(no subject)

[lyssie]

I don't get it. I still think fooling people into reading something with a bad ending by omitting a warning is mean.

...y'know... there's just nothin' I can say to that.

Stark Incomprehension all round, lads?

Comments

Re: *laughs hysterically*

[lavidaessueno.livejournal.com]

The ability to expose parts of a plot and still surprise the audience is a mark of talent.

I disagree with this statement. If the director of The Crying Game had insisted on a full frontal view of Ra Jaye Davidon on the movie poster, no amount of skillful crafting could change the fact filmgoers knew the plot twist before they ever saw the move and would not be shocked by it.

If Agatha Christie put on the book jacket the disclaimer, "I cheated. The narrator did it," what would even be the point of reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?

Re: *laughs hysterically*

[featherxquill.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen The Crying Game, so I really couldn't comment there.

As for Agatha Christie, the title and genre of the work are indicative of the content... the reader knows that this is some sort of murder to happen, and some sort of twist in the end. Writer reputation also plays a part, there, which doesn't happen in fanfiction, for the most part.

Even someone like JKR (to get back on my HP bandwagon) mentioned before the release of OotP that someone was going to die -- probably as much to generate the 'who will it be?' as to prepare people for the fact that someone WOULD die. That definitely didn't make the ending of the story any less of a surprise.

Re: *laughs hysterically*

[lavidaessueno.livejournal.com]

You've missed my point completely.

When the plot twist is the key to the story, asking writers to reveal it in the front matter is cutting them off at the knees. The talent of the writer is immaterial - you've taken away one of their primary tools, namely, not knowing how the story ends until the very end.

Re: *laughs hysterically*

[featherxquill.livejournal.com]

I suppose you're right, with that one. If the story hinged on something like a character death, or something upsetting, giving an appropriate rating and genre would be enough to warn away people who did not want to read those sorts of things, without ruining the ending of the story.