It made me wonder what he would make of fan fiction, which (because its readers already know who to expect) often exhibits the flat and yet mimetic characterization Wood favours but does so from a position of profound belief in the ‘reality’ of fictional individuals.
Hmm, well I think his theory certainly explains why shallower characters (and not particularly well written shows) nevertheless tend to have tons of fanfic written about them. At the same time while I agree that a lot (percentage-wise) of fanfic doesn't do a stellar job of exploring character, I think that a lot of fic sets out to do exactly that (or if not character, then relationships). For example the popularity of the 5 Things format seems to me an example of looking at what shapes characters and how they might be different in other circumstances.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-01-27 09:52 pm (UTC)Hmm, well I think his theory certainly explains why shallower characters (and not particularly well written shows) nevertheless tend to have tons of fanfic written about them. At the same time while I agree that a lot (percentage-wise) of fanfic doesn't do a stellar job of exploring character, I think that a lot of fic sets out to do exactly that (or if not character, then relationships). For example the popularity of the 5 Things format seems to me an example of looking at what shapes characters and how they might be different in other circumstances.