Patrick wrote:
"I'm speaking, for the most part, about so-called escapist
entertainment. . . . 'We' may be discerning reader, able to
analyze and examine the bigger picture behind stories
designed for entertainment. But the people who make these
books and films the huge successes they become tend not to
think beyond their own sloping roofs."
Damn, a little elitist, eh? I refuse to believe that modern
readers of escapist literature are not "discerning readers."
And many of the classics in our genre are the escapist
literature of their day -- Gold Medal, anyone? Regardless of
the level of "discernment," no readers seek out books they
expect to dislike. Readers of bestsellers may not discern in
regard to the same elements niche readers do, but they are
just as picky and sure of their reasoning as anyone else. And
if it were so easy to satisfy that audience, why don't more
writers do it? And why do so many who try to "sell out," as
it is so often dismissed, fail?
On top of that, I refuse to believe that I get something
qualitatively different out of a crime thriller than a less
"discerning reader."
"If you want to sell millions of copies, it's better to let
the reader fill in the more controversial aspects of a
protagonist's life."
Where does this presumption of religion's being controversial
come from? US culture is so steeped in religion, not just the
morals, but the stories and symbolism of the Bible, that I
can't see how an author could avoid it, either in the
positive (as Jim has noted) or negative (as in one of John
Evans's "Halo" books -- being cryptic to avoid a spoiler --
among many others).
And there's a huge difference between saying an author didn't
care enough about his/her character's religion to focus on it
and saying that that author actively avoided focusing on
religion. I'd even go so far as to say that one reason a
character's religion was not often underlined in crime novels
of the first two-thirds of the century was because it was so
assumed by authors and audience that "everyone" was Christian
that it didn't require mentioning. Not mentioning the heroes
were white during that period certaining didn't mean authors
were avoiding race, just that it never occured to them that
readers would think otherwise.
You're right that the influence of the Catholic Church on our
popular culture, particularly film (from the Legion of
Decency to Joe Breen's enforcement of the Production Code),
but it certainly didn't influence against religion. In fact,
it insisted upon a moral outcome based on Judeo-Christian
precepts. As for the visibility of religion, not just its
morals, Jim has already pointed out the huge population of
priests and nuns in movies.
Mark
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 10 Dec 2006 EST