I think fandom has desensitized me, because I completely fail to see what's so terrible about the porn, lol! And another reader felt the final section was very badly written and made no sense at all - and here I was getting all teary and overwhelmed by the sheer power of the prose over the last few pages!
This reviewer seems to be influenced by the idea -- common to a lot of people -- that virtue and hard work should be rewarded.
Not just *should be* rewarded, but *is always* rewarded. Or at least, it should be in fiction. I've seen this POV in fandom as well - fans who wail 'unrealistic!' when the story ends in a darker note.
This outcome flies in the face of most contemporary popular narrative, which tends to buy into and reinforce people's belief in that myth.
Ooh, well said.
In this mode of thinking, a woman cannot be empowered if she fails at the end of the story.
Yes, exactly. And here I was thinking empowering women was about treating women like *people* - but no, it always has to be girl power!11!1
is a hostility toward tragedy as a genre. Many people simply aren't used to it -- Hollywood has trained them to expect something very different, and so it's a foreign and disturbing thing.
This is what bothers me, frankly. I understand *not* enjoying tragedy as a genre, or preferring something more uplifting, as many people do. But the cries of 'this is so unrealistic!', 'this isn't the way it should happen!' points to a POV that I find rather disturbing. And I'm not sure if it's entirely Hollywood's fault (a lot of it is, yes. Hollywood and Disney).
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2006-03-09 05:07 am (UTC)This reviewer seems to be influenced by the idea -- common to a lot of people -- that virtue and hard work should be rewarded.
Not just *should be* rewarded, but *is always* rewarded. Or at least, it should be in fiction. I've seen this POV in fandom as well - fans who wail 'unrealistic!' when the story ends in a darker note.
This outcome flies in the face of most contemporary popular narrative, which tends to buy into and reinforce people's belief in that myth.
Ooh, well said.
In this mode of thinking, a woman cannot be empowered if she fails at the end of the story.
Yes, exactly. And here I was thinking empowering women was about treating women like *people* - but no, it always has to be girl power!11!1
is a hostility toward tragedy as a genre. Many people simply aren't used to it -- Hollywood has trained them to expect something very different, and so it's a foreign and disturbing thing.
This is what bothers me, frankly. I understand *not* enjoying tragedy as a genre, or preferring something more uplifting, as many people do. But the cries of 'this is so unrealistic!', 'this isn't the way it should happen!' points to a POV that I find rather disturbing. And I'm not sure if it's entirely Hollywood's fault (a lot of it is, yes. Hollywood and Disney).
Swatkat