Progressive, yes?

[peppermintyrose]

I dropped in today on a movie review on the latest Harry Potter - which was released today around the world. Before I was obsessed about SVM, I used to be obsessed about HP. Unfortunately, contrary to JKR's assertions that you could figure out the ending from the books that preceded it, I did not consider she would introduce a whole new mythology

Comments

[elbly]

But don't you understand? Everything must be perfect! If the character has to change than that suggests that we have to change, and we don't like change! Change scares us! It's frightening and unpredictable and we'd have to make an effort and OH YOU'RE BEING SO MEAN!

*removes tongue from cheek before she accidentally bites it off*

[peppermintyrose]

*pats her artificially distraught elbly* I suppose I *shouldn't* comfort you with "Everything dies". :D

[elbly]

*panics* No! You can't kill characters off. That's just nasty. We don't like sadness.

[peppermintyrose]

Not just characters die. ;)

[thyradane]

I suppose it`s like a relationship. What you want is the light, flirtatious fluffiness where your heart beats a little faster whenever you look at him and you get plenty of sex and a bed full of orgasms.

What you need is someone who sticks with you when the shit of unemployment, car crashes, grumpiness, miscarriages, no money, bad health, burglaries, obnoxious kids, natural catastrophes etc - not to mention old age - hits the fan. Oh, and plenty of sex and a bed full of orgasms.

I like books that take the main characters through a mental voyage too. Especially if it`s a credible one (well, as credible as it can be when we`re dealing with vamps and weres :-D)

[peppermintyrose]

I dunno that I'd like returning to the light, fluffy stage. I like that I have in-jokes and such. :D

That's exactly what you want though - and what you need - to have someone who'll be with you through it all.

I like that as well. It would feel empty if Sookie gets tortured in one book, and next book, she's all gushing over Eric and frolicking around Northern Louisiana.

[thyradane]

Oh, I meant when you're young, free and single and think relationships are all about being in love and nothing about building something together.

[peppermintyrose]

I don't know if I had too much sketched out at that stage. I never considered the question of whether I'd have kids or get married. I just realised what a freak I was when my 15 year old son was making decisions on that front. :D

[anonymous]

Ha! This sounds like the complaints my mother always has about borrowing books off me. Trouble was that everything I was reading was post-colonial literature (everyone is oppressed by the lingering traces of Imperialism), or, say, Australian and NZ Women's fiction (everyone is oppressed by the patriarchy). There wasn't a lot of happiness going around in those books

[peppermintyrose]

I tend to read things that don't have a lot of happiness in them either - I love splatter horror which is often one long trainwreck of badness.

A few people have said it - why can't things go back to how they were. As if the torturings and killings didn't happen. I've read a few series now, and I have Game of Thrones cued up to go. The series comes to cable this Sunday, so I'll be watching it.

Oh, it would be terrible if she did that. Sookie meeting and dating a new vampire or were or whatever. It'd be like reading the Hardy Boys, but with a girl who dates weirdos.

[anonymous]

Yeah, I'm not so good with splatter horror. At least not on film. And I always prefer fiction to non-fiction so I know it's all pretend and it doesn't keep me awake at night.

I enjoyed Game of Thrones, even without having read the books. And there was so much happiness last night as hubby's Kindle version of the new book was available so he's given up sleeping for the next little while.

I had a fondness for Trixie Belden mysteries when I was very young. Sookie could have been the new Trixie. But I wonder how many murders Bon Temps could take before the population thinned too dramatically?
Ooshka

[peppermintyrose]

I work with the real stuff - so I'm not bothered by the fake stuff. It rarely looks as real as the real stuff. :D

I don't have time to read them right now, so I'll be waiting to do that - and watching the series first.

At least enough for 12 books. :D

Yes, Progressive

[anonymous]

Lol. I forced myself to save the first Harry Potter book to motivate me to get my ass in gear and finish my dissertation. He was the first book I curled up w/ afterwards. And compared to a few hours in front of my defense committee, he did, indeed, feel light and fluffy. ;) But, of course the books *do* get darker, too.

In any case, I see you’re getting me ready for a broken Bubba, aren’t you? What with the disrespect he experienced from his audience at the end of DR, no amount of cat blood will mend his broken spirit. He may *never* again don a bedazzled jumper (here, “jumper” refers to a one-piece suit, not a “sweater,” btw). ;)

It’s interesting, because as you’ve discussed before, plenty of other people are looking for a heavier response to the negative stuff. It’s a fine line to walk. JanineMNM

Re: Yes, Progressive

[peppermintyrose]

It was my thesis supervisor who got me into HP and fanfic. In exchange, I got her into cat macros. :D She recommended the books, and she did some sociological research into slash fiction and the power dynamic - which got me interested in the whole phenomenon. It fascinated me, because this is grass roots stuff.

Awww. Bubba will be okay - when he gets upset, he leaves, and comes back happy. Bill will take him for a nice long ride in a nice old car, and all will be well.

The lesson is that a writer can't ever hope to truly satisfy a big portion of readers. Not even readers who are devoted fans. They *will* find something to bitch about.

Re: Yes, Progressive

[elbly]

I'm going to have to ask...

Cat Macros? Huh?

Re: Yes, Progressive

[peppermintyrose]

Goddammit.

http://www.intarnet.us/graphics/cats/welcome_to_hell_bitches.jpg

[tigerjan110]

Ok, in reading the replies, you are the THIRD person I've heard mention Game of Thrones in the last day and a half. I have to watch it now.

Sometimes when I watch my friends who are in new relationships, I almost envy them the perfection and shiny newness of it all. And then I look at my husband and realize we've seen each other through terrible jobs, house problems, money problems, a heartbreaking miscarriage, family deaths, and the birth of twins. And he's STILL good in bed! I'm not the naive person I was when I met him when we were 20, but I'll take the deep, matured relationship we have now over that beginning, any day. :) I guess that reviewer would consider the last few years of my life to be "dark" in comparison with 10 years ago, but who doesn't want their life to change and grow...that would kind of defeat the purpose.

[peppermintyrose]

I've heard it is fabu - it's coming out here Sunday, so I haven't seen it yet. The ads look great though.

Lol - it's good he has some skills to put on his resume. :D I never envy the perfection - I suppose I see that they haven't found the good place to be in - the one with full knowledge of who and what you are. The ability to be yourself in front of someone else, as if you're alone in the room.

I think that life does generally get darker because of the experience of it - it's never all good. If you want to escape from that, you can't read series and hope that it'll give you that escape. It's not going to happen.

[tigerjan110]

You can't grow into an experienced person from just good happenings and not bad ones. In an imperfect world, it's just not possible, and even if it were, what kind of depth would that person have from only good events?! Not much. I'll take the crap that's happened in my life, because I've learned more from that than from the things that went swimmingly easy.

Few books will give the perfect, happy escape that so many readers seem to want. Hell, even The Very Hungry Caterpillar suffers, when he gets a stomachache. (Can you tell I have 2 3-year-olds...)

This is also an excellent time to say something inspiring about if it weren't for the dark parts of life, the light parts wouldn't seem so bright. See, now wasn't that bright and cheerful?! :P

[peppermintyrose]

They'd be a little silly wouldn't they? I don't think they'd be able to relate to the rest of us.

Lol - but he ends up in a good place. Mayhap the next time I see someone complaining, I might offer them that as their reading material. :D

I don't know that we'd appreciate how light they were. There was some research done on happiness - and they found that people were happiest when they weren't being totally fulfilled. Having oodles of money and no stress made people depressed.