Thursday, September 11, 2008

I Challenge You, K. Iris!!!!!!

From SF Signal's Mind Meld series via Pat's Fantasy Hotlist (where I came across it):

As a reader, can you enjoy a story that is pushing an opposed viewpoint from one that you hold (religion/politics)? If the author is prone to holding, and writing about, views opposed to yours, can you enjoy their works or do you stop reading them?

Respond at your convenience.

2 comments:

T said...

I actually can appreciate it. It helps me to strengthen my own argument. It's also helpful to know what others are thinking/what drives them/what motivates them. You never know when an opposing viewpoint will belong to a person in a position of power or worst yet a parent of a significant other (ICK!)

K.Iris said...

I would have to say it really depends on what the person is writing and the tone as well as what their actual viewpoint is in real life. You don't have to believe everything you write especially if it's fiction. Fiction allows you to explore life where you may not in reality.

To be honest if the viewpoint is based of ignorance and not intelligent exploration of whatever the subject I am less likely to enjoy it because ignorance is so obvious and infuriating at times, even when it's for a viewpoint I myself agree with.

I can appreciate intelligence and opinion but that doesn't mean I will always enjoy it. I am less concerned with encouraging a viewpoint different from my own (people have all kinds of viewpoints). My concern is encouraging a viewpoint that can lead to other people being hurt. For example writing a story that condones and encourages people to abuse women, or gay people, or people of a certain religion just for those reasons alone, is not likely something I will ever enjoy.

Just because I read a story all the way through doesn't mean I enjoyed it. Just because I don't finish a story doesn't mean I disagreed with the viewpoint. It's all a toss up.

To be honest if I know an author has a viewpoint that I think encourages harm against other people and encourages that viewpoint through their writing I'm not likely to enjoy or continue to read more of that author's work because I wouldn't want to do something to encourage it.

It's like going to see one of those awful "Scary Movie" wannabes that are coming out in theaters in the last few years. People are obviously going to see them because someone keeps making new terrible spoofs. If people just stopped encouraging the creators by giving them money they might try making something with a little more quality. The more people who read and talk about your work the more people it has the potential to reach.

Like I said, I can appreciate intelligence, and different opinion, I can even enjoy the story if it's good and comes from a place of intelligence and not ignorance (unless the ignorance is pant-splitting hilarious). However I can't condone encouraging people to harm others nor would I enjoy a story that does so even if I did read it all the way through.