Literature and the New Media, etc.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 by Nandan
I was watching an old episode of Gilmore Girls (yes, I like to watch re-runs of things. I live a sad, sad life, I know) and came across a little tidbit that I found quite interesting. Lorelai [Lauren Graham] tells Luke [Scott Patterson] that she would rather type out an email to her daughter Rory [Alexis Bledel], than even talk to her on the phone, because, she says, it hearkened back to the days of letter writing, and Charles Dickens and literature. [Season 4, Episode 80]
So. My question is. Is this actually the case? Is the typing out of a lengthy email the same as writing a letter? And is it preferable to talking to someone on the phone, or even face-to-face (or is this a personal thing)? At the outset, yes, email definitely does hearken back to the days when we wrote letters. Indeed, that was actually the original purpose of email, to be a faster system of mail. It eliminated the need of a lengthy address that people often forgot and it reached the intended recipient in minutes (if not seconds) instead of days (if not months).
But there seems to be a general resentment of this new way of communication. It's everywhere, for goodness sake! It may just be people and the media telling us what to think, but there has always been a romantic aspect to writing a letter; to imagining the person at the other end reading it and their expressions and emotions upon reading it. Indeed, many a great song was penned about distant lovers writing to each other...about a father at war writing to his family back home, expressing his concern for their safety, etc. Films like Amelie have elaborate sub-storylines about a lover pining for her dead/estranged other half and reading his old letters, reminiscing about what used to be. Even the Gilmore Girls scene from above continues this. Lorelai [Graham] continues that while writing an email, she always pictures Charles Dickens sitting at a table writing letters on sunny afternoons.
In addition to this, however, comes the idea of recieving letters. Unless they get lost in the post (which, considering modern postal systems is pretty unlikely) the recipient will almost always get a letter, but emails depend on internet connections, on file corruptions, viruses and the list goes on. The effects of a damaging email is instantaneous, while a damaging letter's effects are delayed (even though this could be a blessing or a curse). On the whole, however, it seems that with advancing technology, we see advancing problems.
Another question is our literature and literary heritage dying out with new technologies? Most people today would rather watch a film based (however loosely) on a book/novel than read the actual book (which, in most cases is better than the film). More currently, however, people now would rather download a film and watch it before it comes out than wait for the film to come to their countries. Internet versions and scanning means that buying a novel for the sake of collecting or the satisfaction of owning a good book (and thus supporting the author) is all but dead. However, the internet can also encourage novel-centred creativity. For example, after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the rise of websites where adults, teens, tweens and everyone in between could post stories which imagined endings that were (in some cases, significantly) different to Rowling's manuscript. On the more extreme end, there have also been websites that, even today, continue to post Harry Potter erotic literature. Imagined erotic trysts between Harry and Hermione, Ron and Hermione (in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - yes, Moaning Myrtle, the puns there are astronomical), Ron and Harry, Harry and Draco, and after Dumbledore's coming out, between Snape and Dumbledore, Harry and Dumbledore; the permutations and combinations in people's imaginations were (and still are) endless.
So that was what I thought was interesting...Please feel free to further answer/contradict my questions/answers...
So. My question is. Is this actually the case? Is the typing out of a lengthy email the same as writing a letter? And is it preferable to talking to someone on the phone, or even face-to-face (or is this a personal thing)? At the outset, yes, email definitely does hearken back to the days when we wrote letters. Indeed, that was actually the original purpose of email, to be a faster system of mail. It eliminated the need of a lengthy address that people often forgot and it reached the intended recipient in minutes (if not seconds) instead of days (if not months).
But there seems to be a general resentment of this new way of communication. It's everywhere, for goodness sake! It may just be people and the media telling us what to think, but there has always been a romantic aspect to writing a letter; to imagining the person at the other end reading it and their expressions and emotions upon reading it. Indeed, many a great song was penned about distant lovers writing to each other...about a father at war writing to his family back home, expressing his concern for their safety, etc. Films like Amelie have elaborate sub-storylines about a lover pining for her dead/estranged other half and reading his old letters, reminiscing about what used to be. Even the Gilmore Girls scene from above continues this. Lorelai [Graham] continues that while writing an email, she always pictures Charles Dickens sitting at a table writing letters on sunny afternoons.
In addition to this, however, comes the idea of recieving letters. Unless they get lost in the post (which, considering modern postal systems is pretty unlikely) the recipient will almost always get a letter, but emails depend on internet connections, on file corruptions, viruses and the list goes on. The effects of a damaging email is instantaneous, while a damaging letter's effects are delayed (even though this could be a blessing or a curse). On the whole, however, it seems that with advancing technology, we see advancing problems.
Another question is our literature and literary heritage dying out with new technologies? Most people today would rather watch a film based (however loosely) on a book/novel than read the actual book (which, in most cases is better than the film). More currently, however, people now would rather download a film and watch it before it comes out than wait for the film to come to their countries. Internet versions and scanning means that buying a novel for the sake of collecting or the satisfaction of owning a good book (and thus supporting the author) is all but dead. However, the internet can also encourage novel-centred creativity. For example, after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the rise of websites where adults, teens, tweens and everyone in between could post stories which imagined endings that were (in some cases, significantly) different to Rowling's manuscript. On the more extreme end, there have also been websites that, even today, continue to post Harry Potter erotic literature. Imagined erotic trysts between Harry and Hermione, Ron and Hermione (in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - yes, Moaning Myrtle, the puns there are astronomical), Ron and Harry, Harry and Draco, and after Dumbledore's coming out, between Snape and Dumbledore, Harry and Dumbledore; the permutations and combinations in people's imaginations were (and still are) endless.
So that was what I thought was interesting...Please feel free to further answer/contradict my questions/answers...
hahaha that was a fun read
I don't know what modern postal service you have in Royal Oak, but in Manurewa your mail gets lost without fail unless it's a bill. Secondly, if I've told you once I've told you a hundred times your love of Gilmore Girls and Harry Potter reflects badly on both of us, I sit with you. Now I'm "that girl" who sits with "that guy with the awful taste in film and tv", thanks ever so much.
hey hey i gotta stand up for him, Gilmore Girls rule. Harry Potter does suck big time though
hrm I agree with the whole "most people like to watch movies than read the books," but I still think reading is better =]
in some cases, some of the movies I've seen that are based on books have fueled me to read the actual book! And at the risk of public ridicule, I am also like to watch re-runs of things! =]
Actually, Haley, you will find that Gilmore Girls is quite pioneering in what it set out to do. And besides, the fact that I watch the good and teh bad texts helps mne have a broader palette and a broader knowledge. If you just watch the good, how will you know what's bad? :)
Is the "aura" of letter writing something we have nostalgically retro-fitted onto what was once just a mundane communicative instrument simply because it is now a dying form, I wonder? Of course, the contents of those letter were always potentially significant (especially when they were about love, power or money!). But is it only now that we've come to fetishize the form? Glad to hear your media consumption habits are restricted to "pioneering" cultural texts, though, Nandan.
Yeah, I think that is the case. i think we, as a society seem to want to cling on to the old ways simply because of their impending extinction at the hands of technology. I think we have only just now come to fetishise the romantic aspect of letter writing simply because, let's face it, a handwritten letter is a luxury most of us don't have. And if we do, the times when handwriting had to be legible and even beautiful are gone. And yes, most of the texts I consume are all "pioneering" in some form...But that's a discussion best left for another day. :)
Oh sloblocks you watch the bad simply because you love it and you know it :P Broadening your palette my left flippin foot. Need I remind you of a certain shall we say fudging of the truth you already perpetrated here....I think not.
In the interest of fairness I'll come down from my pedestal and admit that while I loathe Gilmore Girls and Harry Potter, I do love Rob Schneider and Home and Away.
I too think the Gilmore Girls was great; I will stand up for Nandan as well.