100 Quotes That Caught My Eye: #2
Ok, I'm not done with the intelligent stuff yet. So sue me. Today comes a quote I've actually hanged on my wall, because sometimes I have this desire to shove it down some people's throats.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all. The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. (...) No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Lol, now I realized it sounds all wrong, coming from a feminist ;). But bear with me.
I often think of that quote when I see people responding to fiction with moral judgement. I like this character because he's a good person. I can't like this character because he's a terrible person. I like this character, therefore I'm gonna prove he's not a terrible person at all. And I don't get it. I don't get judging fictional characters as if they were people*. I do understand criticizing framing when it's morally/socially questionable -- that's a completely different thing. But the characters themselves? What does it matter what kind of people they are? Characters are well-written or badly written. That is all. Really, it's totally okay to love a worthless piece of scum, as long as they're well-written.
*Just to be clear: I do understand that people are triggered by many different things, and that something might be a dealbreaker for someone, regardless of how well the character is written. What I don't get is judging fictional characters by exactly the same criteria we use to judge real people.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all. The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. (...) No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Lol, now I realized it sounds all wrong, coming from a feminist ;). But bear with me.
I often think of that quote when I see people responding to fiction with moral judgement. I like this character because he's a good person. I can't like this character because he's a terrible person. I like this character, therefore I'm gonna prove he's not a terrible person at all. And I don't get it. I don't get judging fictional characters as if they were people*. I do understand criticizing framing when it's morally/socially questionable -- that's a completely different thing. But the characters themselves? What does it matter what kind of people they are? Characters are well-written or badly written. That is all. Really, it's totally okay to love a worthless piece of scum, as long as they're well-written.
*Just to be clear: I do understand that people are triggered by many different things, and that something might be a dealbreaker for someone, regardless of how well the character is written. What I don't get is judging fictional characters by exactly the same criteria we use to judge real people.