(no subject)
This is a discussion I've had before with my mother and we ended up debating it again yesterday. I find it pretty interesting and I'm wondering what other people think.
When it comes to a book or a series of books, my mom is of the opinion that "if it isn't in the book it didn't happen." Meaning that if the author later says something (such as J.K. Rowling's reveal that Dumbledore is gay) or posts online (such as Stephenie Meyer's outtakes, extra scenes, and assorted other information on her website and elsewhere) that's not "officially" part of the storyline. She says that anything that's not specifically in the book, or in one of the books if we're talking about a series, is left up to the reader's interpretation. Dumbledore is the biggest example I can think of. Stephenie Meyer has said a lot of stuff about the Twilight series that I find interesting but there's not much that really changes the way you view the books or anything.
To me it seems ridiculous to not accept this stuff. J.K. Rowling has created an entire world and fleshed out every tiny little detail of it. I feel like the world created by any book, and especially by a series, extends way beyond the scope of the book itself. If you think about everything we know about her wizarding world and the way it operates, everything is very well thought out. There's nothing that contradicts anything else or anything. So to me the only logical way to view it is as an entire fictional world where we read books telling stories of that world. Those stories don't define that world any more than a story that's perfectly realistic defines the real world. And since J.K. Rowling created that world (or since Steph Meyer created hers, or anybody else) she's the authority on it. Whether it's in a book, mentioned in an interview, posted online - doesn't make a difference to me.
Interestingly, my mom will consider any of this stuff "official" if it's published in another book or anything, and not necessarily even another "story" book. So if J.K. Rowling writes a HP Encyclopedia like she's mentioned, and in that encyclopedia Dumbledore is said to be gay, then he's "officially" gay. My mom also mentioned that she'll consider anything in the Twilight movie to be official, and that really perplexes me. If Stephenie Meyer posts deleted scenes from the books on her website that somehow doesn't count, but when somebody else changes scenes and writes new scenes for the movie, that does? We know there are scenes in the movie that weren't in the books, which are therefore written by Melissa Rosenburg and NOT Steph Meyer, so I don't understand how that can be official when stuff Steph does write isn't. Especially considering how poorly movies in general tend to interpret books. We heard about a scene in the Twilight movie where Edward is running on treetops. Edward Cullen may be pretty awesome, but he is not Superman. He does not fly and he does not run on treetops. But if it's in the movie, does that mean he officially can now? To me it seems like that's one step away from taking every fanfic written as canon.
I don't understand the distinction my mom draws between what she's willing to accept and what she isn't. She says the books or movies are a more lasting form whereas if something is posted online it could be changed the next day. I suppose this is true, but I can't imagine an author changing that sort of thing in any way that contradicts itself. If Stephenie Meyer redesigns her website in the future and some of this stuff isn't there, that doesn't mean the information is no longer true, so I don't see that as an issue. And I don't think she would change the information at all, like "okay I said Edward's middle name was Anthony but I decided it's really Aloysius." Even if she DID decide to change something, it's her world, her characters, her stories, so I would consider it her right to change anything. But again, I think that's a non-issue because it wouldn't happen.
My mom has said that she's talked to other people who agree with her about this. I know she's mentioned a few coworkers that feel the same way. I'm wondering if it may be sort of a generation gap due to the prevalence of the internet. Our generation pretty much grew up with the internet, so we're used to having something beyond the books to turn to. There's always a website full of information, there's interviews with the creators where they might divulge something, and a lot of times there's other extra stuff. A TV show is a bit different from a book, but tons of shows now have blogs or diaries from the characters online, extra videos available, or other stuff too. We're used to there being an entire world constructed by each book we read and each movie or TV we watch. Since the internet is so crucial to this, I suspect that may be part of the reason my mom and her coworkers only want to accept what's in the books - they're not used to having too much else apart from fan speculation. They also don't necessarily take the web as seriously as we do - we live in a world where every band, actor, politician, author, and anyone else you can think of has their own Facebook, MySpace, blog, and who knows what else. These things that used to be personal pages now become very official and we stop drawing lines between what qualifies as official.
It's not totally a generational thing; my mom has also said that she's talked to students who agree with her, so there's a large heaping of personal preference involved. What do any of you think - if an author gives extra information about the worlds created by their books outside of the pages themselves, does that still count? Is Dumbledore really gay?
When it comes to a book or a series of books, my mom is of the opinion that "if it isn't in the book it didn't happen." Meaning that if the author later says something (such as J.K. Rowling's reveal that Dumbledore is gay) or posts online (such as Stephenie Meyer's outtakes, extra scenes, and assorted other information on her website and elsewhere) that's not "officially" part of the storyline. She says that anything that's not specifically in the book, or in one of the books if we're talking about a series, is left up to the reader's interpretation. Dumbledore is the biggest example I can think of. Stephenie Meyer has said a lot of stuff about the Twilight series that I find interesting but there's not much that really changes the way you view the books or anything.
To me it seems ridiculous to not accept this stuff. J.K. Rowling has created an entire world and fleshed out every tiny little detail of it. I feel like the world created by any book, and especially by a series, extends way beyond the scope of the book itself. If you think about everything we know about her wizarding world and the way it operates, everything is very well thought out. There's nothing that contradicts anything else or anything. So to me the only logical way to view it is as an entire fictional world where we read books telling stories of that world. Those stories don't define that world any more than a story that's perfectly realistic defines the real world. And since J.K. Rowling created that world (or since Steph Meyer created hers, or anybody else) she's the authority on it. Whether it's in a book, mentioned in an interview, posted online - doesn't make a difference to me.
Interestingly, my mom will consider any of this stuff "official" if it's published in another book or anything, and not necessarily even another "story" book. So if J.K. Rowling writes a HP Encyclopedia like she's mentioned, and in that encyclopedia Dumbledore is said to be gay, then he's "officially" gay. My mom also mentioned that she'll consider anything in the Twilight movie to be official, and that really perplexes me. If Stephenie Meyer posts deleted scenes from the books on her website that somehow doesn't count, but when somebody else changes scenes and writes new scenes for the movie, that does? We know there are scenes in the movie that weren't in the books, which are therefore written by Melissa Rosenburg and NOT Steph Meyer, so I don't understand how that can be official when stuff Steph does write isn't. Especially considering how poorly movies in general tend to interpret books. We heard about a scene in the Twilight movie where Edward is running on treetops. Edward Cullen may be pretty awesome, but he is not Superman. He does not fly and he does not run on treetops. But if it's in the movie, does that mean he officially can now? To me it seems like that's one step away from taking every fanfic written as canon.
I don't understand the distinction my mom draws between what she's willing to accept and what she isn't. She says the books or movies are a more lasting form whereas if something is posted online it could be changed the next day. I suppose this is true, but I can't imagine an author changing that sort of thing in any way that contradicts itself. If Stephenie Meyer redesigns her website in the future and some of this stuff isn't there, that doesn't mean the information is no longer true, so I don't see that as an issue. And I don't think she would change the information at all, like "okay I said Edward's middle name was Anthony but I decided it's really Aloysius." Even if she DID decide to change something, it's her world, her characters, her stories, so I would consider it her right to change anything. But again, I think that's a non-issue because it wouldn't happen.
My mom has said that she's talked to other people who agree with her about this. I know she's mentioned a few coworkers that feel the same way. I'm wondering if it may be sort of a generation gap due to the prevalence of the internet. Our generation pretty much grew up with the internet, so we're used to having something beyond the books to turn to. There's always a website full of information, there's interviews with the creators where they might divulge something, and a lot of times there's other extra stuff. A TV show is a bit different from a book, but tons of shows now have blogs or diaries from the characters online, extra videos available, or other stuff too. We're used to there being an entire world constructed by each book we read and each movie or TV we watch. Since the internet is so crucial to this, I suspect that may be part of the reason my mom and her coworkers only want to accept what's in the books - they're not used to having too much else apart from fan speculation. They also don't necessarily take the web as seriously as we do - we live in a world where every band, actor, politician, author, and anyone else you can think of has their own Facebook, MySpace, blog, and who knows what else. These things that used to be personal pages now become very official and we stop drawing lines between what qualifies as official.
It's not totally a generational thing; my mom has also said that she's talked to students who agree with her, so there's a large heaping of personal preference involved. What do any of you think - if an author gives extra information about the worlds created by their books outside of the pages themselves, does that still count? Is Dumbledore really gay?