lynati:
jabberwockypie:
Just read about the stupid Nagini Maledictus thing.
Had the joy of telling @deadcatwithaflamethrower about the Maledictus thing and watch her make the “Are you fucking kidding me? That is so fucking stupid” face that she makes a LOT when words fall out of JKR’s mouth.
I hope I *never* become so enamoured with my own hype that I stop considering whether or not the idea I just had is actually terrible.
JKR and George Lucas are both cautionary tales we need to keep in mind should ANY of us become Successful Writers Who Sell Lots of Stories.
It’s not just arrogance in one’s inherent talents or abilities – though that’s in there – that is the problem: no, it’s also the lack of knowledge, and the specific arrogance of the assumption that you know how things are/should be, without bothering to collaborate or touch base with ANYBODY else first.
As human beings, we can only have one set of experiences, one (fallible) human mind, and there are always going to be huge gaps in what we think we know, compared to what we actually know – and if you haven’t lived with, say, racism (or sexism, or heterosexism, etc), if you’ve never lived X, Y or Z life, then you don’t know what you don’t know about those things!
And some of these things will seem REALLY OBVIOUS to other people, especially those who’ve lived it.
And some of those things that you might get wrong? Could be very hurtful, even damaging, or, at best, just embarrassingly silly mistakes that make you look like you can’t even use Google or, if well-off like JKR, think to pay someone to do it for you (every HP fan still currently following the discourse around the “official canon” is well aware by now how ridiculous it would be for America to only have ONE wizarding school, for instance. Many others are aware that her portraying all “Native American” wizards as having the same “wandless” approach to magic sounds like nonsense when you account for the 500+ legally recognized tribes/nations in the USA alone and their sheer cultural diversity, either. Etc.).
My advice, from watching “big name” Creatives fail at this kind of thing more than once (I mean, there’s a reason I brought up George Lucas and not just JKR)?
If you’re a writer (or, especially, filmmaker), then don’t believe the standard narrative: there is no such thing as a storyteller, let alone on that scale, who does it “alone”.
It’s always with support! The question is just who and what that support is.
There’s tons of, for example, evidence that men like Tolkien and other famous male writers, had the privilege of even spending a lot of time writing at all, just by virtue of being well-off, and/or having women in their lives (mothers, wives) and/or servants, to help take part the burden of living off from them. Film-making is, by default, inherently collaborative, as are theatrical plays and much of music. Even comedians will test many of their jokes out on people they’re close to, usually, and writers often have beta readers and, if professional, editors and proofreaders.
Now, JKR didn’t originally have much of that (remember: she was a single mom on welfare when she wrote her first novel), so, what’s really important for our purposes is this:
It’s not shameful for a Creative to ask for second opinions. None! And if you’re discussing ANYTHING that would touch on an experience outside your own, it’s NEVER a bad idea to double-check you’re not getting it Wrong, as part of your research/development, and editing steps.
Whether that experience is “combat medic”, “person of color”, or “LGBT+ person” – it’s never going to be a bad thing to look to actual people who have had or would know better about the experiences that you have never had and never will.
Something that, thanks to improvements in communications technology around the world, is much, much easier nowadays!
So long as you’re polite and respectful, there’s literally NO downside to this kind of research.
I mean it. None! Think about it:
* At “worst” (assuming you’re polite about it anyway) the results will be: you’ll prove to have been intuitive on X thing (lucky you!), but gain a reputation for being Thoughtful and Thorough, which is never a bad set of traits in a Creative, least of all storytellers and writers and filmmakers! That kind of thing is basically just a little pair of things we call “attention to detail” and “being considerate to others”, which, are things people tend to admire in Creatives, especially in combination, you know? It also makes people more likely to want to work with you and/or distribute your work, if you actually seem not just inherently competent, but DELIBERATELY competent, because then you’re not just coasting on some kind of inborn talent, you put in the extra work to Get It Right. It also lessens to risk to people taking a chance on your work, whether they’re publishing your book or producing your film, that they’ll have the project bite them in the ass, and it gives the audience confidence that you won’t betray their trust and will give them something well-thought-out! Huh. Doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
* “Best” case scenario, though? It proves necessary. Oh man, you needed to hear some tough truths to prevent something that would have been disastrous in some way! You save yourself a huge amount of embarrassment, preserving part of your legacy as positive rather than negative, and additionally save some of your audience a measure of pain and, probably, frustration with you.
So….basically win/win??
tldr: Creatives, always do your research and reach out to people who have experiences you want to touch on but haven’t yourself experienced, because, best case scenario, you prevent hurt and don’t embarrass yourself, and “worst” case scenario…you confirm what you already thought you knew, but come across as… professional and likable? GASP!
THERE IS NO DOWNSIDE. Just do it, trust me!
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