read-a-fucking-book:

blackjackgabbiani:

read-a-fucking-book:

I don’t want people who read my blog to think that in all my arguments im saying that fiction doesn’t matter. It does. Popular fiction and even smaller works have a huge effect on people. My argument isn’t that fiction means nothing. My argument is that the effect it has is less brainwashing and more thought provoking.

The reason i think people interpret what i say as “fiction doesn’t matter” is that on tumblr, because this site is mostly young people who are just beginning to learn about themselves and being introduced to a lot of complicated and ambiguous things for the first time, a lot of people just kind of accept what’s presented to them. Its a lot of peoples first experience with thinking about morality so the idea of having someone telling you what’s right so you have a stronger jumping off point is attractive.

I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of the big fandoms on tumblr are for children’s shows. And this isn’t me looking down on kids tv, it can be really good and interesting and start some really cool conversations. And its fun. Its just that kids tv tends to have a strong, blunt, and uncomplicated moral message without a lot of nuance becuse, well, its for kids. So when that’s the majority of what you consume, seeing things presented more ambiguously without an announced “correct” view point, it can feel like its advocating for something you think is wrong.

Children’s media tells you in no uncertain terms who the bad guy is and what’s the right thing to do. So if a story doesn’t announce to the reader whether or not something or someone is wrong or bad it comparatively feels like endorsement of the bad thing because your frame of reference is more simplistic tv meant for kids. But it shouldn’t be telling you what’s wrong and what’s right. That takes away a big part of what makes the story interesting. It allows you to look at a very intricate and nuanced situation and figure out what you think is right. Kids media is very black and white, so when you see gray it looks like black.

So reading “gray” fiction can expose you to ideas or specific situations that you wouldn’t have thought of and lets you see how your own morals fit over it. And sometimes your morals don’t fit and that can make you rethink right and wrong. Which is a huge effect for fiction to have on a person. So when antis say “fiction affects reality” they think reading something that doesn’t match you morals will make you abandon them and accept the morality that fits the story, but the affect it more often has is taking a closer look at yourself and adjusting your morals based on new thoughts. Which is good.

I think a lot of children’s programming is getting away from that. Grey antagonists are becoming more popular, as are grey protagonists (Batman is a perpetual favorite). Critical thinking skills are developed with these things.

Yeah, it is becoming a bit more like that. But in the end there is usually a correct choice presented for the protagonist or a way for them to avoid the situation.