Between this and that, I'm fairly excited, to say the least, that one of Diana Wynne Jones' books (one of the few I haven't read, actually!), Howl's Moving Castle, is an anime film by none other than Studio Ghibli! One of my all-time dreams is to see my kind of fantasy being filmed (or animated!) for the big screen, and man... man, this is it. This is it.
Seriously, man, the concept that Howl's Moving Castle (the book) was a huge hit in Japan just tickles me greatly. Of course, most of the reviews I've seen so far really annoy me, especially this one by Hollywood Reporter, which (nearly) flat out says that we Americans are dumb and aren't likely to get it (and it's based on a bloody YA book, for crying out loud....) Apparently it possesses a complex plot and a lack of clear-cut 'good' and 'evil' which is likely to 'confuse children':
Critics will find much to write about, but general audiences might be confused by the complexity.
Aaargh. I want to like, chew on this person's ear in frustration (except something less embarrassing for myself, perhaps).
Suffice it to say, I had to really restrain myself not to go on a rant about just how very very much I hate simplified characterization [insert pissy tangent about idealized/fanonized characters here, and gratuitous insulting speculations as to why people need these perfect human beings in fiction and how much I think they should just get laid instead, in the process of which I somehow manage to equate Mary Sues and fanon!Draco], and how much I think so-called 'adults' routinely underestimate both children and themselves; but it is true that even though most people can, they don't like to think. Even I don't necessarily like actual difficult thinking, but to consider a YA fantasy story 'difficult thinking', no matter how complex its construction... it just... *sigh* I still can't wrap my mind around the idea that what's sheer entertainment & escapism for me is actual... er... challenging work(?!) for 'general audiences', whatever those are. Maybe that's solipsistic of me, but I really don't want to expect so little of people.
And then I found a board where finally someone appears to have read the book (quaint as the idea surely is), but hated it because they had to read it in school(??!) which... also sort of takes me aback. I really don't know what I think about them teaching things like Howl's Moving Castle in college (and of course LoTR and Harry Potter, both of which were in classes I've taken). The person said that being taught a book 'kills' it, and... well... I wonder; this is really about analysis (meta) destroying the base reading pleasure, isn't it? By 'being taught' they must've meant 'being made to analyze' or something like it. Personally, I've found that to some extent this is true-- at least, I've rarely come out of a class loving a book more than I had beforehand, though I keep being tempted to take classes with books I think I'd enjoy reading. Ahhh, it is a conundrum.
( And so we ponder. Yes, 'we'. )
Seriously, man, the concept that Howl's Moving Castle (the book) was a huge hit in Japan just tickles me greatly. Of course, most of the reviews I've seen so far really annoy me, especially this one by Hollywood Reporter, which (nearly) flat out says that we Americans are dumb and aren't likely to get it (and it's based on a bloody YA book, for crying out loud....) Apparently it possesses a complex plot and a lack of clear-cut 'good' and 'evil' which is likely to 'confuse children':
Critics will find much to write about, but general audiences might be confused by the complexity.
Aaargh. I want to like, chew on this person's ear in frustration (except something less embarrassing for myself, perhaps).
Suffice it to say, I had to really restrain myself not to go on a rant about just how very very much I hate simplified characterization [insert pissy tangent about idealized/fanonized characters here, and gratuitous insulting speculations as to why people need these perfect human beings in fiction and how much I think they should just get laid instead, in the process of which I somehow manage to equate Mary Sues and fanon!Draco], and how much I think so-called 'adults' routinely underestimate both children and themselves; but it is true that even though most people can, they don't like to think. Even I don't necessarily like actual difficult thinking, but to consider a YA fantasy story 'difficult thinking', no matter how complex its construction... it just... *sigh* I still can't wrap my mind around the idea that what's sheer entertainment & escapism for me is actual... er... challenging work(?!) for 'general audiences', whatever those are. Maybe that's solipsistic of me, but I really don't want to expect so little of people.
And then I found a board where finally someone appears to have read the book (quaint as the idea surely is), but hated it because they had to read it in school(??!) which... also sort of takes me aback. I really don't know what I think about them teaching things like Howl's Moving Castle in college (and of course LoTR and Harry Potter, both of which were in classes I've taken). The person said that being taught a book 'kills' it, and... well... I wonder; this is really about analysis (meta) destroying the base reading pleasure, isn't it? By 'being taught' they must've meant 'being made to analyze' or something like it. Personally, I've found that to some extent this is true-- at least, I've rarely come out of a class loving a book more than I had beforehand, though I keep being tempted to take classes with books I think I'd enjoy reading. Ahhh, it is a conundrum.
( And so we ponder. Yes, 'we'. )
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