A case in point ...

[blamebrampton]

So, there we were, having a chat on a friend's LJ about the differences between the US and the UK for purposes of a self-Britpicking list, with participants from both sides of the pond and beyond and frequent diversions into baiting and comedy from all sides, and apparently it has become a source of Flocked Drama.

Consider the argument very carefully: At least one American is very upset that British people prefer to be depicted in accurate ways.

And if you can't see why that's a bit dodgy, replace the word British with any other nationality.

I don't want to overstate the case, because really, it doesn't culturally oppress us the way that some other cultures have been oppressed by this sort of thing, since we don't deeply care and we had an Empire first. And while the original source of the complaint is a preference, it's certainly not a sine qua non, and we read heaps of stuff that gets us wrong, and some of it is good and some is crap, and really, at the end of the day we still pronounce and spell aluminium in ways that are scientifically logical, which in itself is enough. But, honestly ...

Interestingly, one of my points of difference was a tendency to soap-opera-like over-reactions in fiction. Clearly I drew the line too narrowly.

AND I left off the fact that it the entire United States has been the subject of mass-brainwashing to accept caffeinated flavoured beverages as coffee. Though I see Starbucks has dropped the word from their logo, truth in advertising at last!

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'm talking about American writing as a whole. So if we are looking to the bestseller lists, I would definitely lump Twilight, Carol O'Connor and probably Jeffrey Deaver into the overly influenced camp. Charlaine Harris and John Grisham teeter on the edge, sometimes falling over, more often having enough irony and political subtext to stay clear of anything but a referential usage of the tropes. Tom Clancy is old-school American writing of the 1940s and Stephen King varies wildly depending on which book we're talking about. Haven't read enough Dean Koontz to say.

Serials are a different issue because they lead to a certain genre of writing, which grew out of 19th century publishing trends, so the TV model followed the writerly one, which has been around for so long as to be wholly entrenched in the way that we think about narrative in the English speaking world. This is not the same as the soap influence, which shares some elements with the late 19th century fashion for melodrama, but is distinct in enough ways to make it not just a repeat.

[rickey-a.livejournal.com]

Yeah I don't see it. I'm not familiar with some of these writers you've mentioned, but from what I've read (a sampling of some popular authors), I don't see that melodramatic "oh my god you slept w/my twin sister at our wedding" - HUGE slap - cue music da da da - fade to commercial. But I don't read romance as a genre, so perhaps it's more in that genre. Dunno.

What I do see is the influence of movies. Sometimes books feel like they're edited with the pace and feel of what will translate nicely into a 2hr film, sometimes it's just scenes that you can practically visualize with the camera cuts and all. I'm not sure if that's something deliberate by the author (to get the book made into a movie) or subconscious because movies are such a pervasive part of our lives. Maybe it's just us as readers being so entrenched in visual entertainment that sometimes we visualize in that way as we read. Not sure. But I definitely think it's not just an American trend.

JKR has done it to me a number of times. As an example, the opening chapter of DH feels that way. Dark room of Death Eaters around a table. Camera pans around the room then upward to reveal- Muggle Studies teacher. Dark speech by Voldy. AK - cue snake. "Dinner, Nagini." Snake attacks- quick cut to black. So yeah, when I saw it in film, it sort of confirmed how well that scene was written to translate to film. Could be completely subconscious because 5 movies were made by the time she was writing DH and yes, I'd seen 5 movies when I went to read DH. But I have to point out the obvious line of Molly's "not my daughter, you bitch" - if that wasn't written for the move, I don't know what else it could've been.

So nope, I don't see that trend you're talking about, but I think my image of soap opera melodrama may not quite match yours.

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

I had the exact same thought when I read "Not my daughter, you bitch!" It was completely out of tone with the character and the books, and seemed like it was calculated to make the audience cheer at the soundbite.