Christine from Patreon here. Re: Secret History - do you think Donna Tartt is aware of the ridiculousness, or was she playing it totally straight? Personally, I thought there were a lot of (intentionally) funny parts in the book where she was poking fun at how pretentious the characters were, while still taking the emotions seriously. It reminded me of Hannibal in that aspect. I was not aware of all this ~East Coast Liberal Arts College Drama~ though, heh (I went to public uni in the Midwest).
To be convinced The Secret History was meaningfully intentional about it being a joke, someone would need to send me evidence of Donna Tartt having a sense of humor in real life, as the image *I* have gotten of her, is not.
You bring up Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal as an example, which is a great creator comparison because Fuller ALSO frequently dresses like he’s cosplaying his own work, but there’s just this pervading sense of self-seriousness I get off this
that I do not get off.. this
I think I’d call the difference “a certain camp aplomb”