T Campbell's Blog
Writer of Penny and Aggie, Fans (also called Faans), Rip & Teri, Search Engine Funnies and A History of Webcomics. Experienced webcomics editor, currently seeking full-time work and working on strange and interesting new things...Monday, November 21, 2005
"Faith in Science: Detective Stories In A Confused World"
My latest Comixpedia essay is up for their "mystery issue." Excerpt:
Modern forensic science can still inspire the kind of awe that makes slack-jawed Watsons of us all. But detectives of all kinds have been having a bad decade. DNA evidence failed to convict O.J. Simpson. The 9/11 hijackers slipped through our every security measure. Enron embezzled more valuables than all the jewel thieves in the world could ever steal. And this year, the most massive intelligence failure in United States history can be summed up in one four-letter word: "WMDs..." Reason, it seems, is not such an unstoppable force for justice after all.
Can fictional detectives retain their power over us, after all of that?
Should they?
Click here for the piece.
Modern forensic science can still inspire the kind of awe that makes slack-jawed Watsons of us all. But detectives of all kinds have been having a bad decade. DNA evidence failed to convict O.J. Simpson. The 9/11 hijackers slipped through our every security measure. Enron embezzled more valuables than all the jewel thieves in the world could ever steal. And this year, the most massive intelligence failure in United States history can be summed up in one four-letter word: "WMDs..." Reason, it seems, is not such an unstoppable force for justice after all.
Can fictional detectives retain their power over us, after all of that?
Should they?
Click here for the piece.
Comments:
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T,
Just wanted to check in and see if you received the comments I sent you on the early draft you showed me. I realize, if not, it won't do you any good now, but since we seemed to be having some trouble with e-mail, it seemed a good idea to find out of that's still the case.
Just wanted to check in and see if you received the comments I sent you on the early draft you showed me. I realize, if not, it won't do you any good now, but since we seemed to be having some trouble with e-mail, it seemed a good idea to find out of that's still the case.
Well, poop. Anyway, here's what I tried to send you:
I really don't think you have to worry about this repeating anything I said. Sure, we both hit on the "reason vs. evil" theme, but I'm just addressing it from a practical writing perspective, whereas you've gone off on some great sociological examinations of why that appeals in the first place. If anything, I think it's even more important to run your article, since it goes so much deeper into the idea that I introduced.
Reading your article, one question I kept coming back to was whether there might be a socioeconomic element to the appeal of mysteries. The hero is almost always working or middle class, while the victim is usually an unsympathetic rich guy -- as, often, is the villain. Despite the complexity of how the crimes in mysteries are executed, the crimes themselves are of the most basic sort: murder and/or theft. You don't often see corporate abuse of obscure tax codes in a mystery. In a world of Enron, they reassure us that some crimes, at least, are still not just solvable, but understandable in the first place. I mean, even if the Enron execs do face justice, how many people have any concept at all of what exactly Enron did? White collar crime may as well be black magic as far as most of us are concerned. But blue collar crime is something we can relate to and defeat. And it's oh so satisfying to see those uppity rich people get caught committing not just a crime, but a working man's crime.
I really don't think you have to worry about this repeating anything I said. Sure, we both hit on the "reason vs. evil" theme, but I'm just addressing it from a practical writing perspective, whereas you've gone off on some great sociological examinations of why that appeals in the first place. If anything, I think it's even more important to run your article, since it goes so much deeper into the idea that I introduced.
Reading your article, one question I kept coming back to was whether there might be a socioeconomic element to the appeal of mysteries. The hero is almost always working or middle class, while the victim is usually an unsympathetic rich guy -- as, often, is the villain. Despite the complexity of how the crimes in mysteries are executed, the crimes themselves are of the most basic sort: murder and/or theft. You don't often see corporate abuse of obscure tax codes in a mystery. In a world of Enron, they reassure us that some crimes, at least, are still not just solvable, but understandable in the first place. I mean, even if the Enron execs do face justice, how many people have any concept at all of what exactly Enron did? White collar crime may as well be black magic as far as most of us are concerned. But blue collar crime is something we can relate to and defeat. And it's oh so satisfying to see those uppity rich people get caught committing not just a crime, but a working man's crime.
Just looked back at my sent mail, and yes, the message was mis-addressed: campbell@tcampbell.net. The initial "T" was missing. So, yeah, that one was actually my fault, and not the mail server.
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