| New thoughts... |
[May. 23rd, 2007|12:49 am] |
Hello, here are some of my thoughts on Danny and the reactions to it hat I have witnessed.
I do not think the level of sex/violence is unrealistic I think some relationships differ from what is socially acceptable and considered healthy, it is the fact that these relationships can exist that make some readers uncomfortable. If the interactions in Danny had no basis in real life it would not create such strong reactions from its readers. The fact that the emotions in Danny are very raw, they are stripped of social boundaries and rely on the characters own belief system of right and wrong in stead of what is accepted by people as a whole, is what scares some readers.
Clearly they are not your typical family and it is not expected that the themes in Danny play out in everyone’s living room but for the situation the characters are in the occurrences seem to have followed a course I would have expected. If you look at the way they were brought up, the sexual abuse, the violence, the jealousy and competition for affections, that alone would create pretty fucked up individuals (although this background is not a staple for most families I do know from friends experiences of working in social services and other experiences it is not as rare as people would rather believe). I think the most important part, the part that creates realism in the actions of the adult characters, is that they never grow apart, non of the four main characters have moved on or even moved out, or interacted with other people without any of the others being involved, this I think in realistic terms completely justifies the characters actions.
Even if you take away the sex abuse and violence from adult members of the family (the thing which will have created the actions within the four as children) the four characters have a sexual history together as children (which is again not as rare as people want to think) they then, instead of separating and blocking out their past, become stuck in one house with everything reminding them of what has passed between them. I think in this situation after years of it being on the back of everyone’s mind it is definitely believable that something would kick start those deep feeling, emotions and memories and it would all happen again but worse as they are now grown.
To me if these characters existed there actions would be understandable, the sexual relationships would be intense, there would be an overabundance of violence between them, there would be huge amounts of jealousy and confusion and hurt therefore all the actions, however debauched, are necessary because if they were real they would not have simple relationships, the most important aspects of the relationships would derive from their most intense actions. To omit these acts would be omitting the whole point of the relationships, if the sex and violence was not explicit and only happened occasionally and mildly we would not have a clue who these people were, we would not be able to read what they are actually about, that to me would be what was confusing.
The fact that some readers refer to the books edgy and uncomfortable content as bland or tedious is to me a defence against the books emotional reality, because I think if they could truly put themselves in the position of the characters they might react in some of the same ways, I think this makes people uncomfortable with themselves. I know some people I have given the book to cannot read it and make up excuses like the ones I have heard on line, like repetitive, dull and the like, but it is clear in the persons actions, when they recount the points of the book that made them say this, that bored is the last thing Danny made them feel. All you can see is the uncomfortableness (not a word) they felt with the book and they want to get it as far away from them as possible, as soon as possible, if they simply found the book dull the reaction would not be as dramatic.
I have read many dull books and have not once reacted so strongly, I would either attempt to finish it or just stop reading it if it bored me, the readers who react in this way to Danny are in denial of what the book truly made them feel. The fact that most feelings can be brought back to sex and violence is an opinion that has always been rallied against but one I have always agreed with, that deep down they are the two main reasons for people’s actions and this is what Danny brings to light. The characters either react because of anger or because of the need for pleasure (or reassurance, affection and love, which are included in sex). The way Danny locks into this deep psychological set up of people when they are put in dramatic situations is the reason people feel uncomfortable with it and feel the need to deny its obvious truth. The readers that say Danny is unrealistic and too devoid from real life are trying to distance themselves from the reality that it could be some peoples real life and as this is a scary notion to them they would rather deny it
I do however have the uncomfortable reaction readers have to Danny to child abuse so I recognise it is as such, but it is intrinsic to some books and films narrative and I absorb it as I do the rest of material to fully understand the story and the characters, as without it they would make less sense and there would be nothing to challenge you in the story as I think there should always be. Sex, violence and child abuse are all intrinsic to understanding Danny so no matter which part of it make the reader uncomfortable without it the book would be less effective and denying the importance of a book that highlights these issues is merely an attempt to hide from them in reality. Sometimes feeling uncomfortable is the most important part of an art form as it is supposed to highlight aspects of life others may not be used to, and is important in developing a persons understanding and opinions of a subject that other less daring writer would not draw attention to.
An example of a part of Danny that made me uncomfortable is when John Jackson Moore Senior is allowed by John to do something sexual with Danny, this made me uncomfortable as it upset me that John would stand by and watch this happen, but I saw the scenes significance and the need for it to happen. For John to attempt to glimpse the truth of Danny and his fathers relationship and to (in my opinion) give John a reason to kill him and for John to attempt to redeem himself for leaving Danny at his mercy as a child by avenging him in the present.
I do not think anything in Danny could be seen as slight, not the characters or emotions or actions or anything, Slight seems to suggest that parts of it don’t matter, and every word written in Danny matters to the whole of the story. Danny is a deep book in every sense and to only feel slight emotion for the characters doesn’t make sense to me as I think you feel so many emotions for all the main characters. The way the emotions you feel contradict themselves as the characters do makes you feel and understand the characters instead of feeling like you’re being told about them, I can’t understand how this writing could create slight emotions for the characters.
If anyone agrees or disagrees with these comments feel free to reply.
Where there any scenes in Danny that you found uncomfortable? |
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
jillandjodie's journal