Final Crisis is basically over now, I believe. As you are probably aware, I wasn't buying it for a variety of reasons, but I have been following it online, because the discussion can be entertaining. I don't mean the discussions that boil down to people calling Morrison overrated, or describing the book as incomprehensible, arguing with the people that chide their reading comprehension skills. Those don't go anywhere useful. I'm thinking more when people actually describe what they didn't understand, or what they think they understand, and then other people either agree, disagree, clarify, or whatever. It's made the series sound as though it would make more sense to me if I read it some time in the future, to the point I might even do that when the collections come out.
No guarantees, mind you, but I find that if all I hear about a work of fiction is how deep/complex/multi-layered it is, the more, intimidated I am by it. Papafred used to try and convince me how great Neon Genesis Evangelion was, discussing how there are all these clues scattered about related to major developments that occur later, plus all the Judeo-Christian symbolism in the series, without going into detail to avoid spoiling it. I didn't show any interest in watching it, so eventually he did start going into more depth, giving examples which made it sound more interesting to me. When one of his other friends asked to see the series a year or two later, I decided I did want to watch after all.
Maybe it's as simple as me not wanting to feel stupid, or wanting a more relaxed viewing. If someone lets you in on the hints before you begin, you don't have sit there poring over every sequence, every bit of dialogue searching for the hidden meaning. Now that search can be fun. I've done it here on the blog periodically, Patsy Walker: Hellcat is the current most frequent subject, I've taken film classes that were all about deciding what you thought the meaning of the film was, then searching for things in the film that might support that reading. Fun though it may be, it's more taxing (to me, anyway) than simply sitting there and reading or watching it strictly for enjoyment, screw symbolism or deeper meaning, because I do sit there and debate with myself over whether such and such actually means anything, and that's not something I'm always up for.
Maybe it's reading a mystery where you read the answer first. It takes the suspense out of it, but you can still appreciate how the creator helps or hinders your reaching the solution, and whether they did so intentionally.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
There is a corrollary to this though, and its the spoiler effect. There's nothing more frustrating then having someone spill the beans on a book or movie.
"Oh Keyser Soze is...," as brilliant as the story may be it loses most of its impact at that point.
You lose the joy of hunting out the clues on a later viewing, or the "oh s**t" moment when it happens.
Multi-layering in this particular story doesn't even begin to describe it, but I loved Final Crises. I do think however that it will read better as a trade, or if you get all the issues together and re-read it, since with the delays it was easy to forget exactly who did what and when.
seangreyson: Yeah, it certainly wouldn't be advisable for every kind of story.
sallyp: Re-reading all the issues at once definitely helps sometimes. I did that a month or so ago with the first year of Immortal Iron Fist and it really helped clarify a lot of connections I wasn't understanding, and that wasn't nearly as complicated as FC.
Post a Comment