatz, inlovewithnight, copperbadge, the muncle community, the mag7daybook community, the starsky-hutch community, eff_reality, laerwen, second_batgirl, zephyrprince, fiercynn's family, sparklyslug, Hannah, Nora, Paige, Andrew, and SO MANY MORE.

If you're interested in our thoughts on the four-year process of brainstorming, researching, and editing this vid, we wrote lots of notes here and here.

If you're interested in how we matched fandoms to the specific lyrics, we made a spreadsheet that we are very proud of with a complete breakdown.

Oh, and some lovely person put it up on tumblr when it first came out, so here's their rebloggable version.

ENJOY!

Work Text:

Watch on Vimeo.
Password: fandom!

Download:
38 MB .m4v file
188 MB .mov file

Lyrics to "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Billy Joel) at Genius Lyrics 

Fandom sources:
Star Trek: The Original Series, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Doctor Who, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Beatles, Hawaii Five-O, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (1968), Dark Shadows, Blake's 7, Battlestar Galactica (1978), M*A*S*H, The Professionals, Starsky and Hutch, Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, James Bond: The Spy Who Loved Me, Led Zeppelin, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Raffles, Yes Minister, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Young Sherlock Holmes, Batman, Miami Vice, James Bond: Octopussy, Another Country, Kiss of the Spider Woman, This Is Spinal Tap, Blade Runner, Quantum Leap, Back to the Future, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Granada), The Outsiders, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, The Lost Boys, Labyrinth, The Goonies, Red Dwarf, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation, The Sandbaggers, Beauty and the Beast, Terminator, The Princess Bride, Robin of Sherwood, The Real Ghostbusters, Remington Steele, Wiseguy, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Friends, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Oz, The X-Files, The West Wing, Sports Night, Homicide: Life on the Streets, Star Trek: Voyager, Queer as Folk (US), Hard Core Logo, Highlander, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, due South, *NSYNC/popslash, The Simpsons, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Horatio Hornblower, Newsies, Jeeves and Wooster, Stargate SG-1, BBC Pride & Prejudice (1995), Twin Peaks, Babylon 5, Angel, Queer as Folk (UK), The Magnificent Seven, Farscape, The Sentinel, Forever Knight, The History Boys, Band of Brothers, Smallville, Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Prison Break, Troy, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lord of the Rings behind the scenes, High School Musical 2, Community, Castle, Supernatural, Sleeper Cell, Merlin, Stargate: Atlantis, Heroes, Leverage, The Vampire Diaries, Robin Hood, Legend of the Seeker, Supernatural, Life on Mars, The L Word, One Piece, Torchwood, Slings & Arrows, Doctor Who (2005), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Glee, White Collar, Bones, Fringe, Brokeback Mountain, Inception, Grey's Anatomy, Top Gear, Being Human (UK), Veronica Mars, My Chemical Romance, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Rachel Maddow Show, Anderson Cooper 360, Lost, Persepolis, Sherlock, How I Met Your Mother, Battlestar Galactica (2004), Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Firefly, RENT, Dexter, House M.D., Pirates of the Caribbean, American Idol, Bend It Like Beckham, Om Shanti Om, The Middleman

Additional sources:
A Very Potter Musical, by StarKidProductions
The Death and Return of Superman, produced by Max Landis
Star Trek by the Girls on Film
Blood Drips on Newsies Square, directed by Michael A. Goorjian
Star Wars: Revelations, directed by Shane Felux
Harry and the Potters concert footage by filmapino
Yellow Face: The Avatar Racebending Documentary
Us, by lim
Ianto Memorial Footage by such_heights

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