#serial fictions

[chowleen]

via @saladinahmed on Twitter: “Check out the options for male vs. female actors in this GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 casting call. ht @AltheaKontis”

[chowleen]

#bootlegsuperheroes

[cerealfictions]

Serial Project Finale: Reflections and Confessions

Rather than blog again about Luther (which I did finish watching, even though I was lousy at blogging about it), I want to take a step back and simply discuss what serialization meant to me, and how I choose/prefer to consume fiction.

Over the semester, I attempted (quite pathetically) to watch a completed show (i.e. Luther) in a serial manner, 1 episode per week. Needless to say, I failed after episode 3 (or rather, I ended up marathoning episodes 4-6 in one sitting, and completed seasons 2 & 3 while flying to and from San Diego during a med school revisit weekend). Long story short: I'm not very good at consuming fiction in a serial fashion. At least, not Western television shows. Perhaps, I should clarify.

At the start of this academic year, Luther was one of many "live action" Western television shows I started watching. Others included Elementary, the Mindy Project, BBC's Sherlock, and Scrubs (although, I was for the most part marathoning this series as well). With the exception of Sherlock (which probably succeeded only because there were three episodes in each season), I failed to finish watching any of these shows in a serial fashion. I ended up marathoning Luther and Scrubs (not even to completion), and I gave up following the Mindy Project and Elementary. It wasn't that the stories were bad, or the plots were boring; but in a way, the thrill of watching these shows wore off.

I was actually surprised by my own growing disinterest in these television shows. I always considered myself to be fairly good at following a series, in large part because I have been successfully following serial fictions in the form of anime and manga for several years now. Every "season," I pick up 8-10 shows of anime to follow to completion (although, I tend to drop 2-4 shows each season out of growing disinterest). I don't know what it is about anime and manga, but I find these stories far more interesting and compelling (even though they are as cliche-ridden as any other form of serialized televised media).

Perhaps, the reason I enjoy these more is because of the length of the episodes, which averages to 24 minutes, as opposed to the ~45 minute episodes of most Western programming. In an hour, I can easily consume three episodes of anime, whereas I may get through an episode and a half for Western shows. In a sense, I felt like Western shows had less bang for the buck. Anime is something I can quickly start and finish in the window of time between classes; Western serial fictions are not as easy to consume. There is usually more plot explored per episode of Western television compared to anime (in which an arc is explored over several episodes), which means that Western shows also required a greater mental investment for me to enjoy it. Additionally, the big draw for me towards anime is knowing that the series will end. Western shows (especially U.S. shows) are always attempting to get multiple seasons of a show, which means that there is no telling when the plot will end. And if a particular show gets axed early, then the ending is usually an unsatisfying haphazard resolution of the plot. With anime, where a typical season is either 12 or 26 episodes long, there is a level of certainty that a plot will be explored in its entirety within a set time frame. Even with shows that get aired for multiple seasons, usually each subsequent season is a "sequel" to the original plot, with new goals and story, as opposed to a continuation of a previously established plot (this is even true of long term cash-cow shows such as Bleach, where each subsequent season presents new characters and new dilemmas).

This season, I failed to serially watch 4 different Western television shows. I did succeed in watching seven different anime. Perhaps, for the purpose of consuming serial fictions, I should stick with what I follow best.

[cerealfictions]

Google Doc Guys!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18_CzTKSnctUrpgOGNWRvL2ZVQbtUeAjUs5wscxI2_z0/edit?usp=sharing

[dailybowlofserial]

Henry Jenkins updating his thoughts on Transmedia 101.

[cerealfictions]

Speaking of dressing Disney... http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/this-4-year-old-and-her-mom-make-incredible-paper-versions-o?bffb

[cerealfictions]

Todorov's Classification of Detective Fiction

This week’s reading talks about detective fiction as a genre. Or rather, detective fiction as being composed of three genres: whodunit, thriller and suspense.

The story of the whodunit fiction is one that encompasses two plots that are separated by a good deal of time. The first plot is that of the crime, while the second plot is the act of the detective playing a game of Clue (Colonel Mustard, in the Billiard Room, with a Candlestick). To present these two stories simultaneously, the investigation story must deconstruct the crime story and provide bits and pieces of it across the piece of fiction so that at the end, the reader has one fluid story about how the crime was solved, and another story that, although initially in shambles, eventually is put together by the “brilliant” mind of the detective. Todorov describes the crime story as being “real but absent” while the investigation story as “present but insignificant,” since nobody really cares about how the crime was solved, but rather who committed the crime in the first place.

Then we get into Thriller Fiction, a subclass of detective fiction that falls separate from whodunit type mystery novels. Thriller novels care less about the crime story and more about the investigation story. Additionally, it is the act of investigation that drives the action. Detectives in the thriller up for bodily harm and the threat of death hangs close. This form of detective fiction is spectacularly characterized by violence – violent crime, violent passion, threat of violence upon both the victim and the detective! As for the mystery, it is but a key to Pandora’s box of vile violence that is to follow.

Then there is the third and (as far as this reading goes) final form – the Suspense novel, which aggregates aspects of both whodunit novels and thriller novels. Again, there are two stories at hand: the mystery of the crime, and the story of investigation. However, this latter component is not merely a literary tool to explain what happened in the crime. The investigation plot is as rooted in danger as the victim in the original criminal story, and as with the thriller novel, the detectives are placed in a dangerous situation as they attempt to divine the history of the crime.

I would happen to argue that perhaps most of our “modern” detective fiction falls into this last category. In police dramas, the whole point of the investigation is not only to find out what happened, but also to apprehend the criminal – who may very well still be criminally-inclined against the detectives of the story. Police dramas may even go so far as to add a layer of complication, as well, by throwing in the legal side of criminal investigation – what is acceptable evidence in the court of law? It is not enough to know that A killed B; the detective must also show that A killed B beyond a reasonable doubt. And as long as this has not been proven in a legally acceptable form, A is very much free to escape unscathed. A couple weeks ago, I reviewed the first episode of the British crime drama Luther where this exact scenario happened. We are told of a crime’s occurrence. We are asked to find the killer – and midway through the episode, we successfully accomplish this. But the evidence is simply not evident; and when the murderer is a sociopath, trying to get a hand on evidence is not just hard, it’s impossible.

I would also argue that a current theme in detective fiction is the lack of immunity faced by the detective. For some reason, it has become something of a popular trope that the detective is anything but immunized – whether it’s a madman shooting at the detective in the heat of the climax, or outside pressures threatening to silence the detective (as can be seen in modern renditions of ACD plots, such as Elementary), it appears as though the goal behind most televised crime serials is to find (and legally trap) the criminal before s/he silences the detective.

[cerealfictions]

Sun Wukong and Journey to the West

So…this is a spoiler disclaimer for “Journey to the West” (Wasn’t sure if we were expected to read the Anthony Yu translation or the Waley translation, but the latter includes many more chapters of the story.)

I found this tale to be exquisitely interesting. The story of Sun Wukong (a.k.a. the Monkey King) drew my attention throughout this week’s readings as I had always had a slight curiosity regarding the influence of Hindu mythology on this legendary Chinese literary figure. I suppose, in the first 7 chapters, we do not actually get to see the Monkey King make his way to the “West,” as his story at the end of the seventh chapters entails in vague detail the story of the Monkey’s entrapment by the Bodhisvatta.

As I had expected, there are many parallels between the story of the Monkey King and character Hanuman, a well-recognized monkey deity in Hindu mythology. From the mischievous behavior, to the attainment of immortality through multiple means, the influence of the literary figure from the religious figure is markedly evident. However, Wu Cheng does do justice to the Monkey King in giving the character its own unique story that is clearly different from the origin story behind Hanuman. We see the Monkey King as being born from stone. Yet, for his stone disposition, the early part of the Monkey King’s tale depicts the character as more like a sponge that quickly attains much knowledge and power over a short period of time. The King, having earned the respects of his kin, learns the way of immortality out of fear for his own mortality.

Yet, somewhere along the way, the King changes from being a monkey fearful of death to a powerful warrior with a bite strong enough to back up the bark. Our Monkey King grows an ego that throws the residents of Heaven in to “havoc.” It was interesting to see how Wu Cheng developed this idea of a character that gets drunk (literally and figuratively) off of power; what I had not expected was for the Monkey King to command so much strength for so much time. It was almost funny to read how various members of Heaven boasted their strength and demanded submission from the King only to be overwhelmed. The presence of Erlang Shen was a well-received break from the Monkey King’s invincibility.

Narration in this plot is also interesting; of course, in reading a translation and not the original text left me wondering how much liberty was taken in the adaptation. A line that repeatedly caught my attention throughout these chapters was one that went along the lines of “if you are curious about the story that follows, read on to the next chapter.” Quite frankly, it almost felt like a television show, where some narrator leaves the slightest hint of “Next time, on Journey to the West.” Judging by the fact that both versions of the translation incorporate this type of language, I will assume here that Wu Cheng did truly intend for his novel to be read in an almost episodic fashion.