You know I feel like this post just gave me an epiphany for what is wrong with how Tumblr Fandom/Internet Fandom responds to media-or not *wrong* but makes it very hard to respond to anything but a morally correct, and heroic protagonist.Â
When an English teacher, or reader, taught or picked up 1984, it wasnât with the intention they were going to love the protagonist. They picked it up with the intention of reading a whole story and trying to grasp the theme or catharsis from the story. If the protagonist was a *shitty* person it played into the the themes or the story, because it wasnât about morally judging the book or *liking* or feeling attachment to the protagonist. Sometimes and often times, books were just about gaining another perspective.Â
No one read Lolita expecting to endear, or like, or be inspired by Humbert. You are supposed to be upset by his behavior, you donât read Lolita with the intention of being inspired. You read it to learn more about what the fuck is going on inside someoneâs head when they behave like that. How children get sucked into abusive situations. Or read âThe Great Gatsbyâ not because they want to fall in love with Gatsby or Nick, but to better understand and analyze the experience of the 1920s or destitution of the American Dream.Â
A lot of internet and fandom culture has changed that though. When we say something like âI love the Great Gatsbyâ it comes with the idea or association that means you must *love* or relate to one of the characters. And maybe you do, but the first assumption is not longer about the quality of the work or themes, or cathartic impact-itâs about character admiration. And with that character admiration, in tumblr stan culture, or kin culture, or exalting characters with fanart/romance/so on you donât just âadmireâ or find that character âcompellingâ it now translates to âyou LOVE that characterâ or you âDIRECTLY relate to that character.âÂ
You canât say âI love how Humbert is written, itâs so fascinating and darkâ, without it directly translating you somehow relate to a child abuser or condone his actions. Taking in media has become an act of worship and connection. We no longer watch meant to just see the story as a whole, we watch expecting to connect to a character and if we offer them our âworshipâ as itâs become, as opposed to just attention or interest study as it traditionally was, it means we are condoning the character or saying we directly empathize with all their actions.Â
I think thatâs why there is often now so much fuss over *toxic* characters or not. Or whether that classical novel is showing good or bad things anymore. Weâre treating the characters as people we should love or want to draw or write about. Sometimes a story is just about getting the the theme or catharsis or learning another perspective. We donât NEED to like the character. Or we donât HAVE to like a character to be impressed by how theyâre written or intrigued by their behavior.Â
I think if internet culture could learn to view stories as small insights into other lives or single takes of one perspective instead of purposeful moral inspirations weâd be a lot less worried about how toxic or not toxic they are.Â
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