Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2006-10-31 08:30 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2006-10-31 08:30 pm
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More crotchety ranting, on Grantaire this time.
Fic gets Grantaire wrong. Almost all fic gets R wrong, even well-written fic, because fanon!R is so pervasive and no one seems to realize that's what they're using.
The killer tendency is to ascribe a deeper motivation to his cynicism than he has in canon, and often (but not as often as the first) to take away the deeper motivation for his attraction to Enjolras.
Almost all the fanfic Grantaires I've seen have become anachronistic prophets of future, more jaded generations, rambling with fatalistic certainty about how misguided all the Amis are and how stupid they are to attach themselves to a cause and how imperfect human nature is, as if R had some sort of pessimistic but solid philosophy on life. He doesn't. He doesn't understand anything the Amis believe in, and because he doesn't understand, he mocks--but it's shallow mockery, made up of wordplays and empty wit and spewing forth of facts, not an actual belief that they're wrong. R doesn't believe they're wrong. R doesn't believe anything. He has, obviously, an immense amount of knowledge at his disposal, but no understanding whatsoever, so why would he argue that they're all misguided brats? He can't hold up an argument except on semantics. He picks nits; he is the master of writing a twenty-page essay with perfect style that says absolutely nothing because he can't defend a thesis; he would probably admire the nonsensical neatness of a proof that 1 = -1; his skepticism is flippant, not insightful. So even if you, the author, think their idealism was misguided and think you understand why, don't pin that on R, because he doesn't understand shit except friendship and a full glass.
And that's why he likes Enjolras. The Grantaire of fanon looks down on Enjolras because he thinks he knows better than E! does, but canon!R looks up at him because unlike R, he has enough understanding to believe in things and support his belief. R doesn't get it, so he makes fun of it, but he's secretly terribly jealous of Enjolras--not Enjolras' ability to put blind faith in a cause, but his ability to understand a cause to the point where his belief isn't blind. So again I stress, even if you think Enjolras was silly and misguided in his idealism, R is not in your position, and he is not the voice of post-Marxist disillusionment. He's a boy who knows a lot but doesn't understand anything, poking fun at and secretly envying the people who know what they're doing.
Enjolras and Grantaire have a definite power dynamic, and in all cases that dynamic puts Grantaire beneath Enjolras. Even R acknowledges it. He genuinely admires Enjolras, and if there's slashy, non-platonic love in there, it stems from the admiration. In the name of all that's good and holy, stop trashing this and substituting "Grantaire thought there were major flaws in Enjolras' philosophy, but was so infatuated with him that he followed him around like a little lost puppy." And stop having Enjolras get cut down mid-speech by a scathing and insightful remark from Grantaire. Grantaire doesn't do insightful. Grantaire couldn't produce an insight if it whacked him over the head with a full bottle of absinthe.
The killer tendency is to ascribe a deeper motivation to his cynicism than he has in canon, and often (but not as often as the first) to take away the deeper motivation for his attraction to Enjolras.
Almost all the fanfic Grantaires I've seen have become anachronistic prophets of future, more jaded generations, rambling with fatalistic certainty about how misguided all the Amis are and how stupid they are to attach themselves to a cause and how imperfect human nature is, as if R had some sort of pessimistic but solid philosophy on life. He doesn't. He doesn't understand anything the Amis believe in, and because he doesn't understand, he mocks--but it's shallow mockery, made up of wordplays and empty wit and spewing forth of facts, not an actual belief that they're wrong. R doesn't believe they're wrong. R doesn't believe anything. He has, obviously, an immense amount of knowledge at his disposal, but no understanding whatsoever, so why would he argue that they're all misguided brats? He can't hold up an argument except on semantics. He picks nits; he is the master of writing a twenty-page essay with perfect style that says absolutely nothing because he can't defend a thesis; he would probably admire the nonsensical neatness of a proof that 1 = -1; his skepticism is flippant, not insightful. So even if you, the author, think their idealism was misguided and think you understand why, don't pin that on R, because he doesn't understand shit except friendship and a full glass.
And that's why he likes Enjolras. The Grantaire of fanon looks down on Enjolras because he thinks he knows better than E! does, but canon!R looks up at him because unlike R, he has enough understanding to believe in things and support his belief. R doesn't get it, so he makes fun of it, but he's secretly terribly jealous of Enjolras--not Enjolras' ability to put blind faith in a cause, but his ability to understand a cause to the point where his belief isn't blind. So again I stress, even if you think Enjolras was silly and misguided in his idealism, R is not in your position, and he is not the voice of post-Marxist disillusionment. He's a boy who knows a lot but doesn't understand anything, poking fun at and secretly envying the people who know what they're doing.
Enjolras and Grantaire have a definite power dynamic, and in all cases that dynamic puts Grantaire beneath Enjolras. Even R acknowledges it. He genuinely admires Enjolras, and if there's slashy, non-platonic love in there, it stems from the admiration. In the name of all that's good and holy, stop trashing this and substituting "Grantaire thought there were major flaws in Enjolras' philosophy, but was so infatuated with him that he followed him around like a little lost puppy." And stop having Enjolras get cut down mid-speech by a scathing and insightful remark from Grantaire. Grantaire doesn't do insightful. Grantaire couldn't produce an insight if it whacked him over the head with a full bottle of absinthe.
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And makes me rather want to find some good Enjolras/Grantaire fic, but that's another matter entirely.no subject
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It does make me lament the lack of good E/R fic, though.