"I remember in conversations with 'casual viewers' about BTVS, they'd point out, that the fans of the series were in fact more intelligent than the writers, finding things in the show far more interesting and story threads far more gripping than the writers intended."
I'm not sure that means the fans are more intelligent; they may just be motivated differently. And sometimes--I'd say often--writers put things in their stories without consciously realizing it, & it's hard to define whether that's "intentional" or not.
I used to know a local (NYC-area) writer/musician--not very well, friend-of-a-friend kinda thing--who wrote a play in the mid-1980s, an alternate history thing based on "what if the Beatles had never made it big?" I went to see it w/my then-roommate & some friends, & I was impressed by the way John Lennon's refusal to compromise by recording a popular song that would sell more than the music he'd rather play was mirrored by Julian's refusal to compromise his political principles when the opposition political party he's active with gets enough votes to win a seat in Parliament...except they were running to show the system was a farce & were supposed to turn down any seat they won, & now his fellow party members want to take it. (Very simplified version here.) Afterwards, I talked to the writer & told him I liked that he'd made the father & son take similar stands in their own ways even w/all the conflict between them. And he looked surprised, thought about it for a second or two, & said, "Oh! Yeah, I guess I did!" He hadn't realized it till I pointed it out, while I assumed he'd done it on purpose. Don't know if that makes me any more intelligent than him, or his subconscious more intelligent than my conscious or than his own.
(BTW, in the play, the biggest shock was when I realized that it was taking place in the "present day"--i.e., 1985 or so--& John was still alive, never having become famous or moved to New York.)
I'm not going to name the writer--no idea if that would be any problem, & I suppose there's an off chance someone might recognize who he is anyway from the above, but I'll err on the side of caution. Point is, writers can put things into their work without consciously intending to. I don't know if that makes their writing better or not. Is it overthinking if they know they're doing it? Is it somehow more of a natural process if they don't? Maybe the costumers on Buffy had some subconscious motivation for choosing those numbered shirts after all, whether or not it was what the fans thought it was.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2005-11-16 06:21 am (UTC)I'm not sure that means the fans are more intelligent; they may just be motivated differently. And sometimes--I'd say often--writers put things in their stories without consciously realizing it, & it's hard to define whether that's "intentional" or not.
I used to know a local (NYC-area) writer/musician--not very well, friend-of-a-friend kinda thing--who wrote a play in the mid-1980s, an alternate history thing based on "what if the Beatles had never made it big?" I went to see it w/my then-roommate & some friends, & I was impressed by the way John Lennon's refusal to compromise by recording a popular song that would sell more than the music he'd rather play was mirrored by Julian's refusal to compromise his political principles when the opposition political party he's active with gets enough votes to win a seat in Parliament...except they were running to show the system was a farce & were supposed to turn down any seat they won, & now his fellow party members want to take it. (Very simplified version here.) Afterwards, I talked to the writer & told him I liked that he'd made the father & son take similar stands in their own ways even w/all the conflict between them. And he looked surprised, thought about it for a second or two, & said, "Oh! Yeah, I guess I did!" He hadn't realized it till I pointed it out, while I assumed he'd done it on purpose. Don't know if that makes me any more intelligent than him, or his subconscious more intelligent than my conscious or than his own.
(BTW, in the play, the biggest shock was when I realized that it was taking place in the "present day"--i.e., 1985 or so--& John was still alive, never having become famous or moved to New York.)
I'm not going to name the writer--no idea if that would be any problem, & I suppose there's an off chance someone might recognize who he is anyway from the above, but I'll err on the side of caution. Point is, writers can put things into their work without consciously intending to. I don't know if that makes their writing better or not. Is it overthinking if they know they're doing it? Is it somehow more of a natural process if they don't? Maybe the costumers on Buffy had some subconscious motivation for choosing those numbered shirts after all, whether or not it was what the fans thought it was.