Death of the Author

[@vlogbrothers]

Hi! Lindsay, thank you for inviting me to be part of this video. I really enjoyed the video and the nuanced take on a very difficult subject. I wanted to clarify one thing I've seen in comments: I don't think the video implied it, but just to be clear: The Fault in Our Stars is not, like, fanfic about a real person. I started writing The Fault in Our Stars many years before I even met Esther. My friendship with Esther definitely informed the story especially in thinking about Hazel and Van Houten, but Hazel is not Esther (Hazel isn't Gus, either, for that matter.) Esther's own story was published by her family in a brilliant book called This Star Won't Go Out, which I recommend. Anyway, I know that the author appearing in comments in a video about death of the author is too many layers of meta, but here we are in 2019. -John

[@LindsayEllisVids]

Death of the Author 2: The Undead

[@verdatum]

who the EFF is JOHN?!?

[@elonwhatever]

God damn, you two. All the thinks and the feels. This was a nice vid. Also kudos to the least heartfelt promotional talk at the end :p

[@harvestmoondennis6254]

My copy of "Infinite Jest" is now lurking at me. Thanks John, thanks a lot.

[@Matusevichfilms]

John I read your book without knowing you at all or any of the paratext of Esther and I found it incredibly compelling, touching and human, which is why I sought you out. It’s ironic, but I’m that person that subscribed to vlogbrothers because of the book and not the other way around.

[@ContraPoints]

my good friend Derrida

[@kostajovanovic3711]

Yours too

[@OpinionatedOnline]

An iconic quote

[@TheSaryaSaryovitch]

I knew I remembered that from somewhere. Love to see a nice little callback from one favorite KZbinr towards another, it warms my cold, dead heart.

[@Gummianda]

I understood that reference!

[@tomsalati1027]

I laughed

[@vlogbrothers]

Did you put my book next to Kim Stanley Robinson just to get me all hot and bothered? Because it worked. -- Hank

[@RezValla]

i think the more important question is how you had infinite jest while it was still on the shelf

[@LindsayEllisVids]

👀👀😉

[@ProfessorH]

Red hot and bothered? Green with envy? Or blue with shock?

[@rabbitfishtv]

You’re also beside Cory Doctorow’s Walkaway, which seems very Hank Green, too.

[@HunterLyonIsAPerson]

Weird flex, but okay.

[@gerileemakes]

Esther was my friend. I was not expecting to see her here. I almost cried because it's been so long since I've seen her or heard her voice. That's not the point of the video. But I thought I would share.

[@margoalex.]

Sending lots of love

[@kilimenjiro3753]

*Lindsay uses The Fault In Our Stars and John Green to demonstrate Death of the Author.* "Oh man, doesn't John Green watch these videos? His brother was in one after all, I wonder what he'd think of this-" *A wild John Green appears.* "...you know...I should have seen that coming..."

[@jonaht2145]

Through the whole video I was wondering how Lindsay’s interaction with the Greens affects the content of this video, which kinda proves her point

[@scribesorcerer4967]

John: Would you like to hear about my archnemesis, tuberculosis? Lindsay: Wut?

[@SarahZ]

Nice to see someone else's takes on Jowling Kowling Rowling! The paratext section was really interesting, and not really something I talked about in my video, so I'm glad someone else did :)

[@TheEmmaHouli]

Oh hey I just subscribed to you!!! I was thinking of your video the whole way through that section on Rowling!

[@usakrana8871]

what is this a crossover episode

[@BaroquerChick]

Ah! It was YOUR video on the subject I watched recently!

[@andrewnovak1390]

omg i loved ur video

[@syystomu]

Jowling Kowling Rowling I feel like such a child but that made me laugh so hard

[@fexbio]

There's this tale in my country that reads like this: a farmer had this only donkey in his property, but he was in dire need of funds, so he decided to sell it. But, before he could do it, the donkey died. Shortly after the misfortune, he runs into a friend, who sympathizes with his loss: - I'm sorry that your donkey died, I know you were depending on it to raise money for your farm. - Well, I still managed to sell it. - How so? - I did a kind of a lottery, I sold a thousand tickets at one dollar each. - And nobody complained that the prize was dead? - Only the winner. - And how did you solve it? - I gave him his one dollar back. JK is just still milking that corpse of a donkey over and over. Granted she's making a lot of money out of those tickets, but... yikes. (and I feel like the winner, btw).

[@deterritorialisatised_slot]

ancap 100

[@ventusgelidus9000]

What's your country if I may?

[@czechmeoutbabe1997]

That’s an amazing story! What country is it from? (if that’s not too weird a question)

[@DFX2KX]

This is Great.

[@CBDuRietz]

I guess you could consider that "donkey business". :-D

[@Djcm00137]

I can't believe she didn't refer to JK Rowling as You-Know-Who.

[@IamMissPronounced]

Holy crap. That's a good idea

[@madcircle7311]

6:16

[@brucetucker4847]

I mean, at least unlike A.R. (the one from N.O.) if you speak her name there won't be surly lawyers turning up at your doorstep like magic.

[@reese9705]

She-who-must-not-be-named

[@orionspero560]

The problem with that is that in this category she is above average. Rolling is complicated and certainly deserves to be called out for the trans exclusivity but is also pen official and other ways. In many ways the Postumus complications of albus dumbledore to war are very much reflected in her character in all of this.

[@disaljungdahl3745]

Video subtitle pitch: The Foucault in Our Stars

[@pwnedshift1]

beautiful

[@anniedangerface]

Stahp

[@o7k4vokb0ksp5n2]

lol just who

[@Dopecheetah]

Brilliant yo!

[@angelav4568]

Lmao...nice.

[@edwardgurney1694]

Funny story about Authorial Intent- my friends and I went to see Bladerunner 2049 in the cinema on its release day or soon after. Throughout the movie at moments of intense drama the soundtrack was interspersed by a discordant series of staccato cracks, like a Geiger counter. On the drive home we discussed the movie, and one of the subjects was what the clicks represented. We came to the conclusion that they swelled whenever the main character was experiencing doubt about his identity (being a robot, an artificial mechanical sound was used). One of the group went to see the film again on his own at a different cinema nearer to his house, and he was perplexed that the clicks were not there. It transpired that the cinema we went to the first time had a faulty sound system that caused it to make those weird noises whenever the music swelled (such as at moments of drama), and we had just assumed they were part of the movie. We all had a good laugh about it, but what makes my noodle is- if we had never learnt that the clicks weren't supposed to be there, would our interpretation still have been wrong?

[@merrittanimation7721]

That's really interesting. I would've just thought somebody had a weird ring tone.

[@bpansky]

I had an epic unique experience with that movie too [SPOILERS]. For some reason, when the giant hologram says "you look like you'd be a good Joe" my brain interpreted "Joe" as a slang for "customer of a prostitute". But later I re-discovered that the real life slang for that is "John", and that my interpretation was wrong. So I experienced an epic, devastating Blade Runner Pun that wasn't in the movie. (though, yes, the intended interpretation of the line is still a pun, it's just not as epic)

[@numberpi5473]

"if we had never learnt that the clicks weren't supposed to be there, would our interpretation still have been wrong?" Yeah. Truth is an independent entity to your interpretation of objective fact. The sounds were not supposed to be there, so your interpretation is incorrect even if you don't know the truth. "Fire" doesn't cease to exist because a given inuit interpreted from the world around him that it doesn't exist.

[@EmeraldMinnie]

@@numberpi5473 But would the truth of their interpretation of the movie at the time, given the facticity of their environment, be an accurate reading of the movie. Maybe not the authoritative reading of the film, but one that was as accurate as possible given the environment. I think it's super interesting to accidentally bring in the medium in which the film's being shown as part of the interpretation. Especially given that the film is both about how technology is becoming largely independent of its "authorial" intent, and the effect that that has as this technology decays.

[@Rynewulf]

Well your interpretation was based purely on the effects of a local cinema sound fault, so yes. Your interpretation is wrong because you connected the clicks to emotional swells in the story related to the characters sense of self when in reality those clicks were a literal fault. How you interpreted is very interesting, and I don't doubt that those swells in the music were likely emotional cues that you guys were picking up on. But your subjective experience of the work does not change the nature of the work itself, only your experience of it.

[@atrijitdas1704]

" All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you. " - iffy Joss Whedon

[@mahochberg]

Sounds like Stephen King too.

[@StarrChild.]

It's not really tho. The art doesn't talk back to you, it's the fans viewing the art and telling you that you made your point wrong. You know the point you thought out and created and put into the piece with that thought and creation in mind. The art is just sitting there, giving no input because it can't. Art is nothing without the person to create it and the people to see it. Everyone sees something different in art and then they make a hundred and one loopholes for why their view is the right one for their own validation. That's fine. But then getting in the creators face and telling them the point that they created and put into the work isn't the right one isn't fine. You can't twist someone's piece of work to follow your own ideas. That's not how it works.

[@AlasdairGR]

Nah, the art is just reflecting back what you’re thinking and want to hear or see. What gets reflected back at you changes as you change.

[@oldvlognewtricks]

@@StarrChild. Is the art separate from its audience? Even if nobody else comes into contact with it, part of your relationship with it is as audience. Abusing an author because of your headcanon is absurd, but so is delegitimising the audience's right to create any interpretation they want. Some theories have more and less evidence within the text to support them, but so what? Someone being 'bad' audience doesn't stop them being audience. Similarly 'bad' interpretations. Nobody has any right to have anyone agree with them - authors and audience equally.

[@sokar_rostau]

I find this an especially relevant quote for this topic, given that a side-character from Season 4 of Buffy has been given a makeover by fans. Instead of a gung-ho military guy that's all about the mission and thinks Buffy is getting in the way, as he is portrayed in the show, now he's got a case of the secret gays and everything Forrest does is out of jealousy over Buffy's relationship with Riley.

[@cuppajj]

Why did it take me until now to realize that John Green the Crash Course host is also the John Green who wrote The Fault In Our Stars

[@strdseraph2765]

I just figured it out because there was a picture of him on a funny authors collage on Pinterest. That's how I found this video. I watched vlogbros videos for years and had no idea he was John Green, the author.

[@loganthompson7717]

I found out through his wiki page and I was shocked

[@wearawatch7352]

I literally just found out through this video and exclaimed when his picture was shown 😂

[@alizetvargas]

I even still had my doubts until I finished the video and read these comments xD

[@U.E-o4w]

and his brother hank does science and looks almost identical to john😭

[@marinary1326]

The author is dead... up until I dig their body back up, perform necromantic rituals, shake them down for answers, and then disregard those answers because I don't like them. Also, the canon is gospel until I say it's not because the author can't tell me what to do.

[@marinary1326]

@@jhopewell4208 I'm... not sure I want to understand.

[@Horatio787]

That is a spot on impression of my subconscious you've got there.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

Yes. Was the author speaking as a prophet or a fallible mortal? Can we get an 11 year old to perform the necromancy?

[@mattpaxton3528]

Oh lookie, it's the Star Wars fandom! :D

[@oof-rr5nf]

@@mattpaxton3528 Really? I think that is just the ideal fan experience. I sure as hell follow this method everytime, everywhere. It is liberating as hell.

[@iain9757]

SNAPE WAS A SINGLE MOTHER (Edit : also my first KZbin Video of 2019)

[@Ebrahim_17]

RON WAS BLACK

[@Crispman_777]

GUESS WHICH CHARACTERS WERE GAY! ALL OF THEM!

[@Dorian_sapiens]

HERMIONE WAS A GHOST THE WHOLE TIME

[@MemoReviews]

HARRY POTTER HAS DOWN SYNDROME

[@superthorc6894]

Iain 97 lmao

[@DrakenWolfwood]

"My good friend Derrida." *ContraPoints has left the chat*

[@nxgan1088]

*I d o n t g e t i t p l e a s e e x p l a i n*

[@WTFPr0m]

@@nxgan1088 In the video "Why I Quit Academia," Natalie relates an anecdote about a snobby professor who insisted on calling Derrida "my good friend Derrida" as a way of humblebragging / namedropping.

[@tatehildyard5332]

It’s a reference to a KZbinr/close friend of Lindsay known as Contrapoints. In one of her videos, she referred to a pedantic professor she had who kept name dropping Derrida and referring to him as “my good friend Derida”. It also helps a lot of Lindsay Ellis fans are also Contrapoints fans.

[@debrec4266]

@@nxgan1088 ContraPoints is a politic chanel wich has many memes, Example this.

[@nxgan1088]

@@tatehildyard5332 I know contrapoints, I don't watch her too much but i do enjoy her content, I did not, however know about that. You learn something new every day. Thanks my man

[@kal6957]

Anne Rice literally wrote a BDSM erotic fanfiction of sleeping beauty and then demands her fans create their own characters. Come on.

[@mr.rotten7542]

To clarify: that "book" was not representative of BDSM. That book focuses on sexual dominance without consent. Ann Rice wrote a story about an abused neglected girl being raped, physically abused, and then abandoned as an object. Consensual nonconsent (or "Rape Play") is a kink shared by a lot of people, but very clear defined consent is established first. Otherwise, it's just rape.

[@c.c.l.9139]

@@mr.rotten7542 As someone who's a fan of a lot of "problematic" fiction, I would argue that such fiction shouldn't have to be grounded in reality and its rules. Such stories are the fantasy that you would play out. Instead of a safe-word with a partner, it's you and a book you can open and shut as you like. An exception would be novels that do ground themselves and label themselves as BDSM or even as a healthy relationship, but break the rules, like in 50 Shades. I would argue that an escapist fantasy completely divorced from reality where some innocent maiden is ravished by a pirate is better than a story that has a clearly abusive person call their abuse BDSM and encourage people to use unsafe stuff like zipties. One is clearly fantasy while the other could color a reader's perception of what is normal/acceptable from a real life partner. Another exception I would make would be for fiction geared toward younger audiences that don't have the experience and knowledge to see all the red flags.

[@mr.rotten7542]

@C.C. L. Fair point. I was specifically reacting to the original comment of "BDSM erotic fanfiction", but you're right. Nowhere in Anne Rice's novel is the term BDSM mentioned. I'd argue though that the protagonist never seemed to be aroused (which I personally consider essential in any erotic writing) even subconsciously. Although it has been a while since I read it, and rape fantasy is not my kink so I can't say I enjoyed it lol

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

@@mr.rotten7542 ->consentual nonconsent Loooool

[@hannahrobbins1017]

Is it "fanfiction" when the original story is as old as sleeping beauty and has already been reimagined lots of times before rather than using specific characters / versions of those characters from a specific work?

[@Kokorisu]

"How DARE you make the gay vampires even GAYER?!" I'm h o w l i n g. EDIT: The final Audible ad was absolutely adorable. Your faces!!

[@adelinediallo7775]

that phrase absolutely nailed it! :D

[@thevoidlord1796]

*rowling

[@Crafter610]

TheVoidLord thank you

[@jimkaragkounis4750]

"Fanfiction" *shows the Mortal Insturments* S A V A G E

[@RectPropagation]

I thank you for clarifying that it was, in fact, just an insult. I've never read those books so when that happened I half thought I missed another "fan-fiction becomes published with names swapped" thing.

[@jimkaragkounis4750]

@@RectPropagation that's exactly what those books read like tbh

[@abbeysimmons8751]

@@imheretoo6619 and from someone who actually tried to power through and read all the way to City of Lost Souls (plus 2/3 of the prequel series -.-), that insetuous weirdness never actually goes away... Clary's actual brother is /really/ into her (yikes) (I think I even remember something about him being down for a 3some with Clare and Jace, but it's been awhile so I might be wrong)

[@spritelady4669]

Mortal Instruments is terribad, but don't compare it to fanfiction and transformative works. Like with all literature, there is good and there is bad. And fanfic is no exception. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality and the Pokémon fanfiction Beasts and Beauties are fantastic well written works with really interesting takes with their respective universes. Not to mention how many god awful original works that lurk about Barnes & Noble and Amazon......

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

I've read fanfiction that was every bit as good as most classic literature. Some that were better. People need to stop dragging the genre.

[@hoponpop33]

Jokes on you guys, J.D. Salinger was actually the creator of the game show Hollywoo Stars and Celebrities, What Do They Know? Do They Know Things? Let's Find Out.

[@elkpapa]

Came here for this

[@ohheywhatsthat7664]

This comment made my day 😂😂

[@danim1442]

I keep thinking of Salinger as a cartoon caricature of the man.

[@Utomneian]

i love you for this reference. back in the 90s i was in a very famous TV show.

[@LycoLoco]

While I'm sad this show is cancelled, it did what it set out to do. What did Hollywoo stars and celebrities know? Did they know things? We found out!

[@09yulstube]

Living for the nineties HR training aesthetic

[@alex0589]

I once joked about John Green's tendency to just show up at your house then said his name three times in the bathroom mirror and we had to talk with him about his characters all night, feed him and give him a lift to the airport the next day. Great guy though. Great vid. Happy new year Lindsay and everyone else reading this.

[@dustind4694]

I invite the Greens over once in awhile to chat via the mirror invocation. Nice folks. Bit competitive with each other if you get 'em both in one summon.

[@AD-cy4vj]

Lmao what the fuck?

[@leticialeite7378]

Happy new year!

[@Marxism_Today]

I've heard a lot of people talking about this subject recently, but I never understood what they were on about. There has been a lot of smiling and nodding! Lol Thanks for making this, Lindsay!

[@cloverbll]

P. D. Morrin 2

[@nafsikaeuripi7]

When I first read "The fault in our stars", I thought that, for Hazel, wanting to know a proper conclusion to her favourite book, was similar to how she felt about her life ending shortly because of her condition.

[@AikiraBeats]

Ah that's interesting

[@noone9472]

I thought that was the author’s intent all along

[@anaisabelmunguia7285]

I felt the same. I think she used the story to try to answer her own uncertainties.

[@nafsikaeuripi7]

@@anaisabelmunguia7285 It makes sense for a person like her. And honestly, I've come across many people interacting with media they enjoy in a similar way. As if they hold some answer to a burning question they have about life, even though their creators have other things in mind and as simple people don't always know everything.

[@ianfarrugia4495]

I feel like it relates a bit to the idea of afterlife as well

[@Anewyou1337]

When I watched this, I remembered in a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle a poem he wrote in response to a critic's poem criticizing the author to not have Sherlock Holmes criticize other fictional detectives when he owed their influences: "To An Undiscerning Critic" Sure there are times when one cries with acidity, 'Where are the limits of human stupidity?' Here is a critic who says as a platitude That I am guilty because 'in gratitude Sherlock, the sleuth-hound, with motives ulterior, Sneers at Poe's Dupin as "very inferior".' Have you not learned, my esteemed communicator, That the created is not the creator? As the creator I've praised to satiety Poe's Monsieur Dupin, his skill and variety, And have admitted that in my detective work I owe to my model a deal of selective work. But is it not on the verge of inanity To put down to me my creation's crude vanity? He, the created, would scoff and would sneer, Where I, the creator, would bow and revere. So please grip this fact with your cerebral tentacle: The doll and its maker are never identical. - 28 December 1912 London Times Edit: Holy cow, Thanks for the likes! I was not expecting this...

[@mjade1097]

That’s a killer final line

[@wjzav1971]

Reminds me too when Clint Eastwood came under fire for "supporting assisted suicide" in one of his movies. His response was something along the lines of "I'm just telling a story. I have made other movies where I run around and shoot people with a Magnum gun. Doesn't mean that I think that is good either."

[@lhfirex]

I hate that the internet makes everything seem sarcastic, because I just want to call you Cool Lit Professor, and I mean it sincerely.

[@IamMissPronounced]

Underrated comment

[@fini5294]

I read this in a sarcastic tone

[@Fiemus9]

Heh

[@AikiraBeats]

That should totally be a thing

[@BG-rx6ts]

Lit

[@DontLeaveTheGardenerWithTheDog]

Lindsay Ellis is the maiden saint of essay writing. You are in the thoughts and prayers of humanities students everywhere

[@andrewriker2192]

thewatcher Unlike when I was in college, doing it professionally means a team of people get to do it. Nothing against Lindsay Ellis, but want to make sure we give the whole team credit. They are all outstanding examples of good research and essay writing!

[@sketchypie]

Nothing has helped me understand Death of the Author theory quite like living through JK Rowling's current... state.

[@Yubsie]

JK Rowling basically has "Death of the Author" moving on to "Calmly Smothering the AUthor with a Pillow"

[@ieatgremlins]

Girl, ain't that the truth.

[@thirteenfury]

I suddenly got this image of an elderly J. K. being wheeled around a retirement home by a nurse as she points a wand at other residents and shouts triumphantly "Yer a wizard 'Arry! Wingardium Leviosa! Expelliarmus! Dobby is free!"

[@Vulpixyy]

I enjoy that most of the fandom has moved away from yelling at J.K for her ongoing bull shit to just deciding she immediately got sucked into a black hole post Deathly Hallows release. Cursed Child? What are you talking about???? What weird alternative dimension l bullshit are you mumbling about?

[@flootzavut30daychallenge]

Yubsie 🤣 that is a MOOD

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

Until you said gay Vampires I heard you say Anne Rice but thought it was Ayn Rand and I was like "who's writing that fanfic???"

[@roxanneconner7185]

lmao I went through the exact same thought process, glad I'm not alone

[@MzLuluZombi]

I mean Ken Levine wrote BioShock sooooo

[@greenredblue]

Erm, Bioshock is fanfic of Ayn Rand in the same sense that Starship Troopers the movie is fanfic of Starship Troopers the book... in that the person who wrote the fic clearly wasn’t a fan...

[@MzLuluZombi]

Guy Boo I know. I was joking.

[@greenredblue]

LuluSoBlue So... you were trying to affect irony without emphasizing any contradiction? K, I guess I’ll take your word for it.

[@broadwaylover5384]

"Fanfiction." *City Of Bones appears* Tea

[@CearoT]

Ohhhh yesssss.... had a friend who printed the original fanfic to get it signed by the author.

[@tanner1399]

I laughed TOOOO much

[@theoriginalsache]

I cackled.

[@splurgabonnnephlhogg3000]

Hadn’t seen fault in our Stars. William Dafoes John Green cosplay is sick

[@johnlee7164]

Yeah, definitely sold me on the movie now.

[@jakfan09]

@@johnlee7164 Same

[@TheSupaCoopaGaming]

Spider-Man!

[@EvelynDayless]

You know he's something of an author himself.

[@enriquepena2009]

Cant we approach it like Schrodinger's Author? Interpret the text how we'd like, but accept the author had an intent but dont give it too much weight?

[@grill-surf-bust]

That makes sense to me. Although literary analysis doesn't.

[@fairycat23]

I do that most of the time.

[@marinary1326]

The author is both dead and not, alive and unalive.

[@Gooong]

If you start adding quantum theories to reading literature then every book becomes SciFi. No matter the genre of the text what the book is really about is the parallel universe where the canon reading of the character's lives outside of the text is dictacted by the author's intent and the universe where you interpret it yourself based only on the text.

[@FaeQueenCory]

+rockerchair Shoooosh. You’re making sense and pushing civility on the internet. You’re not doing the internet right!

[@carydorse705]

I believe "death of the author" has to be viewed on a case-by-case-basis. Stephen King for example would not tell you what his authorial intent was when writing Cujo. He can't, because he was so high on drugs when he wrote the book, that now he can't even remember having written it. You can't do that with Strangers in a strange land, because Heinlein literally preaches onto the page. Goethe claims in his letters and notes that something important happens in Faust 2, but seemingly forgot to put any of it in the text. You have to ask yourself if any of the intent applies to the text, if it doesn't represent it. You also have a debate about canon. Tolkien made one of the richest worlds in all of high fantasy. The story of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the Simarillion could in that case be seen as the text. But then there's the deep canon of "Tolkien mentioned this in a letter to a friend once and that other thing i´when asked by a fan." If you want to determine death of the author you first need to find a consensus on what the text even is. Or who the author is when it comes to a collaborative work.

[@mothcub]

wow Lindsay I can't believe you wrote The Fault in our Stars and I had no idea

[@z0e898]

mothcub she’s a ghost writer

[@fission035]

Wait what? When did she say that?

[@ornleifs]

@@fission035 John Green says it at the end of the video.

[@ornleifs]

@Damico881 It's at the end after the trailer around 30:05

[@poeterritory]

Yeah.. I'm pretty sure that was a joke. :)

[@craigbutler3282]

I remember when I did a book report on the book The Giver and had to do background research on the author Lois Lowry. Turns out she was inspired to write the book after her father had gotten Alzheimer’s and forgot about her dead sister who died of cancer in her 20s. This hit me harder than the book itself.

[@tomboy2980]

You talking about the controversies around TFIOS and then john green is RIGHT THERE is the PLOT TWIST OF THE CENTURY

[@KaijaSchmauss]

It made me laugh pretty loudly, honestly.

[@AllieAndPeach]

I've put Stephen King in every Stephen King novel I've ever read: it's hard not to when every main character is an author and lives in Maine

[@Gamechamp3000]

When it comes to reading art, I'm split. On the one hand, I feel that the nature of artistic works is a direct personal message toward the audience, and to separate the author from the work is to dehumanize it. But on the other, I'm not ready to say the audience has no place in making their own interpretations separate from the author's, because that would be denying the full interactive potential art can have.

[@DarthBiomech]

Why it can't be both? Author laid out the facts and statements about their story. You made your own opinion on these facts and statements. You can have your interpretation, but anything you'll try to do with that will result in your own work of fiction, and will not change the source material, and it's facts, in any way.

[@papersonic9941]

VG Myths: can you read a book while separating the author from the text?

[@loganrenfrow2544]

@@papersonic9941 Wouldn't that be literary myths?

[@oatmealcoloured9950]

schrödingers author: authorial intent matters to the degree I agree with it xD

[@ello-olle]

You here too?

[@Paganomation]

Every time I watch one of your videos, I feel like I spend (at minimum) the next 2-3 days thinking about the topics discussed and questions raised. Nice work as always. 👍

[@Aaron-E-Real]

so cool to see you here! awesome!

[@turtlezinthesky]

I just noticed the gentle transition at 27 minutes from the 90's instructional bit to the normal style. I'm not sure what it communicates, though... ...do I ask the author, or...?

[@bronzeage4579]

"Author is dead" is just post-modern, relativistic bullsh*t. The author's intent should ALWAYS dominate every other intent, even if his/her intent is inferior to the fan's intent. Societies embrace of "Death of the Author" can be traced back to a bratty culture in which everyone wants their own worldview affirmed in everything they look at. P.S. I am using the video makers definition of Death of the Author.

[@brennens8849]

Joseph Neira did... did you watch the video?

[@bronzeage4579]

@@brennens8849 My comment is not in response to the video.

[@NickTheDM]

Joseph Neira Then like...what are you doing here?

[@bronzeage4579]

@@NickTheDM My comment is on the SUBJECT of the video, you dolt. It's not a rebuke of the video. Understand?

[@Matrim42]

“What is it about Death of the Author that appeals to you, the reader?” The death 💀

[@drunkenneko]

There’s a sick sad part of me that as soon as I got notification and read the Title I JUST KNEW JK WAS COMING. 😂😂

[@zuenskes]

SAME! :)

[@StraightPunkEdge93]

I think we all thought the same thing 😂

[@andrewlyon4495]

But were you expecting "him" to show up?

[@marshmello3455]

We need to talk about the hippogriff if in the room 🤣

[@przemekdude]

Yup!

[@Paralellex]

I've killed plenty of authors before and it has not helped me one bit in deconstructing literature.

[@paisleepunk]

This comment is INSANE out of context, and barely less so in it. I love it

[@Sam-lg8bm]

"my good friend Derrida" i see you with that contrapoints reference

[@UberMenschNowFilms]

Cross-over...?

[@sugarblunt]

Holy shit please!

[@rusted_ursa]

I cackled so hard!

[@rusted_ursa]

@Giovanna Andrade "Why I Quit Academia," of memory serves.

[@slome815]

I'm at least happy that Tolkien answered so many fan letters about middle earth seriously. He really expanded his world in a meaningfull way.

[@KannikCat]

I'm very much in the "middle path" camp that shies away from either absolute of author=dead vs author="god" and enjoy the layers that come from exploring both my thoughts on the text alone and the greater context surrounding the work (including, of course, the author). Fabulous vid! Loved the 80s VHS motif, sooo much a part of my youth. :P

[@tiacat11]

Finally, a middle ground camp! I was worried I wouldn't find someone who agreed with me. Absolutism in and of itself is poison to learning in my opinion, which I admit is itself an absolute.

[@PrimordialNightmare]

@@tiacat11 Well, if you describe it at poison, it doesn't have to be an absolute, after all, the dose makes the poison. I personally think that death of the author and authorial intent/being god cater to two very different interests. Author=death is great for exploring themes and a personal relationship with the text. If one's more interested in the concept of world building, authorial intent and the godhood of the author become much more valuable. If we look at star wars, the original trilogy was strongly thematic and the prequels were almost entirely world building. The lord of the rings mixes world building with tolkiens chapter long expositions with a Story that I feel is much more about it's themes. So it lends itself well to ask the author questions about what happens outside the pages, many of them probably answered in the silmarillion, but there's also an awful lot of space to talk about how one relates to the actual text.

[@Draber2b]

I have a *soft preference* for "authorial intent" (called also "the word of God" - I kind of dislike the absolutist and pretentious sound of that). But I always love to here a critic analysing the work in two different ways. Which they ushally do. Most reviews are actually not on one absolute. I also form double reviews in my head. It's just more interesting.

[@CloudCuckooCountry]

I am so envious that you got to interview both Green brothers.

[@crystalar99]

What video did she interview Hank?

[@CloudCuckooCountry]

@@crystalar99 In her video titled: "KZbin: Manufacturing Authenticity (for fun and profit)"

[@SoMuchNoise1]

Time Kick

[@emjenkins464]

Calling the Shadowhunters world Harry potter fanfiction is possibly fatal shade and I admire your courage.

[@riley8385]

I love your channel btw

[@fangirlfortheages5940]

Talking about Harry Potter and dumbledores sexuality made me think of a very potter musical (and the sequel and senior year). I guess that is the ultimate form of paratext and fan culture

[@DFloyd84]

That sounds like a bootleg novel: "Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Sexuality."

[@benjaminzeledon7626]

I mean if you look at it from that lens, AVPM led directly into the later seasons of Glee, which led into Ryan Murphy having a long career with various TV shows feeding into this endless feedback loop of paratext that leads all the way back to Harry Potter

[@KaijaSchmauss]

@@benjaminzeledon7626 If you want to make it even weirder, and more meta, you could argue that AVPM led directly to Darren Criss winning an Emmy as well as every other aspect of his career. Which Darren himself has often copped to when asked about it interviews.

[@OffbeatWorlds]

Lol you showed City of Bones when you mentioned Harry Potter fan fiction, I'm dead 😂

[@haybonvan3116]

It’s factual that The Mortal Instruments series started off as a Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley fanfiction. Lol.

[@SilentAJ37]

​@@haybonvan3116 And that shit was F I R E. I STILL have the Draco Trilogy squirreled away in my email. 😂

[@geniehossain3738]

You’ve collected all the Greens, pass Go.

[@johnlee7164]

Lindsey just needs one more Green to start building houses and soon hotels.

[@Serpillard]

Now eat your Greens!

[@141Zero]

@@Serpillard eat the rich?

[@ingonyama70]

@@141Zero I think she can do better for meals, they're too charming to nom.

[@ariitheway]

Film mom feeding us with knowledge just before the end of the year? Everyone say thank you Lindsay!

[@ParagonBourne]

mosaicredhearts Film mom is best mom

[@ameeliee]

thank you lindsay!

[@RoseBaggins]

Thank you Lindsay!!

[@ethansloan]

Thank you, Lindsay!

[@melissamybubbles6139]

Thanks

[@SyndicateProjectFan1]

I can’t help but wonder how Lindsay’s relationship with John Green affected her outlook on this

[@linliel]

yes, especially since she leaves the 16 year olds' sex scene thing hanging

[@nralbers]

I see what you did there...

[@FelixIakhos]

Well our opinions are at least partially the result of the information given to us, so it is certainly not beyond the realm of imagination.

[@-haclong2366]

If the author is death then she's interviewing a zombie.

[@86chaz86]

@@matiasalderetevelazquez9628 I wouldn't be surprised if the meta layer was the author's intent on this essay and oh god it's starting....

[@naminova]

I really didn't expect to be gut-punched by memories of a time when I was an awkward teenager. At 17, I was a HUGE vlogbrothers fan, I went to both the Fault in our Stars tour and the midnight premiere of Deathly Hallows part 2, and wore my prized Hufflepuff scarf to both. It was only a few years later that the youtube algorithm took me from thoughtful educators, slowly down the alt-right pipeline, from science thinkers, philosophers, Atheist movement leaders, into anti-SJW and anti-feminist strawman makers. And looking back, reinterpreting the Harry Potter series I loved so much feels, well, pertinent to how I slipped into that dark era of my thinking. Hermione trying to change things and help people was portrayed as annoying and high-and-mighty. Hell, the Hufflepuffs were a whole HOUSE of people committed to being accepting of others who are different, and they were portrayed as weak, incompetent, and unlikeable, aside from Cedric, who was the kind of *popular* guy we're taught to mistrust. Rowling's beliefs color her work, and in turn, color the way children who grew up admiring her work and wanting to be like her characters, see the world.

[@Zizumia]

A lot of us have fallen into the alt right pipeline unfortunately. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, it seemed popular to be anti-SJW. All I knew of the left in those days was that they were loud, annoying and hellbent on taking away my "free speech". I was a lot more edgy back then so I was always being offensive as possible "for the lulz". Very cringe. I think your point on what we grew up with influencing us is true. It's interesting to see the subtlety of messaging in media such as books have an impact. My journey was a lot less subtle as I grew up with a paranoid conspiracy theorist, diehard Conservative and slight Christian Nationalist father. I've been drifting to the left over the years and it was down to just actually listening to the people I deemed as "loud" and "annoying". Then you realize they are saying a lot of sane shit. A lot more sane than my father thinking Obama was the literal Anti Christ because he is a Muslim in charge of the greatest country in the free world LOL! Anyway, thanks for your story. Made me think a lot about my journey.

[@alexwright4930]

Well I watched the Fault in Our Stars film without knowing anything about John Green, so I guess the story worked. Though makes a bit more sense now.

[@ScarletDeath]

I feel like Rowling probably thinks she IS a a dead author. When she responds to Harry Potter og series questions, it doesn't read as authorial intent, but comes across as more of a fan. She uses a lot of the same language any tumblr fan would talk about their headcanon of a character.

[@Randomgen77]

Alice Scarlet Death That... is a good point.

[@claralodesky3542]

Wow. I've never thought of it that way, but it definitely clarifies things for me. It doesn't necessarily exonerate her from being p r o b l e m a t i c because she's had the chance to include more representation and has failed to do so, but it goes a long way to explain why she adds certain elements retroactively.

[@ScarletDeath]

@@claralodesky3542 I agree with you on end. Treat us like an afterthought just for woke coins.

[@claralodesky3542]

Alice Scarlet Death What's really fucked up is that our media is so cishet focused that I might never have noticed anything amiss if she hadn't tried to add LGBT characters after the fact. I never would have even batted an eye at a story featuring only straight leads because that's what's considered the norm.

[@TacticusPrime]

So is Nagini being an Asian lady fundamentally a troll?

[@meg143562]

TBH I don’t think I knew who Esther was when I read the book. I barely knew who John Green was, save for that someone I had a crush on liked his books. I personally think the book stands alone just fine.

[@reubenm.d.5218]

Yep. I also knew not much other than that he was a popular author, and I think it's a funny and heartfelt story without that context. Oh, and I'd read other books of his, which undoubtedly changed my reading of TFIOS. Side not it's the novel of Green's that I enjoy the least

[@emjenkins464]

I read it completely divorced of context. It was given to me to read by a German friend at 11 when I didn't even know he had a KZbin or tumblr or anything. I think it was definitely a 'pure' reading, but does that really matter

[@giagem404]

Same. I just found out about it from a friend who gushed about it. I read it and loved it instantly. Even then, it was a year before I found out about vlogbrothers and Esther Earl day and everything about nerdfighteria.

[@lzmunch]

Same, honestly, quite shocking how exactly true this is lol

[@danieltaylor4912]

My big problem with death of the author is that some people have essentially weaponized this theory. Where, in some respects, the initial theory divorces itself from the author's biases and what they intended to be read into the story, in such way it defends the authors themselves from criticism, and also protects the work from criticism of the author. However, the concept of coding is where the work is analyzed without the author's intent in mind, and then projects any flaws deemed from the text back onto the author to show what you think that the author believes, and the authors cannot defend themselves.

[@Kango234]

It being weaponized is my issue as well. I do think everyone can have an opinion and feel what they want to feel, but it's weird to me when an author actually does come out and explain something and everyone just says that the author is wrong because it conflicts with their fan theory. If you don't like what the author has to say you should just move on. It honestly feels childish to bury your head in the sand and and make up stuff because they didn't feel the same way you do.

[@asdfasdf4176]

so the zombification of the author?!

[@brittanydiamond6772]

Well said. As a writer, it's the harsh phrasing and dismissive attitude that's starting to make me nervous. I am completely okay with people asserting their own interpretation of my work even if it's not what I intended or I don't even like idea in the first place. I gave it to them and what they do with it isn't my business. There's a rising trend, though, of comments and attitudes that feel like an audience is yanking the book from an author, shoving them onto the porch, and slamming the door in their face. Like, hello, that thing you've been obsessing over for months was written by a hardworking human being who is allowed to talk about their own work just like you're allowed to (politely) ignore them. In many ways, Death of Author should be renamed Live And Let Live.

[@CNash85]

Weaponized is a good word for it. There's a phenomenon where people will dismiss books simply because they disagree with the personal views of the author - even when that's got nothing to do with the story. Orson Scott Card's views on gay people, for example, led to a boycott of books he'd written decades earlier which don't even mention the topic. The author may protest, but is met with a mangled form of the theory: "what you think doesn't matter, we've decided that since you're anti-gay then all your books must be too, so there!".

[@brittanydiamond6772]

@@CNash85 There's a difference between 'this guy is kind of an ass to people' and 'this guy thinks a certain group of people don't deserve basic human rights.' That's not some small "disagreement," and if someone outs themselves as a bigot then the defending party and their allies have every right to defend themselves. But that's not to say a person's art is inherently bad because the artist is bad, it's just that mileage varies on whether a person can separate art from artist enough to enjoy their work. And yes, there are people who can't separate the two very much, if at all, and that's their prerogative. I prefer more of a 'let's look at the work objectively while keeping the creator's bigotry/abuse/misconduct in mind, but it's not my place to tell trans people they should appreciate Harry Potter anyway even though the person who wrote it speaks against them specifically. It's a messy, personal, case by case kinda thing.

[@roxy20231000]

And I worried New Year's Eve would be boring this year... Silly me ^^ it's almost midnight in France, so HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

[@MrBasetramp]

Happy new year to you ^^

[@StockAvuryah]

bonne année eh

[@detimeditom]

Happy new year! Don't miss hbomb's premier after you watched this

[@mrclueuin]

Happy New Year! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉👋

[@Dorian_sapiens]

@@detimeditom Thank you for reminding me!

[@Kayclau]

Oh my GOOOOOOOD!!!! That transition from fullscreen, LQ audio, SD image to widescreen, HQ audio and HD image was gold!!!!!!!!!!!

[@CreoTan]

I think a big problem with "author's intent" is that often, the author does things they don't actually _mean_ to do. Authors can create themes, metaphors, or implications accidentally. Really, I don't think you can fully and completely divorce an author from their work; there will always be a gray area, because a piece of the author, their views, perspectives, lives, etc, will be found in that work. It's not to say that someone who writes a serial killer horror is secretly a serial killer, but you can likely find reflections on how the author sees parts of the world. Writing is a combination of imagination and the application of experience, it's why plenty of authors write things which are familiar to them, or even if they write a fantastic world with made up rules, some of those rules might mimic something familiar, even if the familiarity is only to create a better sense of empathy in the audience. I don't think we should have a strict 100% one or the other on "death of the author" or "authorial intent." I think both should be taken into account when reading a work, especially if they provide a better context of the work itself. Who someone is will have an impact on how they write, not as a negative or positive thing: just as a fact, and using that context can change the view of the work. (I'm not exactly sure if what I mean is coherent here, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

[@MrRanderas]

i think if you know or notice something about an author or their work you can include it in building your idea of the book but i think seeking out more information about the book/author specifically to shape your opinion of it is going too far.

[@Tollero999]

You're right, like certain authors were just a broken mess of a person, of course that impacts their writing. I don't think that reading H.P. Lovecraft or Franz Kafka, for example, would be the same or would even be as valued, if you didn't unterstand why these people wrote those weird stories, where their strange thoughts were coming from.

[@Caekplz]

In reader-response theory that sort of trace of the author is called an implied author, but it's not the actual person that is the author as much as it's a version of them constructed by the reader. So what matters is the reader's impression of the intent of the author, not the actual authorial intent.

[@SodaVampire]

100% agree.

[@Caekplz]

​@Leniad What creo described in the second paragraph would be the implied author. But I suppose we're kind of talking about both things because the video conflates them, or at least the implied author seems to be the thing John Green is talking about, with the author as a sort of "character" or ghost in the story.

[@TheDude90100]

Somehow this is becoming more relevant every day in regards to JK Rowling.

[@CNash85]

As Lindsay says at the very start: the theory is not meant to be used to examine the ethics of watching "The Usual Suspects" while knowing what we now know about Kevin Spacey; thus, trying to use it to justify boycotting "Harry Potter" because of how Rowling feels about trans people is also not going to work. Death of the author is primarily about the author's intent in the process of writing the story, and unless I've missed something, Rowling never touches upon trans people (or anything LGBT really - but see Lindsay's point later on about the paratext of "gay Dumbledore") at all in any of her novels. The author's personal feelings, unconnected with their writing, should not influence how we read the text. To put it another way: can a racist author write a book from the perspective of a black man? What if that story was 100% upfront and genuine; the author doesn't imply within the text that he believes black people to be inferior. How would we react? I doubt anyone would think there was *no* racist subtext whatsoever, even if it wasn't evident in the story, simply because of the public views of the author. But, taking another scenario, what if the author had no public life whatsoever? Nobody knows he's a racist, and so nobody can read anything into the text other than what is on the page. Does this diminish the quality of the finished product? No, of course not. Both with and without knowledge of the author, the text is the same.

[@kjj26k]

Well would ya look at that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfMi4yCYrprqZI

[@BostonMBrand]

CNash85 I enjoy your sentiment at the end there about the text being the same. It reminds me of the debate surrounding DW Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. In both the film industry and the study of film, Birth of a Nation’s legacy is very controversial due to it being both a piece of racist propaganda and a landmark of modern day filmmaking techniques. Long story short, the film glorifies the confederate south, the Lost Cause, white supremacy and the KKK. The film also was one of the first films to use a three act structure and was made on an epic scale unlike anything made before. The point is, while the film glorifies the institution of racism, it pioneered many techniques that are still used in film to this day. Over time many have tried to separate art from the artist or paint a more flattering picture of the film’s creator, DW Griffith, in order to make both Hollywood’s history and the history of film more clean and appealing. Some justify the film’s content by recalling Griffith’s youth growing up in a reconstructed South. Others try to remove Griffith all together and say the film is a marvel of filmmaking technique. However, the thing that bugs me the most about both arguments is the fact that no matter how you look at it, Birth of A Nation is a piece of racist propaganda. DW Griffith may have been born in a pro-White supremacy family and south but he isn’t a victim in any way. He didn’t have to glorify the KKK in the first place. Similarly, even if you praise the film for its innovations, you can’t forget the fact that it is racist, white supremacist propaganda. The text, or in this case, the film, is the same regardless of how you look at it.

[@o7k4vokb0ksp5n2]

a true understatement

[@tretozo]

So much, Lindsay has to make a second video saying "don't put this in my tab!"

[@Xondar11223344]

Great video Lindsay, I really enjoy your work, and this is no exception. One thing that annoys me about all this discussion of the death of the author is that in the original essay, the final line is "the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author." People don't seem to understand that much of the point of the essay is that it doesn't actually matter what the author's interpretation of a work is because it is entirely within the rights of the reader to interpret the work how they see fit. Barthes is telling critics to forget trying to commit hermeneutics, go ahead and tell us what you think the work was about.

[@andrewjenkins9965]

Though, of course, we risk falling into the trap of Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory.

[@tangroro]

And yet, ignorant morons often dismiss criticism or praise as "reading too much" or Blue Curtains

[@yousigiltube]

"People don't seem to understand that much of the point of the essay is that it doesn't actually matter what the author's interpretation of a work is because it is entirely within the rights of the reader to interpret the work" I don't think anyone who has tackled the essay and understood the central concept is failing to appreciate that the doctrine recommends ignoring or devaluing authorial interpretation. I find that a very strange remark, assuming I'm not misunderstanding your comment, because that is basically exactly what it is saying and what everyone seems to have taken from it.

[@Hakajin]

One thing that annoys me about all this discussion of the death of the author is that in the original essay, the final line is "the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author." Really? That's funny, because... I was taught Death of the Author without actually reading the essay, and, once I understood it on my own terms, agreed with it. But preferred to think of it as Birth of the Reader. Because! Meaning is a construct; your interpretation of a text is the meaning it has for you, no less real than the author's intent. It's wonderful that we can enjoy and expand upon reader texts like that. But why should that mean that we shouldn't also try to understand the author's intent? After all, writing is about communication. If never seek beyond your own interpretation, you're not seeing new perspectives and you're not learning. You end up with a world where everyone's knid of stuck in their own heads. Now, if what you mean by "Death of the Author" is that the author's version is no more valid than any other interpretation, well, that's different.

[@ComicDrake]

So glad that Sarah Z got a shoutout. As a fan of both of y'all's channels, it's great to see that you guys are aware of each other.

[@kaydwessie296]

Comic Drake I was just thinking about that. “Didn’t Sarah Z just do this?” I’m glad she got credited instead of ignored

[@Maybe1911_.]

Where in the video is she credited

[@Joviaero]

I didn't see a shoutout?

[@Maybe1911_.]

@@Joviaero it's only in the cited sources in the description apparently

[@yeahiagree1070]

She blatantly copied Sarah's video. A tiny citation in the description is pretty cheap. SMH

[@gillianarndt]

perfect timing because today we learned that before there were bathrooms at hogwarts, wizards just pooped wherever and made it disappear with magic. she has become george lucas.

[@MadTheDJ]

George, like or hate the changes he made to the Original Trilogy, at least put his changes *into* the films, rather than just proclaim them from the pulpit of social media. I tend to ignore much of what JKR has said outside the narratives themselves. Dumbledore is gay: doesn't matter to the story, it's not mentioned in the books. Harry and Hermione should've ended up together (in her opinion): doesn't matter, because she wrote the books the way she did and they didn't end up together. And personally I think the books are better the way she did write them in this regard. My point is, I tend to think JKR's paratexting is in some ways worse than Lucas's relatively minor, mostly aesthetic alterations to the OT.

[@rmb6037]

That was actually on Pottermore over a year ago. They just only tweeted it last week.

[@Taylor14Firefly]

She never said that Harry and Hermione should have ended up together. I read the actual interview she did with Emma Watson, and she said that she thought Harry and Hermione are more similar people so a relationship between them would've been easier at first. Hermione and Ron could butt heads and would have to put more work into their relationship. The whole "Harry and Hermione should've ended up together" was just clickbait titling from news sites that few people read. Though I agree that the paratext she is creating on shouldn't matter to the narratives. I just wanted to clarify that one bit because it's the one paratext everyone gets wrong. @@MadTheDJ

[@lazaronen1786]

Google made me do it. In large parts I agree with you but the notion of an author not doing their job if we don’t know every single detail is ridiculous. In all types of storytelling you have the key notion that if it isn’t relevant then it doesn’t have a place in the story. Over explaining drags down the story so if you can cut it you do. Tolkien made a story where we know the backstory to every pebble and mountain but he also wrote a story that is notoriously hard to read because of the amount of info that doesn’t technically serve the story he’s telling. Actually leaving holes that the reader can fill out themselves is advised by most writers because it means that people can fill them out themselves. Heck half the reason why Harry Potter is still relevant is because the fans has has continued to find ways to build up the world. Most of the problems that Harry Potter has today is because JK can’t leave the world and continues to add random shit that doesn’t actually give anything to the story or just straight up doesn’t make sense and only complicates everything.

[@Robert399]

I feel sorry for the wizard whose life's work culminated in the Make-Shit-Disappear spell.

[@lauraschantz9058]

I can't help but think that "Le mort d'auteur" is a pun on Mallory's "Le Mort D'Arthur." I just can't see anyone with a background in literature being completely able to resist that pun.

[@justarandomlad3756]

THANK YOU!! I was searching for someone who got it, too lol, nice observation lass

[@ifeeltiredsleepy]

It's "la mort de l'auteur" (the death of the author), "Le Morte D'arthur" translates as the death of Arthur. I don't think there's any intended pun because there's no other way to phrase those concepts in French and I don't think Mallory was particularly popular in France during the 1960s. Notably to make a case for a pun I think Barthes would have had to retain Mallory's mangled French grammar.

[@stevesmith9447]

It's doubly fitting given that Mallory was very far from the vision of heroic nobility associated with Arthur.

[@bookswithalyssaj449]

lindsay's video essays are SO INTERESTING

[@alexsmith2910]

The best.

[@MyssBlewm]

"PARATEXT It's not just a pair of texts!" is A-level coffee mug material.

[@mathieuleader8601]

quite the portmanteau

[@GrahamCStrouse]

MyssBlewm Followed by A-level Death-of-the-graduate-student-by-a-flathead-screwdriver-through-the-eye-socket

[@Flowtail]

Perhaps one should take the rabbi approach and say "What do you think happens after the book ends?"

[@nerdfightercommenter6969]

Fif Gallag I like your labeling that as the rabbi approach but isn’t that what John green said?

[@annak9096]

or, the truest rabbi approach: spend thousands of years arguing over the meaning of the text, including producing multiple longer, denser books about various interpretations of the book, and hold book club meetings every Saturday!

[@genericfaceless]

'just look at that parking lot!'

[@Loungemermaid]

Anna K I Mean, aren’t we already doing that with Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter

[@BihagDave]

or the therapist approach.

[@owenbloomfield1177]

This has become an interesting issue in music interviews. The entire interview becomes about the author's intent and background to the song or piece of music and nothing about the music itself. I think it partly has to do with a lack of knowledge about the languages of music in the general public, and a need for every work of art to be autobiographical.

[@hygiei]

oh, thank god, I was literally just scrolling through your channel, trying to decide which video to rewatch. now I can just use this

[@AdamarLives]

An observation about the slow transition made in this video that begins at about 26:00; Throughout the video, Lindsay uses the 90s educational VHS style as a framing device to offer information about the history and context surrounding many of the literary theories she discusses in the video. While it's a funny throwback, it also has a purpose. It lends the viewer a visual cue that informs them when she will be imparting this knowledge and, in doing so, places her in a position of authority within the video she's created. One of the major ideas discussed in this video is that of whether an author is god, or merely the messenger. In her closing statements, she offers an interpretation of The Fault in Our Stars using the 90s VHS style, implying that this is THE interpretation of the book. However, as she goes on, the video transitions from that style to a more personal style as she closes, “but that’s just my reading”. This is only one interpretation of the book. The author is dead. Long live the author.

[@orly2me]

I remember loving Secret Garden as a kid, read it over and over. There were religious references for sure, but it’s also a story of rural England in the 1800s, so i knew Christianity touched every aspect of people’s lives and just took it in stride. But the way the kids just observed nature and played in their little world was pure experiences, and reminded me of growing up. Then I found out what Christian Scientists were, and the few book lines I always had looked sideways at took on new meaning. I can’t read that book the way I used to, and I miss that

[@JustAnotherPerson4U]

I ruined Charlie and the chocolate factory for my teacher by writing an essay looking at the book through a post-colonial perspective. Oh boy did I ruin the Oompa Loompas for her. Basically saying that Wonka is an imperialistic slave owner masquerading as an emtrepeneur. Oh and he murdered an oompa loompa in the book. Gave him a fizzy lifting drink and he floated into the atmosphere and was never seen again. And he and Charlie laugh about it victim blaming the oompa loompa. I got an A for that essay and ruined her childhood memories. It was very satisfying.

[@TheInfintyithGoofball]

@orly2me I don't want to know how specifically the text was ruined but rather what the historical context was

"my good friend derrida" - love how you sneak a contrapoints reference into all of your videos now. great mouth feel.

[@calabiyau9269]

thumbs up if you pooped on the floor and then magic'd it away while watching this

[@Xondar11223344]

I get that reference!

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

Really makes you think that Pottermore (and I guess therefore JK Rowling) declared that as canon approximately 5 days after this video came out... hmmmmmm

[@spritelady4669]

Oh my gOD 🤣

[@oof-rr5nf]

Not even on the floor, it is supposed be them having shat in their PANTS in the past like... please someone tell me it is all false and is from The Onion article or something.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@oof-rr5nf I mean there is solace in the fact that in the book they state that they used chamber pots.

[@jonaht2145]

“Only a limited literary critic deals in absolutes!” -Lindsay Ellis, 2018

[@mbedj1974]

don't forget siths

[@TheAmityElf]

I appreciate the graphic identifying City of Bones as Harry Potter fanfiction. Especially since I am actively reading Cassandra Clare's most recent book. (I have a conscientious enjoyment of her works.)

[@stanconnorstan4266]

My only problem with the series is that I was mislead with the whole series. I probably would have enjoyed it I didn't feel betrayed by the series leading me on about what it was about. I was expecting a epic saga about demon hunters with cool magic tattoos in a supernatural world with a romantic subplot, not a romance novel series that barely touches on the cool things it could explore for the sake of for the sake of replacing it with family drama. P. S. I only read the OG trilogy.

[@karkatvantas9557]

@@stanconnorstan4266 The OG trilogy are literally the worst books she's written. Well no. Just City of Bones. City of Fallen Angels and Lost Souls are worse. But her new series is absolutely fantastic. Although the final book does suffer from that big romance problem.

[@oof-rr5nf]

@@karkatvantas9557 is the romance problem more love triangles because if so: k i l l m e If the love triangle does not end in the protagonist walking away alone, the love interests falling for eachother instead or polyamory (best one, imo)? I do not want it. This is the Law now.

[@karkatvantas9557]

@@oof-rr5nf Well if you like polyamory... maybe you should read The Dark Artifices series. Is that too much of a spoiler? Well tough. Anyway no, the problem was there was like 150 pages at the beginning of the book of just pointless romance that went nowhere, and it felt super inappropriate because it was like immediately after the brutal murder and funeral of an important character and everyone was supposed to be grieving.

[@oof-rr5nf]

@@karkatvantas9557 it is fine lmao spoliers have never bothered me Thank you for the rec! Honestly, romance gives me life. Which is why I love fanfiction so much. But I'd rather it be well done and meaningful. Or else don't do it at all! More mainstream books should just go without it honestly. Not everyone can write a good romance and I wish authors just stopped forcing themselves into doing it (which is how it comes across in so many cases).

[@LadyRamkinFP]

Am I the only person that reads books and doesn't know anything at all about the author?? Or even think about them in any way other than wondering when the next book will come out???

[@MrParkerman6]

I am The Exact opposite. I have to know EVERYTHING about The Author.

[@Air_Serpent]

Most books I read don’t have a fandom and I get neither a fandom interpretation or the author’s. Except maybe the author’s note, which I treasure.

[@jackodonail1980]

@@MrParkerman6 I can relate. As a Tolkien fan I am accustomed to obscure private correspondences being a normal part of textual analysis so anytime I hear about Death of the Author it feels like such a foreign notion to the way in which I engage with a text. Death of the Author seems dehumanizing in a way.

[@jordanrodriguez7502]

Now i have NEW YEARS PLANS

[@bascal133]

Jordan Rodriguez 👏🏾😂🙏🏾

[@jacobmtcastle5741]

Honestly though😂

[@Ellthom]

Really love the work you produce Lindsay and how far you have come when it comes to your videos. Informative and very constructive while providing good open discussion. :)

[@Larissimalia]

Just a note on J.K. Rowling's fanfiction stance - I remember back in the day there has been some friction between JK and fans in other countries than UK and US (I specifically remember Poland but there might be others) - apparently she didn't want to approve of an idea of any fanfiction in languages she couldn't monitor/control, even if they came from official fanfiction clubs. How much of that 'allowing' for fan fiction only applied for PR purposes English-speaking countries, I don't know, but the way she behaves nowadays proves that maybe authors shouldn't be allowed access their official social media. They can start anonymous accounts and build their separate following without revealing their identity. It would be so much easier for everyone.

[@Crouteceleste]

"maybe authors shouldn't be allowed access their official social media" How do you propose this to be put into action exactly ? You can't have a "JK Rowling Twitter account" without the actual person having the rights to control it, after all yes she's got an author's brand but she isn't a company. It would be like censoring this person, denying them access to their own identity. If their behaviour is a problem, then they can get locked out of the social media in question like any other person, like what they did with Trump. If they are not kicked out, then it's the moderation team who's not doing their job.

[@dannyflo5373]

Thank you for rocking the VHS 📼 look. Brought back memories

[@ZipplyZane]

tl;dr version: Anne Rice has since changed her mind on fanfiction. I initially wrote how Anne Rice's stance on fanfiction means I would never read any of her works again. Such a dictatorial level of control on her fans would be distasteful and even immoral as far as I was concerned. But, looking at her Wikipedia page to see the works I'd have to avoid, I find the following quote from her: "I got upset about 20 years ago because I thought it would block me,. However, it's been very easy to avoid reading any, so live and let live. If I were a young writer, I'd want to own my own ideas. But maybe fan fiction is a transitional phase: whatever gets you there, gets you there." So she was just the common author who misunderstood the concept early on, back when it fanfiction publishing was young. I forgive her for that.

[@Sammathnar]

I feel that a lot of fanfiction is stealing the ideas of their favorite author, while also devaluing the actual writers fiction. Just look at the resposne to the pretty excellent "Order of the Phoenix" that put forward a realistic version of the teenage Harry Potter to much derision of the fan community that had build their own fan fiction version of the narraitive on the back of Rowlings fiction in a derivative and trope heavy way that made the original source less well rescinded because the fans felt they were owed a narrative that was never going to happen. Because most fan fiction narratives are badly written and by definition derivative and unoriginal. Rowling, Rice and even Martin are wll withing their rights to call out the fan community on their blatant plagiarism and lack of creativity.

[@ZipplyZane]

It's not. There is no way by which a freely offered work that requires you to have already read the original in order to understand, that you must deliberately seek out on your own because you are a fan can in any way, shape, or form harm the sales or reputation of the original. As such, the author is not in any way harmed. Nothing you have alleged has established any harm. All you've alleged is that the fanfiction may be bad. So what? Everyone knows it isn't the original, so the original work is not harmed. I will now add back something from NY original post, when I thought Rice was anti-fanfiction. Playing around with your characters, whether in writing or just in one's own mind, is how fans engage with a work. To cut then off is to attack the very people who adore your work the most. Blocking fanfic has no upside. It doesn't stop anything that actually harms the author, and it punishes your most devoted fans, the very people who are your best brand ambassadors. That is why nearly every author allows fanfic today. And I only say "nearly" because I'm sure someone can find that one weird exception, because humans are individuals. But I literally know of no authors who block fanfiction. And, like I said, I would swear off their works or giving them any money if they did. There's no reason to be a fan put into that sort of straitjacket. There's no point in getting involved with a creator who wants to control their fans.

[@Sammathnar]

@@ZipplyZane It is more sad than bad. Creative people are failing to make their own worlds and ideas because they are writing fanfiction. And bad fanfiction can make people get a wrong idea of the actual authors work. Fanon is a real thing and can be damaging. Again, look at how fanon has colored the Harry Potter community over the years, that alone can show the real damage fanfiction can do to an authors reputation or at the least the fans understanding of the work.

[@Science112095]

@@Sammathnar You really don't understand fanfiction at all do you.

[@Sammathnar]

@@Science112095Maybe not. From my experience, it is dominated by misogynistic and racist attitudes that excludes and defines fandom in a narrow and nasty way. Again, mostly my experience is with the Harry Potter fandom, and the horrible way it reacted to any deviation from the fandom before the series was completed, but I have seen similar attitudes all over fanfiction. A culture based on stealing other peoples work and trying to define it for themselves is not something that most people want to understand.

[@ShakeTheBox]

The problem with applying so much weight to the opinions of our favorite writing superstars like Rowling and Green, is that they’re just humans with faults like you and me. Sometimes we can be too willing to ignore the fault in our stars. …wait.

[@left8277]

Shake The Box I don’t know if that was actually what you think or just setup, but that was a hell of a pun.

[@ShakeTheBox]

@@left8277 It was mostly just me having the epiphany that the title of John Green's book might have more meaning than I first realized. It not only applies to the fate of the two main characters, but also, in a completely different way, to Van Houten, the author.

[@needmeachillplaylistforstu3495]

i was feeling like utter shit for a few hours now but the pun you just did lifted up my spirits a bit. thanks, man!

[@ShakeTheBox]

Glad to help!

[@Aveilas11]

Also because we initially imagine the authors as saints, otherwise we can't cope with reading them, means that when we DO find out they have flaws, we get really angry and now consider them the Worst. I don't think anybody as a potential author wants to be a subject of The Discourse.

[@solidwarrior]

Death of the author is a tool, a tool that is sadly misused by many people. However I would argue that we shouldn't discard it entirely. I think we can separate the author from the art if the work of said art doesn't contain or condone the bad things we hate about the author. I think your take was fair and thorough about this subject matter.

[@alanpennie8013]

solidwarrior It does seem better to respond first to the bare text and seek information about the author only later.

[@wampyrelli]

It might be interesting to try to understand where the person is coming from with their "bad things". You might learn to reevaluate to perhaps make yourself more sure about your postion and so become a stronger better person...

[@KnightRaymund]

A lot of Harry Potter fans feeling this today.

[@phoenixfritzinger9185]

And today

[@greenfire4115]

And always really.

[@KnightRaymund]

Yeah... pretty much. Ugh.

[@jaretanderson]

And today...

[@xym07]

I’m not a Harry Potter fan but I agree. The feeling must be getting harder every day by day.

[@cashnelson2306]

"what can I say but yikes" is gonna be the next "Thanks, I hate it" on twitter. I feel marketed to

[@ingonyama70]

Hey, I'd buy the T-Shirt.

[@F1n3-4rt]

Truth be told, the only exposure I had to John Green was my peers. Looking for Alaska was one of the few modern books we were allowed to read at my school. Old school Dewey system tagged later Paper Towns and I read that next. All the girls read Green's books, and we developed a book club around them. Green was the crash-course guy sometimes I would use, but never a internet personality. Its weird to see that I completely missed the man behind the book, the discourse- everything. The entire work of fiction is tied to a rebellious teen who tried to read Catcher in the Rye and was given The Fault in Our Stars.

[@FSSZilla]

My take: Authorial Intent is one of many lenses that can be applied to a work, but it's also important to, as Foucault said, look for the gaps left by the author's absence. A lot of this video focuses on contemporary fiction and interpretations involving authors who participate actively in their community, but I think a lot of that relationship changes when the author literally dies. When the author does not or can not answer any of those hanging questions about what was meant, when people are forced to interpret things for themselves because the answers are unknowable, I think that changes the lens. I also think it's perfectly fine to disavow paratext if you think it harms the themes. Even if the author did not intend symbolism, if you read that symbolism into the work, and it creates a message, that message is a part of the work, intentional or not. I think even John Green, in this video, demonstrates that. The Fault in Our Stars ended up not being what he intended it to be. And that's okay. I feel like Death of the Author is a tool to empower the audience to break through the crust of a work and mine deeper. I feel like all the stuff about branding and paratext are not authoritative impacts on the message. They're supplements. They are optional lenses. I feel like, to say otherwise, is to say you haven't seen a movie unless you've watched it with director's commentary enabled, or to equate missing that commentary with missing scenes from the movie. Draw your own conclusions. It's the best way to make meaning of the work, and of the world.

[@GrahamCStrouse]

FSSZilla It’s also a way to keep minimally skilled academics half-employed...

[@snorlaxcrossing95]

This reminded me of a Hey Arnold episode, when he looks for info about his favorite author and it turned out to be a really grumpy middle aged lady who lived by herself on an island.🤔

[@connorsyrewicz5453]

So quick clarification on the Foucault quote. He was, in that quote, summing up the notion of the so called death of the author in order to critique it. He argued in that essay that to proclaim that the author is dead is simply to overlook and disregard the actual ways in which the “author-function”-that is, the idea of the author-does in fact organize the meaning of a text, its reception and context. He gives the example of Nietzsche writing a shopping list. We don’t tend to see this kind of text as part of Nietzsche oeuvre. The Nietzsche-author-function, then, serves to include certain texts by the actual Nietzsche (such as his philosophical works) as “relevant” and other texts by the actual Nietzsche (such as his shopping lists) as irrelevant. The idea of an author is still very much alive when we read a philosophical book by Nietzsche since it is the idea of the “author” which has led us, in part, to this philosophical work rather than that quotidian work (or any other work for that matter). Foucault’s point was that if you really wanted to “kill” the idea of the author, you had to truly understand it, and he saw Barthes as doing no such thing.

[@alanpennie8013]

Connor Syrewicz Thanks. I think Foucault was saying something pretty insightful in his critique of Barthes (who wasn't saying anything the American New Critics hadn't said a generation earlier). It would have been interesting to see what Foucault would have made of Rowling's commentary on her own writing. Would he have treated it like Nietzsche's shopping lists?

[@christopherbrown1848]

@@alanpennie8013 Seeing that she chose not to include such commentary as relevant in the Harry Potter septology (or else did not such details in mind when she wrote it), the principle of the author-as- grouping-function suggests that we should not consider such commentary part of Rowling's fictional work.

[@TheMrVengeance]

What I think bothers me most about the JK Rowling thing is that she's (in a sort of blatant yet subversive way) trying to clean her hands. When she's confronted about the fact that all her books were about a school full of largely straight white cis-gendered kids, she's like... uhhhh uhhh uh Dumbledore was always gay, and Hermione was black, and werewolves are AIDS. _"Look look, wasn't I actually super progressive all along you guys!?"_ I honestly don't care what colour Hermione is, and I frankly wasn't surprised about Dumbledore being gay, in my head he always had that Ian McKellen vibe anyway. But it would've been so interesting to hear about non-cis people in a world where there's potions and magic that change your body and appearance, or to have an _actually_ canon gay or lesbian couple. Or indeed, in reference to the tweet from the Jewish guy, how religion works and/or plays a role in a world of magic. Are there magical gods? Do religious wizard kids raised by muggles loose faith once they learn about magic? Are wizards religious? But instead she wrote a very safe and vanilla world (of which I'm a big fan, but let's not kid ourselves) and then retroactively trying to claim representation and progressive edginess.

[@JulianneHannes]

If only they cast gay actor Luke Evans as Dumbledore and show him actually being gay. But alas JK Rowling is a closeminded babyboomer.

[@MocaLykke]

I kinda agree, and kinda not... (it turned out really long, I'm sorry, feel free to ignore me) I mean, are we agreeing that writing a safe vanilla world for children books is okay? Assuming that we are, then would we rather have her answering fan's questions with "no, there wasn't lgbt+ people in Hogwarts" "no, there wasn't any Jewish people at Hogwarts"? I'm guessing not. You can't please everyone and the pressure for writers nowadays to have a pride parade, a black lives matter speech, a feminist rally, disability representation and everything else in every book, has made for some boring readings for me recently... (and I'm a big advocate for representation myself) I think the Harry Potter books are just fine. It might not show on paper but when I picture the kids from Hogwarts I have a pretty diverse cast in mind (once you've removed the billion Weasley kids). Maybe not as much as some would want, but as a french kid it felt natural and pretty accurate with my own school days (except with more english guys and less french, of course...) I really don't get the big deal about a lack of diversity in Harry Potter; of the 3 girls the main character dated two were of different racial descent, Indian and Asian, and the only decent Minister for Magic was black. Sure, it's great when the main cast is diverse, and we need more lgbt+ people in children literature and media, but it's not anyone's responsibility to use their art, life and energy to fight every one of those battles. And, don't get me wrong, I'm as often annoyed (or even slightly pissed off) by Twitter Jk as you are, but people seem to be reaching now. When I see that tweet about Hermione, all I'm understanding is "this is all that is canon about her, for the rest, keep imagining her as you want, she can totally be black, I love the idea of a black Hermione" I really don't get how people can translate that tweet to "She was black all along". As for Dumbledore's sexuality, it has nothing to do in those books. Did you know your teachers' sexuality as a kid? Especially your 200years old teacher? I certainly didn't, the only teachers who's love life I knew were the two that were married to each other and my english teacher, because I was friend with her son... Now, I'm all ready to call Jk out if Dumbledore isn't canonically gay in FB, since the story is gonna revolve around his and Grindlewald relationship, but so far they seem to go in the right direction. I mean, no spoiler but in FB2 they went to the trouble of bringing a classique No-Homo catch-phrase just to shoot it down. Only time will tell, but for a story supposed to climax in 3 movies from now, it seems like a fine start to me. I still kinda agree though, I also wish for all of those topics to have been in the books in some ways, I just think that it's not the writer's fault if they didn't fulfill every wish of their readers.

[@celinak5062]

So virtue signaling

[@TheMrVengeance]

@@MocaLykke - I don't think it's wrong to write a world like that. But she should then be honest, and answer IF ASKED: "HP is a children's book written from the perspective of a kid, therefore sexuality wasn't something I had considered. Of course of Hogwarts were a real place there would be lgbtq+ people there." Not retroactively try to score points by claiming a gay character without actually writing one. Besides, Rowling had the opportunity with Crimes of Grindelwald to portray Dumbledore as the gay character he is, but she still didn't. That just shows it's not the "children wouldn't know he's gay" reason.

[@MocaLykke]

​@@TheMrVengeance - Well, that would only be "honest" if it's the truth. Just because some people want to believe that doesn't make it so. Personally I have no problem believing that she indeed pictured Dumbledore as being gay from early on (and I'm about certain that she wrote the last book with it in mind, since the reveal came a short time after publishing it), I don't see any legitimate ground for accusing her of lying. For example, now a lot of people like "calling her out" for making things up as she goes and lying about Nagini having being a woman since the beginning, when a "Nāgini" is a female Nāga in Hindu religion and other Asian cultures, a literal half-snake/half-woman... Whether we like JK or not, this and Snape's storyline are proof that she can withhold for years something that was still in the text (or in her mind while writing it) since the very beginning (now _should she_ reveal it and if yes _how,_ is another topic...). (Also, since you've put "if asked" in caps, I'd just like to precise that I'm pretty sure Dumbledore's sexual orientation and his Grindlewald debacle was revealed at a Q&A meeting, when a fan asked if Dumbledore, who rambles about the power of love all the time, had ever been in love himself. The question wasn't even about lgbt+ at Hogwarts... Maybe it was for points, maybe not. There's no way anyone could know that for a fact, and we probably shouldn't judge and condemn strangers, even famous strangers, on completely empty grounds.) As for Crimes of Grindlewald, as I said, I'm personally perfectly fine with how they've dealt with Dumbledore's sexuality so far. It's subtle but it's there, and the conveniently timed "no-homo" sentence of the movie was immediately shot down, fair and square. His (and Grindlewald's) storyline is barely beginning, nothing have been revealed yet and there's 3 more movies coming, no need to rush it. To me they left that door wide open. Whether they're gonna walk right through it or slam it in our faces, we'll see in a few years. It will still be time to be pissed off and scream "opportunistic" then. (again, long... sorry... I'm biologically incapable of writing short comments. Thank you for your patience if you made it that far.)

[@TwoGoblinsInATrenchCoat]

I am legit pulled in both directions on this issue. As a writer who one day hopes to publish, mastery, to a degree, over my work seems only reasonable. On another hand, I can see the merits of Death of an Author clearly.

[@annakilifa331]

When I was a child, I never considered the author when reading books. I usually didn't know anything about them and I didn't care and often didn't know their names. Yes, the names were on the covers, I might have read them at some point, but if you asked me about the names of the authors of some of my favourite book series, I wouldn't have known. Or cared. And I actually never thought about authors when reading books, either. I never saw an author in the story they had written. If my 11 year old self had heard John and Lindsay talking about seeing the author in a book and how you can't seperate the author from their work, I would not have had a clue what they were talking about. ...probably because I couldn't speak english at age 11, but I don't think I would have understood more, if language wasn't an issue. I just read books and looked at them as just that. Finished works that somehow existed. I never thought about how they came into existence. I mean, I obviously knew someone wrote them at some point, but I neither cared nor really thought about that. Nowadays, I sometimes still have that type of reading experience, but often not anymore. That said, I still don't understand the other extreme. I have never experienced it. I've never been dying to know an author's thoughts about something in their books. Or even been particularly interested, without the "dying for it" part. I don't get it. I don't get why someone would travel across the world to ask their favourite author about something happening outside of the story. There are instances, where I could find an author's thoughts on something like that interesting, but not to a degree where I would go significantly out of my way or spend money or something to get it. Or even just specifically went looking for it at all. I don't know. Maybe I'm weird. I don't understand you. If I was an author I would probably be incredibly annoyed by people trying to psychoanalyze me through my work.

[@QuaseVingativa]

the contour game in the VHS part of the video tho

[@JustinY.]

For a second there I thought someone just passed away

[@paulbernardo7180]

👌

[@josuebartley7272]

Happy Year of Skulls

[@baronofbahlingen9662]

Justin Y. Why do I see you in every comment section.

[@noreski435]

I was here before you you filthy unwashed mongrel

[@Greendalewitch]

Im not sure whether I'm more annoyed or amused that you seem to be everywhere.

[@GregHamblin]

I see you, Infinite Jest parked right next to Twilight.

[@meinerHeld]

hahahAHahahaHAHa

[@MirandaMarquitFreelancingLLC]

Why does it not surprise me that we’re both here? And squinting to see what books are in the background?

[@TimeandMonotony]

Was just about to comment on that. xD

[@FlosBlog]

"There are an awful lot of young people out there, who rush into death of the author without really understanding its intended purpose" This was the smartest joke ever made on KZbin

[@littlefieryone2825]

What joke? *thinks for a little bit* Oh - OHH! Ah.

[@FlosBlog]

@@littlefieryone2825 Dont worry, I had to reread and think about it again, too :D

[@michaelmoran9020]

The irony was signing the original essay

[@for.tax.reasons]

@@littlefieryone2825 I dont want to think can you explain it to me

[@keyboardcockatoo4567]

someone explain the joke like I am 5 yrs old please

[@Kanelel]

Maybe the text and the text + metatext can be considered two separate, equally valid texts? Like, the version of Harry Potter where we don't know anything about Dumbledore's sexuality and the version where he's gay and Voldemort's snake is a racially-charged trope are obviously different, but I'm not sure why one has to be considered more valid than the other. I think it's becoming increasingly common for there to be texts where what is and is not "the text" is more difficult to determine. With Star Wars for example you've got the original trilogy with nothing else, the original trilogy + Lucas' statements, the original trilogy + the extended universe, the original trilogy + the prequels, the original trilogy + the new stuff, etc. etc. etc. all of which will cause you to have a different reading on those same three movies, and all of which are equally valid (in my view) sets of texts that are internally consistent, canon to themselves, and can have interesting or useful readings derived from them.

[@Beacuzz]

I try to look at my favorite works in as many ways as I can. It is one of the reasons I love rereading them. As I get older I see new ideas, new views, new theories. As I get older I learn more and it helps me look back and see how I was shaped and the books I read and the shows I watch are a big part of that. Yeah the authors intent does if it but when I can I try to see it with out their glasses.

[@turkeypedal]

That is ultimately the legacy of Death of the Author. Its entire point was to move away from the author determining the one correct way to look at a work. The author's interpretation is just as valid as any reader's. Likewise, Death of the Author is not the one correct way to look at a work. This literary framework is just as valid as any of the others. There is, indeed, no reason you can't discuss different canons of a work, both including and excluding paratext. Hell, you can use some paratext, but not others. And you can include some texts but not others.

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

I call this line of thought: Maiming of the author

[@abraxas9972]

"...my good friend, Derrida." 7:24 Lefttube channels are forming their own cinematic universe with increasing references to each other and I'm stanning over it...

[@SheeplessNW6]

The most ambitious crossover event in history

[@xRaiofSunshine]

The real ~*~*~DARK UNIVERSE~*~*~

[@lavenderscare4995]

All hail *both* of our dark mother's! Apparently that title is sharable.

[@azuleyes2000]

@@lavenderscare4995 I'd say Lindsay is the dark mother, and Natalie is the dark queen...

[@altrocks]

Can't wait for the LeftVengers to premier.

[@sabrinagranger5468]

That was a very effective transition between around 26:45 and 27:30. I liked it.

[@r_bear]

Best part of the video imo but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing

[@futurestoryteller]

Reminded me of the movie Memento, when the finale transitions from black and white to color so smoothly you can miss it. To be honest I didn't miss it the first time, I didn't even miss it the first three times, but eventually... What I like about this one is I didn't even notice upon first viewing until the sound changed. Very creative.

[@Dan-Black]

I noticed that, too -- entirely because of the audio, since I was listening but doing other things at the same time so not watching closely. I'm actually not entirely sure the purpose, but it was smooth and cool.

[@anttihelin6820]

She removed herself from an assumed position of authority ("talking head in an educational video made in 1992") and reverted back to herself ("Lindsay Ellis, the author of this KZbin video") because what she was saying was her opinion and other opinions are also valid, i.e. she doesn't have authority to say it's the one correct opinion, whereas the previous things said by "talking head from 1992" had been more or less factual (descriptions of elements of critical theory).

[@suzannahe.h6596]

Lindsay, i just want to tell you that you made it, I'm watching this video as a part of my english extention class