Game of Moans

Apparently many persons are not going to watch Game of Thrones any more because the rape of Sansa Stark was a "rape too far".  I'm intrigued by the idea of a "rape too far" - is that not a single rape?  Are we now hierarchizing sexual violence for entertainment purposes?  Is the rape of minor characters less important to our understanding of the crime or our support of the victim?

It seems that seeing a major character's violation is worse than the multiple gang rapes that took place earlier in the series.  I have to reference Tiger Beatdown here, because her objections to the ideology of the show are largely what I take issue with.  Her argument is that GRR Martin is "creepy".  And my argument is, so what?

The violation of a major character would clearly be more effective a representation of rape than that of a minor character - the audience is more shocked by it, particularly as this one is not technically a rape; Sansa is married to its perpetrator and - however manipulated - she has given her permission to that marriage; in an age or culture where marital rape does not exist, this is a done deal.  People don't want to see what women's lives were like - are still like, in much of the world - if it's too icky.  I wonder if they would feel comfortable suggesting that the representation of slavery or of violence towards Jewish people in the second world war should not be permitted on screen.

Ah, but only when the author's intentions are serious.  When did entertainment stop being serious?  Greek tragedy dealt with the noble and their tribulations not just so the commoners could point at them, but so they could purge their feelings in those of their Kings.  This was drama akin to religious experience;  Game of Thrones offers a similar - though admittedly more gory - dramatic trajectory, presumably so we can enjoy a similar dose of catharsis.

As for the art required to engage an audience - Brideshead Revisited is a biliously unctuous book, so thick with snobbery and sucking up that the religious themes are hard to pick out - but Waugh's deeper lore - the love of the rambling sentences that evoke loss - have remained with me all my life.  In Lolita, the deep horror that lies at the heart of the novel is underscored by the contrast of the singing beauty of the prose; just because art deals with vileness does not mean it should not exist. When you look away, don't you deny?  How will we deal with what we refuse to see?

It is a trope of much trash tv that Really Bad Things do not happen to major characters - they do not die, they are not mutilated or violated.  The skilful inversion of this trope is what first Joss Whedon and now GoT have made work for them, because it is daring and artistically difficult; you have to be able to get the audience to really really care before you injure a character, and if you wish to kill one, you have to have enough other relationships or stories of real emotional investment to keep the audience hooked.  This many dramas cannot do, because they are made by mountebanks who do not know their craft.  To condemn drama that succeeds is more reactionary than the questionable ideology of said drama.  It exposes only the negativity of the viewer, and to suggest a moral superiority by refusing to engage is childish at best.  

Is there a debate to be had about the ways art interacts with culture and whether it endorses and reinforces the ideology it reflects?  Indubitably.  But this doesn't seem to me to be it.

As fan fiction tags say - don't like, don't read.  But if you want to contribute to culture, stop whingeing about somebody else's contribution and make your own.

A Glimpse of Something Gorgeous

So what with all the time hanging out in hospital I have become a fan of fanfic.  Yeah. What I like about it is that it's kind of the opposite of writing - and by extension reading.

Because fan fiction starts from a common, "canon" idea, which is not the same as most writing.  Usually your attitude as a reader is "I've paid for this, I don't know what you're on about, impress me."  With fanfic, it's "ok I picked this but you did it for fun, I'm doing it for fun, we both know what the rules are, let's go".  More like dating than an arranged marriage.  Much less room for recrimination.

Also, the vast majority of fanfic is about "shipping" - i.e. relationships you jolly well wished had happened in the book/film/tv series BUT SOMEHOW DIDN'T.  You will be thrilled to know that in various fanfic universes, Sherlock Holmes is going out with Molly, not realising he's in love with Molly, or married to Molly with children (idk how.  I think those stories must be wildly OOC.   Snobbish sniff).  In the more likely universes, he is with John.  It is possible that somewhere he is alone, solving mysteries, but usually he isn't.

I adore the fact that fanfic world is a chandelier reflection of the fiction that it sprang from; anybody can do anything - can wake up in a world where they are a graffiti artist instead of a lost princess, or a hockey player instead of a salesperson.  Thought you got married at the end of the film, babe?  Guess again.

What's fun about it is that it can be wholly without proper story, or bizarrely accurately detailed - you can always spot the people who are writing from their own experience of the navy or military or European history degrees - that it can be a one-off, or a multi-chapter fic which offers the pleasure of weekly updates - and the corresponding pleasure of cliff-hangers.  There aren't actually very many places you can get that.  And with fanfic it's thrillingly secret; sometimes somebody gets well known, but usually - it's just you and the fan base.  All twenty seven of them.

You can also leave hopeful hints for what you hope will happen next, because that's part of the culture - read and review.

The weaknesses are that some stories are awful, and many are pretty derivative; you can draw the comfort of familiarity from this or you can go and find something else.  There's plenty.  A worse conundrum is that PEOPLE DON'T FINISH.  Or update slowly, or irregularly.  This is the biggest annoyance.

The only defence of paying for reading matter is that it is - well, it should be - better.  The weakness here is that my reading this summer has included We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (unattractive first person narrator),  After the Fall (worthy - all right in a glum sort of way), Sunshine (Robin McKinley - info dumping, emotionally shallow) and Queen of the Damned (oh my LIFE would it ever finish?)  I'm really looking for something to read.  David Mitchell and Marian Keyes have new novels out in the autumn; it's a long wait.