Interesting debate

[gategrrl]

There's an interesting debate happening on John Scalzi's blog called What Authors Know About Their Characters. It was sparked off by JK Rowling's answer to a question about one of her characters, the now famous "Dumbledore is gay" answer. The main point in contention  seems to be, who is in control of the characters in a book - the author, or the readers? Who dictates the characters' realities? And what role does the reader play in the writer/reader collaboration?

I admit I tend toward Scalzi's point-of-view. I think the writer, whether the answer is there explicitly in the text or not, has the final say as to what a character is, or is not: what the character will be, or will not be. (I'm not including television in this - TV/movies are more of a collaborative effort in production) 

Letter number 2 takes a POV that I only semi agree with. Sure, when I read a book (any book) the mythos and characters and settings and wonderment of being in that author's mind become my own while I am reading; and even if I write fanfic, or read fanfic, or imagine my own adventures for those characters, they still aren't *mine*. They're the author's. The one who imagined it all up is the one who gets to say definitively what those characters are like. And a reader may change them however to suit them in their own imagination - but it's not going to ever be the way the original author/creator considered and "grew" them. 

Anyhow, opinions, anyone?

Comments

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that you should say 'they aren't *mine* to *own* because for me, in a way they are. They are mine in that, if I don't like the way the characters are being treated, I can stop reading the book and stop buying future books. I don't *buy* into the canon presented to me by the writer, both literally and figuratively. :)

But something to keep in mind for me is that, for canon to be established, I have to have at the VERY minimum enjoyed the first book to the point I want to read it a few times. There are some books that I read every year, at least once a year and have done so for many years :) Elfquest comes to mind, as an example. This is wholy and truly the work of Wendy & Richard Pini - and the characters are their children, as it were. EQ is my first fandom, before I even knew what the heck fandom was :) And anything and everything Wendy says about the characters I will take as fanon. *However* if she should so decide to, oh, I dunno...say kill off Leetah and pair Cutter up with a human that's her right to do so. *BUT* I also have the right to think she's lost her mind and not spend my time or money on future books :)

Think of it this way, that I won't tell a writer what to do, but I have expectations and the only way I can voice my 'opinion' is by not spending my time and $$ on whatever new stuff comes out if it doesn't meet those expecations. I did not read the Simarillion simply based on the fact that folks had reported that it was a bit 'out there' and seemed to retcon stuff that happened in the original books.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I think we're agreeing on the commercial aspect of "owning", as a fan.

Let me further define what I mean by "own" - the difference between the writer owning and a fan owning the characters the writer creates.

A writer truly *owns* the characters. They make up what the reader processes into their imagination. They *create* the characters, the situations, the opponents, the plot, the setting, and make it work so that the reader/fan is enchanted with it.

A reader/fan "owns" the characters, setting and situations much like a football or baseball fan feels they "own" their favorite sports team. The reader/fan might have *some* influence over the writer/creator, (yes, it does happen, see Rowling's responses to fandom in her last two books) but the fan generally has no influence on the creation of the characters beyond what they are given to read by the writer.

The fan may respond as you and I and countless others have, by not buying DVD sets, or books further along the series, or whatever, when the writer/creator disappoints with our vision of what should be done with their characters: but in the end, it's the Official version (usually) that wins out. That's what draws others to the same fandom.

Sorry, I'd love to continue, but I have to get to a Halloween Parade at my son's school - I can continue this later on! Bye! :::waves and runs:::