Enough already

[swatkat]

Haven't we had enough of R/S vs R/T wankage already?

I'm not sure why fandom insists on abusing the word subtext so much. No, subtext (which isn't always sexual in nature, contrary to popular opinion) doesn't have to be intended by the author. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's not. It always reminds me of the Isaac Asimov story, where he was told that by the professor that just because he hadn't intended it didn't mean it wasn't there.

Comments

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Did anything in particular prompt this? I haven't been keeping up.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

http://community.livejournal.com/hp_essays/168090.html

Subtext is subtext only when the author *intended* it to be. Wankage in the comment. Not big enough for f_w, but annoying all the same.

[sk56.livejournal.com]

Authors and artists are constantly including materials that they don't consciously (or perhaps even unconsciously, depending on your pov) intend. Marjane Satrapi, the author of the graphic novel Persepolis, was just in town and, in answer to a question about a couple of images in her book, said that she frequently has people point out motifs in her drawings that she didn't realize she'd included.

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Oh, for crying out loud.

*Bangs head slowly on keyboard*

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call any of that wankage (which to me implies an argument that devolves into name-calling and personal attacks), just a spirited exchange of opinion. Personally, I enjoy the debates.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

You're right - there's been no name-calling. It's just the inflexible attitude of some of the posters of both sides that annoys me. *g*

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

I went back today and reread this a little more slowly (my initial reaction, I confess, involved eyes glazing over), and what just *kills* me is the absolute and supremely self-confident certainty with which these pronouncements are being made. It's very "fundamentalist," in a way.

Hasn't literary analysis debunked that attitude *decades* ago? I mean, perhaps I'm an odd person, but I'm capable of believing that more than one interpretation can often be plausible. Why is this apparently anathema in HP fandom?

[froda-baggins.livejournal.com]

I, too, am heartily sick of the whole argument. Seriously, people, let it rest. Ship who you want, and don't go picking fights. Fandom never seems to learn.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Hasn't literary analysis debunked that attitude *decades* ago?

Well, I thought they did, but what do I know? HP fandom is so much smarter than I am. [/sarcasm]

'Fundamentalism' is the perfect word for this kind of attitude.