Nobody really wants to read subversive fiction that challenges their boundaries
Most of the SF/F blogs on the planet have responded to this article about moral nihilism in heroic fantasy. I noticed one particular thread among the responses: the idea that it is the purpose of good fiction to be subversive, to challenge the boundaries of its readers.
Oh, rubbish.
Want to know the truth? No one wants to read subversive fiction that challenges their boundaries. What people want is for other people to read fiction that challenges their boundaries. Then they get to feel all superior and enlightened at the resultant outrage. Like if you could get a Wisconsin union protester to read all the way through “Atlas Shrugs” and enjoy the resultant head explosion, that kind of thing.
Liberals are just as bad at this as conservatives – neither hell nor a woman scorned hath fury like a liberal SF/F reader who discovers that his favorite author voted Republican.
-JM
“Want to know the truth? No one wants to read subversive fiction that challenges their boundaries. What people want is for other people to read fiction that challenges their boundaries.”
That quote right there, nailed it, period.
Hats off to you Jonathan