Babel Clash

Following up on what it means to be a reluctant adult, Carolyn Crane asked:  Where exactly did the name of Reluctant Adults come from? Was it meant from the start as a counterpoint to serious literature?

My livejournal was where I had first used the name the League of Reluctant Adults, an obvious play on one of my fave graphic novels the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (not so fave movie, tho).   When a group of us urban fantasy and paranormal romance writers invited me to join their group blog, I threw it out there as a title and voila!  It stuck.   There’s a sense of fun to the phrase… it’s inclusive, covering a growing expanse of us who think that toys and films about fighting robots and Neo Tokyo and ghosts and goblins aren’t just for kids.  Is there a need to grow beyond those things?  Not anymore.  Reluctant adults embrace them.  We don’t take things so seriously.

Speaking of taking thing seriously and going back to part of the theme of my last post, I remember Guy Gavriel Kay’s speech from the 2007 World Fantasy Awards, where he adressed the disparity between the two worlds.  Luckily I found it in whole thanks to the Interwebs.  He said:

There has always been a tension between writers who aspire to high art, enduring work, and those who pursue popular success, defining themselves as entertainers. The literati disdain the commercial while envying their bank accounts, and the bestsellers often regard the artistic as elitist and unreadable and the twain don’t do a lot of beer-drinking together.

It inspired a nervous laugh throughout the room, but it was true.  I think that in any community there’s a wish to stratify oneself, a desire to define.  Everyone tries to figure out if they are the cream of the crop or the cream of the crap.

Welcome to the Amber and Anton hour, err two week, at Babel Clash.  *slips Babel Fish in ear*  First and foremost, I’d like to thank Borders and Morgan for inviting us.  Amber promised this would be as good a place as any to harass me, but she’s such a sweetie, so I’m sure she was kidding.  At least, I hope she was.

So the first question that Morgan threw to us was:  Does reading science fiction and fantasy make you a “reluctant adult”?  What about the authors working in these genres?  Should these “reluctant adults” tackle “serious literature” instead?  How’s that for a loaded question?

As a founding member of The League of Reluctant Adults, I am clearly biased about this.  For years, most of us who engage in fandoms of any kind always got dirty looks from outsiders.  Even now people walk by my office, look at all my geek posters and fifty or so action figures on my desk like they are visiting the two-headed goat with the traveling carnival.

But I do think that thanks to the internet and the number of television channels on the dial these days, cultural awareness of our nerdly niches have become more mainstream.  Why?  I think much of it has to do with gaining understanding.  Outsiders can read up, ask questions, explore geekdom on their own, and at the end of all that, i think they find themselves able to identify with a lot of what they encounter.

Take True Blood or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Yeah, they have vampires and all that paranormal stuff, but at the heart of them, what drives them?  Relationships, trying to get through their daily lives, problems that people can identify with…

I mean, I’ve always dreamed of being a sexy Louisiana waitress that falls for vampires… but I digress.

As for should us reluctant adults tackle “serious literature” instead?  I’m going to go to food for this one.  Sometimes you want to go to Morimoto’s restaurant.  he’s an Iron Chef and the food is exquisite, pricey and worth every penny.  Sometimes I hanker for Chik-fil-A, which is fast food, not pricey and I have no idea who dropped my waffle fries in the oil.  Regardless, Chik-fil-A is exquisite in its own way.  It fills my need.  I don’t really wonder if the chefs at either restaurant should be changing roles. I’m just happy they excel at what they do and that it feeds me.

I see a lot of flame wars out there where the literary authors poo poo the mass market writers and the mass market authors poo poo them as well.  I don’t see the need for it.  I think the differences are what help to keep everyone fed out there, depending on their appetite.  I strive to write the best books I can, but are they literary?  Hell to the no.   I won’t pretend that I go there, but hopefully they are damn fine entertainment.

We’re off and running with a brand new topic.  Does reading science fiction and fantasy make you a “reluctant adult”?

What about the authors working in these genres?  Should these “reluctant adults” tackle “serious literature” instead?  How’s that for a loaded question?