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Mar. 13th, 2004 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaIt was watching an Akira music vid that did it this time.
I just remembered seeing this mini-review of that anime which kind of knocked it, saying there was basically nothing there, no -sense-, you know, no resolution. Something plot-related, I think was what the reviewer was looking for. I remember seeing Akira ages ago-- it was one of the first anime-- if not -the- first-- that I ever saw. I didn't love it, but I did see where it was going as a work; I saw what the reviewer was missing.
Thing is, it's a psychological study, and if you're looking for continuity and some sort of typical sci-fi progression, it's going to disappoint you, probably. But it has this... intensity, Akira does. It has a heart, and I respond to that.
This makes me think of the idea of an "ideal reader"-- that we're all writing for a certain kind of audience, and the further people are from that ideal, the more likely they're going to think it's crap. Not just incomprehensible or confusing-- usually, they'll just think it sucks. They'll blame the work or the artist rather than thinking that there's something missing in their own range of perception.
I fall into that trap a lot, actually, that's why realizing this seems reassuring to me. I get pretty upset-- even enraged-- at the various things I find stupid or pointless or overdone in fic. I'm very sensitive to what I find of both good and bad quality, so I probably get more emotional than most people would. If a fic seems senselessly dark or morbid, I feel as if it's a challenge to my whole world-view in some obscure way. Like it's a "wrong" that should be "righted", this alien world-view. I really believe that sometimes.
Mostly, as with everything, it's a question of quality. If the work is made with great talent, it's more likely to reach you even if you're not the ideal audience. And with a lessening of talent, maybe there's an inversely proportionate relationship where the less intrinsic kinship the audience possesses to start with, the more they'll be alienated by the material.
I have to believe that all those fics I think suck rotten goose eggs are also saying something that I just can't hear, to -somebody- out there. Similarly, the people who jeer at the popular fics they find pedestrian or whatever should consider that maybe all those fans are seeing something they're not; maybe they're even using entirely different criteria for judgement. Like with Akira-- you can tell it's saying something... and that probably means that there's people out there who want or need to hear it-- and also people who won't understand, or who'll actively resent it.
I'm not talking about opinions, or all opinions being valid or anything, because I don't believe that. I just keep noticing how much people dismiss what they don't understand as worthless-- me included. And it's kind of arresting to think that you can bet that in almost every one of those cases, there are people out there who -do- understand, to whom it might be a revelation. And I think with a work of high quality, like Akira, if you allow yourself to really listen, you can hear the voices speaking in an alien language you could slowly begin to understand.
I just remembered seeing this mini-review of that anime which kind of knocked it, saying there was basically nothing there, no -sense-, you know, no resolution. Something plot-related, I think was what the reviewer was looking for. I remember seeing Akira ages ago-- it was one of the first anime-- if not -the- first-- that I ever saw. I didn't love it, but I did see where it was going as a work; I saw what the reviewer was missing.
Thing is, it's a psychological study, and if you're looking for continuity and some sort of typical sci-fi progression, it's going to disappoint you, probably. But it has this... intensity, Akira does. It has a heart, and I respond to that.
This makes me think of the idea of an "ideal reader"-- that we're all writing for a certain kind of audience, and the further people are from that ideal, the more likely they're going to think it's crap. Not just incomprehensible or confusing-- usually, they'll just think it sucks. They'll blame the work or the artist rather than thinking that there's something missing in their own range of perception.
I fall into that trap a lot, actually, that's why realizing this seems reassuring to me. I get pretty upset-- even enraged-- at the various things I find stupid or pointless or overdone in fic. I'm very sensitive to what I find of both good and bad quality, so I probably get more emotional than most people would. If a fic seems senselessly dark or morbid, I feel as if it's a challenge to my whole world-view in some obscure way. Like it's a "wrong" that should be "righted", this alien world-view. I really believe that sometimes.
Mostly, as with everything, it's a question of quality. If the work is made with great talent, it's more likely to reach you even if you're not the ideal audience. And with a lessening of talent, maybe there's an inversely proportionate relationship where the less intrinsic kinship the audience possesses to start with, the more they'll be alienated by the material.
I have to believe that all those fics I think suck rotten goose eggs are also saying something that I just can't hear, to -somebody- out there. Similarly, the people who jeer at the popular fics they find pedestrian or whatever should consider that maybe all those fans are seeing something they're not; maybe they're even using entirely different criteria for judgement. Like with Akira-- you can tell it's saying something... and that probably means that there's people out there who want or need to hear it-- and also people who won't understand, or who'll actively resent it.
I'm not talking about opinions, or all opinions being valid or anything, because I don't believe that. I just keep noticing how much people dismiss what they don't understand as worthless-- me included. And it's kind of arresting to think that you can bet that in almost every one of those cases, there are people out there who -do- understand, to whom it might be a revelation. And I think with a work of high quality, like Akira, if you allow yourself to really listen, you can hear the voices speaking in an alien language you could slowly begin to understand.
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no subject
Date: 2004-03-13 03:29 pm (UTC)But there's this long tradition of cricicism - literary, art, music - that leads people to analyse a piece and attempt to say something useful or clever or significant about it. While I enjoy a well-written criticism, there are times I wish people would be more open to simply experiencing a piece - especially if it's something new or outside of one's typical venue.
Which is pretty much what you said. :-)