Something just caught my eye a little late. I had this conversation with Navin ( mrsgollum) once, about a sex scene in Stardust by Neil Gaiman.
Seems Neil Gaiman got a mail from a fan similarly offended by the scene sometime this week, and this is how he replied to the mail. And his explanation makes sense, really, much more sense than the way I put it then. Navs, hope you are convinced now. ;-)
you know, when I read that, I was reminded of the conversation you wrote about.
Well, I think of it this way… nobody thinks twice before describing a gory murder scene, right? So why the issue with sex? As long as there’s quality porn to go around stuff that introduces this stuff simply to tittilate won’t work…
It may be irrelevant, but so are details in general. I say it’sa depiction of a person’s emotional state, which is important when telling a story….
I agree with fugney… I think the scene, as written, fits well with the story — the story that’s being told AND the way the story is written. Just because it’s illustrated and has “faeries” in it, it doesn’t mean it’s for children. Mr. Gaiman doesn’t force anyone to read it, nor does he claim it’s for children. And I notice that the beheading of the unicorn and the slitting of the Prince’s throat don’t cause uproars, just the sex. Stupid.
I guess Gaiman’s take is pretty much what we talked about – that the scene description was important for the story’s continuity or atleast saying – hey,these two people slept with each other and the kid they made goes on to become the king”.
As a reader, I’d have been satisfied with two lines making that point than half a page doing the same. As a writer,Gaiman probably found it satisfying(and who knows,creatively enriching and preserving the story’s continuity) to have described it thus. I don’t believe there is a moral issue like the reader’s mail said – yet, the whole half page writing exercise seemed to be pointless. I am sure others will disagree:).
Oh, whatever. Let’s make a controversial movie on this. Let people crib as much as they want. Who cares?!