Media Accessable to everyone, but not FOR everyone [Y4pPing S3SsIon]

Ah yes, it has been a while since I went on here... [Had some stuffs going on and even more to come] and I was recently thinking about something but was unsure where to post it that people would be able to discuss under. Then I remembered BLOGGING EXISTS!

So recently the piece I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream has been trending on Tiktok; the game being the most prominent as I don't think many would've started with the book. I, like many others, liked the original pieces -(and there are sure most to come as we don't gatekeep here.)

However, as with any nuanced media that gets popular people have been concerned about people misinterpreting the book and characters. Now, considering that the book was written from an unreliable narrator and the game explores differently written characters it's not unlikely that people might read Ted as a noble man or read Ellen as an antagonistic and unpleasant character as Ted described. 

This, got me thinking...

Literature, in all it's forms, has the same curse that most forms of storytelling have and it's the fact that anyone can get their hands on it regardless on if it's to their literacy capability or within the audience that was intended. This means that most meaning derived from the works can be steered by public opinion or, most likely, the holder of the book itself. A popular example is the book Lolita; a book written from the perspective of the perpetrator as a way of exposing the dark and twisted reality of those kinds of people (and meant to disgust the reader). However, there's a division in understanding when there's also a group of people who would fight tooth and nail to defend the so-called "protag" and to hail the book as a love story when it's actually a nightmarish tale.

The idea that books are for everyone has been generalized in a way that not many really understand what that means. What that means is that every book, though not written with every person in mind, is capable of being picked up for a new reader to understand and open their mind. The phrase doesn't necessarily mean that the book is automatically made for everyone just because it's popular or it's public. It doesn't mean that everyone who picks it up is going to understand such things and people who are in the audience intended shouldn't automatically expect them to.

It can be, and usually is, frustrating to see people mischaracterize and misinterpret certain characters but I don't think this by any means should warrant turning people away from ever understanding. However, in a way I think people need to be more comfortable with the idea that not everything is made for every kind of person to understand and it could possibly take time before a person achieves the level of intended understanding or media literacy. If they find they don't understand something, that should be okay and it shouldn't be shameful to say that you don't understand and can try later after taking on something a little easier. In turn it should be acceptable to help as well; help them see where the hints and clues are rather than attacking or just giving them an answer without how that conclusion was drawn.

It feels like, to me at least, that the world of reading has been downgraded to surface level answers and whether or not it covers spice rather than any thought provoking substance. And when it is, there's heavy refusal when it comes to inviting other lines of thinking or helping people understand said works.

These are just my thoughts anyways