Hello. I’m Bob Pastorella, co-host of the This Is Horror podcast, website manager for This Is Horror, and writer. I’m the author of Mojo Rising, They’re Watching (with Michael David Wilson), and have numerous short-stories and non-fiction online and in print in various publications.
Previous newsletters can be found here.
Elephants in the Room
I’ve written about this elsewhere, and here probably, but it’s been on my mind a lot lately, and I think it’s always a good time for reminders.
Folks, fiction isn’t real.
Historical fiction isn’t real.
Metafiction isn’t real.
Hell, sometimes memoir isn’t real.
Writers make stuff up. Eras, solar systems, continents, cities, folklore, societies, animals, monsters, mythologies, and people. Especially people. We even use real people (not living, though sometimes they’re living) in ways that are 100% completely and factually incorrect.
It’s fiction.
Unreality.
Fantasy.
Lies for fun and profit.
Entertainment.
And some readers/viewers cannot handle this non-reality. Some believe in these characters so much they assign real human issues to them for … hell, I don’t know, but I suspect it’s for clicks on social media platforms. For example, sometimes I see readers engaging in discourse about fictional characters not giving consent when they have sex scenes in stories. They claim readers basically shouldn’t read these scenes because the characters were unable to consent in the same way real people would consent.
Let’s break that down.
First, the “shouldn’t read these scenes” part. How about not telling people what they can or cannot do? Seriously … be a grown ass fucking adult and quit telling people what they should or shouldn’t do, or eat, or read, or watch, or whatever. “Mind your own business and let people enjoy themselves.” is your new mantra.
Secondly, the “characters were unable to consent in the same way real people would consent” part. Exactly what are you talking about? Characters, even those based on real people in a work of fiction, are not real. They don’t have contracts that attorneys nitpick through just to make sure their rights aren’t being trampled on because they don’t have rights the same way living breathing people do. Characters in fiction are not real people.
I think the reasons why these conversations even pop up on social media is because people like the attention it brings them. People are noticing them, some foolishly agreeing, others muting and blocking. I know I mute and block those people because I don’t need any more stupid shit in my life, and arguing that a character in a fictional story didn’t consent to us being able to read about their fully nude body being described in the work is about the stupidest thing I can think of on social media.
Okay, maybe saying this is stupid is a little too harsh.
Let’s call it silly.
It’s silly.
And then, what if, since I’m trying really hard to look at both sides of the issue, that perhaps the audience who feels the need for consent have legitimate claims? Maybe they were so enthralled with the writing, the story, the characters, that they just couldn’t put the book down, no matter how icky it made them feel. Sure, it’s fiction, but these characters felt so real, so alive, shouldn’t they have a way to consent to the fictional trials and tribulations writers put them through?
What if there was a way fictional characters could express consent?
Like some kind of official document.
Wait … I got it.
I GOT IT!
What about a form they could sign. I mean, if they could sign a form.
It wouldn’t have to be too detailed. Maybe just a separate page before the story, a form where characters could sign that they consent to whatever whims the writer wants. It could be something as simple as: I, _______________, (known as the character), hereby consent to ______________ (known as ‘the thing’) in the follow work titled _____________ (known as ‘the story’).
Sign and date it, and there ya go.
Since characters aren’t real, the writer would have to have a private meeting with their characters, explaining what this consent form means for them, then sign it for the characters. I mean, the writer would absolutely have to do this for the characters, because they’re not real and unable to sign forms because they don’t thumbs.
A form like this would give characters the freedom to do whatever it is they need to do, for entertainment purposes of course, within the confines of the story, and give those puritanical readers requiring a need for consent the comfort that said fake story people did indeed agree to get naked, have sex, kill and/or main other characters, do whatever they need to do, for entertainment purposes.
Or … they could just not read the book. Or not watch the movie.
Maybe fiction isn’t for them. Perhaps the concept that there are people with fully realized imaginations that can completely spin a story out of utter bullshit in such a convincing way that fake story people become alive on the page is beyond their level of comprehension. Instead of a consent form for fake ass people, they should 1.: not read fiction, and 2.: refrain from telling other people they’re shitty because a beloved character didn’t consent to having fake sex in a fake fucking story.
Because that’s really what’s going on. These fanatical readers are actually saying people who read such works are shitty people because the fake story people didn’t consent to whatever deviant hanky-panky is happening on the page.
Fuck that noise.
That kind of thinking flies directly in the face of writers committed to bringing fearless stories to audiences eager to escape reality for a little while. Writers are allowed to write about whatever they want to write about, as long as they don’t screw it up. Dangerous topics should and need to be explored within the confines of fictional storytelling because often that is the best way to get touchy subjects up to the surface. Writers should handle those subjects respectfully and compassionately, but they ultimately should be able to express themselves fearlessly on the page as well. Fiction allows readers to get as close to the dangerous things that scare them with the convenience of a safety net … that it’s not real, it’s fake, a fictional account with fake story people.
But Bob … don’t people have the right to express their opinions? Are you saying people shouldn’t be critical of the work in question?
Yes, they do have the right to their opinions, wholeheartedly, but that doesn’t make a silly opinion valid. In fact, it makes the opinion worthless. And there are a plethora of silly opinions on social media. Just check out the discourse about writers being like their characters (which will probably be another newsletter in the future). As far as being critical about the work … yes, definitely, as long as the focus is the work and you’re not punching down at those who enjoyed a particular work you found offensive.
Regardless, it’s high time creators, and audiences, expel this silliness off the face of the Earth. Fiction is fake, characters aren’t real, consent isn’t needed. Don’t like it, don’t read it. Stop judging others for enjoying things that make you feel icky. If you really want to talk about consent, remember creators didn’t consent to all the social media guilt-tripping attempts some of you are putting us through.
Okay … I’m off my soapbox, for now.
Hey, I was a guest on My Horror Confessional with Miguel Myers. We talked about Mario Bava’s seminal Giallo Blood and Black Lace. ««««« CLICK THE LINK NOW!
I recently watched When Evil Lurks on SHUDDER and it’s probably the best horror film I’ve seen all year. This film clicks on nearly every CW and trigger warning you can think of, yet it does so in a way that is purposeful in the story. There’s one scene in particular that if you’re watching it and wondering “gee, I wonder if this is going to go there … like really go there …?” then YES, it’s going to go there. Brutal, relentless, and thoroughly unpredictable, When Evil Lurks is fearless storytelling that’s actually scary as hell. Highly recommended.
Clay McLeod Chapman’s What Kind of Mother was amazing. It definitely has some of the most WTF imagery I’ve read in a horror novel in a long time. You fine folks need to seriously check this book out.
I started watching the series Moloch on SHUDDER over the weekend. Four episodes in and the story is so compelling I cannot wait to get back to watching. I honestly don’t know where it’s going and I really don’t care unless they don’t land the ending. If they don’t stick it, I’m likely to throw my remote at the TV because I really need to know why people are catching on fire. There’s this sense of dread that permeates each scene, making it feel heavy and claustrophobic.
Anyway, that does it for this newsletter. If I don’t get back here before the end of the year, please stay safe and sound this holiday season.
peace&love
Bob