"My response is part in jest and part serious. An author can
paint a pretty creepy protagonist and make a damn good book
out of it. Personally, I'd gag if all the protagonists passed
the politically correct test with flying colors. On the other
hand, when the reader starts thinking that the bad in the
protagonist is echoing those of the writer, it's time to toss
the propaganda penalty flag."
miker, you raise some interesting questions here. Personally,
I love some books about some pretty creepy characters.
However, I don't think your comparison between Lou Ford and
Travis McGee completely works for this point. Thompson is
offering up an intimate portrait of a creepy character. He
may not judge him, but I don't think he presents him as a
hero. McGee is offered as a hero, tarnished perhaps, but
definitely a hero.
Kind of related to this, I recognise the sexism (but not
misogyny) of McGee. I think it's kind of quaint and always
kind of smiled at it as tied to its time. However, how do
female readers take it? I've found Travis to be very popular
with women I have known. Most of the mysteries my ex-wife
read were those of Ruth Rendell (under both her names) and PD
James. However, she went through the McGee series book by
book, reading each right after I did. She loved them. I've
known a number of other women who do, too. So what makes this
sexist curmudgeon appealing to women?
And I agree with you, miker, that the genre would be very
boring if everyone had to pass a political litmus test. You
add an interesting point, though, about the separation
between author and character. That captures why I can no
longer read James Ellroy. I can no longer separate the views
of his characters from his own. While I started out loving
Ellroy for his blurred morality, where no one is pure, for
good or for evil, I have come to see a uniformity in the
prejudices and biases that transcends individual characters
and seems to reflect the author. I've also come to believe
that that is why he stayed in the past once he started
writing there, so he can indulge his nostalgia for a time
when members of various groups knew their places and were
beaten back into them if they dared try to break out.
Further, if he is called on it he can shrug his shoulders and
claim that those were prejudices of the time, not the
author.
Mark
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