Fiction is Just Fiction?
Posted in Entertainment and tagged with Entertainment, Movie, Reading, Worldview on June 22, 2009
I love to read. That’s nothing new. Many of you read, too. There’s two major reasons why we read: to learn and to be entertained.
Yet, even the reading for entertainment requires discernment. Though I’m just a baby fiction writer (“embryo” might be the better term…a complete novel has yet to be birthed), I know that part of why I write is to express my worldview. Even if that wasn’t my obvious goal, my worldview is bound to work itself into the piece. Even the more entertainment-only authors still express a worldview.
That’s why I don’t buy arguments for books like The Shack that say, “It’s just fiction” as if that’s code for “no thinking allowed” or “for entertainment purposes only.” I imagine William Young would take offense if you were to tell him that it was a great story but nothing more. I don’t want to speak for him, but I’m pretty sure he meant there to be a deeper purpose behind his writing than just a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. It’s the same thing for many other books and authors, though it might not be as clear.
Lest you TV-watchers and movie-goers think you’re in the clear, these forms of media are also excellent conductors of worldview. Possibly more so, since we tend to be in a more passive position (rather like a sponge) when we’re imbibing them. I love these types of visual entertainment, but I also enjoy parsing them a bit. I listen for key value statements and look for stereotypes. The world of a show or movie is often what the creator makes it…is there a part of reality that has been written out?
When I see these things, I ponder them, and when I have a young, captive audience, I’ll point them out, too. Thankfully, Lana didn’t mind me pausing the movie to point out something…like how often the Star Wars characters entreat each other to look to their feelings for validation (more often on the dark side, but both do it) as if that was the final source of truth.
So what do you think…do you think fiction can just be fiction?
Photo by swruler9284
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I must be more tired than I thought. I meant to schedule this for tomorrow, but forgot to change the time on it, so it posted now. Oh well, it’s just a few hours early…and now my 3rd post in 24 hours!
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm
i’ll go ahead and take a stab at this. i like books, but i don’t read a lot of variety of books, mostly the same ones over and over, so i will instead aim my comments at TV and movies. they so most definitely put their own biased spin into things, the way they shape characters or regions of the country (hate. HATE how they portray the south) or politicians all influence us in how we view groups of people or the world in general.
this isn’t what you were asking, but even news outlets are biased, whether intentional or not, i think it is virtually impossible to not allow our views or opinions to influence us.
i am not gonna stop watching TV or movies, i’m simply not, but i am more discerning in what they do and try to not let their particular take on something, influence we completely in how i think about the same topic. i really hope this made sense.
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I heartily believe that fiction can be more than just fiction. In fact, it is an excellent tool to express an opinion or belief. However, it can be just fiction. I have read plenty of chick lit type stuff that there is NO underlying deeper message, it’s just fun.
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I think a worldview comes through in fiction, even when it seems to be just for entertainment. A light novel that seems to be just a fun read, for example, may reflect a hedonistic worldview if the characters are focused on fun and possessions.
I didn’t write my romantic mystery novel Dream or Destiny as “Christian” fiction, yet my worldview came through loud and clear. One minister has said that the book should be in every Christian bookstore in the country (it’s available only from me, the publisher, and Amazon), and one reviewer listed it as among the top 10 Christian novels she read in 2008.
Whether it’s a Christian worldview or a secular humanist worldview or any other, the author’s worldview will come through, though the intensity will definitely vary.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:44 am
Tell me something, my friend, does reading blogs count as fiction? If you are willing to expand your definition, then we may very well have a lively debate on our hands. :)
-Francesca
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:27 am
ha! I was wondering why you’d posted twice today!
I don’t know if fiction can be just fiction—a good writer has a way of sucking a person into their tale until the reader feels a legitimate part of each character and action. And when you hold someone’s attention, you hold them and are able to tell them whatever you’d like. I know I have to be a pretty stalwart guard of what I let into my head for that very reason—sometimes you’re being “taught” and don’t even realize it.
That’s my sleepy opinion :)
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:45 am
Most fiction is so much more – it is about life, feelings, events and people that have shaped our lives.
Some fiction however is just that – a quick throw-away read that you soon forget.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:13 am
I was about to let you know you were on the wrong day…Understand now. I LOVE to read mysteries, and really didn’t start until I was 42.
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:02 am
You’re so right…authors always give away a piece of their world view in their writing. I think why I love Kurt Vonnegut so much is that his world view is so similar to mine: reading his books, the underlying assumptions beneath the writing, feels so comfortable to me.
As you know, Orson Scott Card is one of my all-time favorite authors, though there couldn’t be a person I disagree with more vehemently about, well, pretty much everything he ever says. Sometimes I get fed up with the assumptions that come up again and again in his writing (for example, that marriage is the only stable method to organize society)! And yet I still love his novels. I find it so odd. I’ve learned I have to steer clear of reading interviews with him or reading his non-fiction as some of it makes me absolutely crazy. I think part of what I like about his fiction is that it can present me with a way into understanding something I find repulsive or foreign. As a quick example, in his Memory of Earth series, there is a fairly minor plot point where a gay character suppresses his homosexuality to enter into a heterosexual marriage. I find that whole idea terrible, to expect someone to deny such an important piece of themselves as if it were somehow wrong. Reading the novel didn’t change my opinion, but it did give me a way into understanding how someone else could hold a different opinion.
Sorry, I could go on and on about this…it’s a topic I love (in fact, in college I took a psychology of media class. It was one of my favorites!) Thanks for this post, very interesting!
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:07 am
I agree with you!!!! I have lots to say but no time…just wanted to say I think you are correct!
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:10 am
I don’t think it’s possible for fiction to be ‘just’ fiction. And I’m going to have to leave it at that, otherwise I’d be typing for the next hour! lol
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:22 am
No way is fiction just fiction… 1984? The Giver? Brave New World? Their deeper meanings are powerful and anything but trivial. Just because it’s on a “fiction” shelf doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it.
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June 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 am
I believe that fiction can be just fiction…but I don’t believe it is. I believe that regardless of what we watch, read, or hear, we’re affected.
Speaking as someone who has written a book (don’t get excited…it’s in a manila envelope), my fiction book was meant to reach those who are struggling in life.
I believe, that as free thinkers, we can see meaning in anything.
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
OMG!! I started writing a post about feelings just five minutes ago and stopped to read your blog! You’ll get a great view of my feelings on feelings in it :-)
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Thank you for stopping by my blog. Wanted to hop back and return the favor, and you seem to have snagged my attention…
Books. I love them. The picture you have posted along with your post, the shelves, I have similar looking shelves. Books of all kinds. I don’t stick to one kind, I read many for the value of the printed word. Some can be romantic, others horrifying, some personal empowerment…
As for can fiction be just fiction, oh heck I think so. As an aspiring writer myself, I make up crap all the time. Fiction is after all works from the imagination…But I think that sometimes, to be a good writer, we use experiences from real life inside the fiction. Thoughts, ego’s, emotions…
Sorry I babbled… :)
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I think there are only very few times when fiction can only be fiction…most of the time it’s there to mean something.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
@Valentine: Definitely. Media, blogs, and the words out of our mouth definitely reflect our own bias.
@Cara: I bet they do, though that might not have been the intent of the author. See Lillie’s comment.
@Lillie: Couldn’t say it better!
@Francesca: I wouldn’t say blogs are fiction (unless they say they are), but they do express our worldview.
@Jennifer: I’m glad someone noticed! I think that might make fiction (and movies and TV) all the more dangerous as you don’t know that you’re being fed something you might not otherwise consume.
@Lady Fi: I think that all fiction affects on some level, even if it’s a forgetable book. It might be kinda like a little dust…not noticable in small quantities, but you do notice the cummulative affect.
@G. Zoe: Yes! Thanks so much for commenting…now I don’t have to keep your wonderful comments to myself!
@WhatACard: I always find it interesting when I like an author with a different worldview than I (and I know it). Ayn Rand? She’s a genius when it comes to fiction and blending her worldview. But the problem is, it wouldn’t work in real-life like it does in her fictional world.
@Julie: Seems like this could be a very lively debate if we all sat down in a room and discussed this!
@Irish: Ditto what I told Julie…and of course I agree!
@LiLu: So true!
@Iva: Well said. And I’m curious about your book!
@Elizabeth: I look forward to reading your feelings on feelings!
@Hillbilly: Unforunately, that’s not my picture. I would totally love those book shelves, though. I think that we can express our worldview without even realizing it.
@Kim: I would say very few (in fact, I haven’t found an instance)!
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
We have a mutual friend who gave a talk at Ministry Team (during the guy time) about thinking critically back when we were on MT together. Not being negatively critical, but that we ought to critically examine every thought and idea, whether that be through works of fiction, TV, movies, art, conversation, etc. IMHO, the idea of passively enjoying something “just for entertainment” is a veneer that is used to subversively shape people’s views on life.
This isn’t to say that fiction (and other forms of “entertainment”) shouldn’t be enjoyable; only that if we delude ourselves into thinking that what we enjoy has absolutely no effect upon how we view the world, we will find ourselves espousing views that we never knew we had.
Stories and other works of fiction are awesome – and I wish I could somehow emphasize it more. But when we approach any new work, I believe that we should filter it in light of our worldview, rather than amalgamating the author’s worldview with our own.
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
i used to exclusively read non-fiction but lately have been rediscovering fiction. i’ve heard of the shack but have yet to read it. books like that though.. like the celestine prophecy or the alchemist seem to be a different type of fiction. the inspirational fiction. of course, there is always a moral to a story :)
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Yes, fiction can be more than just fiction but it is…. just fiction. I think so many of us like being told a story.
But we do have to be careful – the imagination is powerful. Sometimes we can be subjected to things and have curiosities or thoughts planted in our mind that we didn’t bargain for.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Sorry if I’m retreading … I didn’t read the 20 comments yet.
Can fiction be just fiction? Yes, but if it’s any good, then it means something. So, the real answer is, “Yes, if it’s bad fiction or you don’t understand it.”
Everything that’s really worth reading has a message to it and should affect us in one way or another.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:49 am
No. Fiction cannot be just fiction. If anything, it often has a more profound influence on our thinking and worldview than non-fiction–a point well made by G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and others.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
@K-Lai: Totally agree.
@Jennifer: Definitely something to being told a story. Nothing wrong with that, we just have to remember that that’s not all that’s going on.
@Wickle: The way you say that makes me feel very popular. Regardless, I’m thankful for each of my comments, whether I have 2 or 200 (okay, that’s a dream)!
@Barry: Agreed. Personally, I’m trying to figure out which style fits me better. Probably will do both.
June 28th, 2009 at 6:34 am
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