Food for thought

I stumbled across this transcript of a keynote speech by Hart Hanson (aka the creator of Bones), and I thought he had some very interesting things to say. Some of them I agree with, some of them I don't (namely this: "My entire audience wants them [Booth and Bones] to get together." Um, not all of us, punk. Personally, I think you're killing the show by forcing UST where there isn't any).

One potentially controversial statement: "...without exception I’ve never seen anything on TV that rivaled a good novel." Which, on the one hand, is probably true, given that novels and TV are two very different types of storytelling (finite vs. infinite, standalone vs. episodic). But it also sounds very much like that "TV isn't art/literature because it's pop culture and pop culture gets no respect" mentality that really bothers me. As BtVS fans, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that there are TV shows out there with just as much depth and quality storytelling as a good novel.

He seems to suggest that writing for TV means writing for an audience, whereas writing a novel means writing for yourself. Which is all well and good, as long as you don't ever plan to sell your novel and make money from it. If you want to do that, well, you're probably going to have to take the audience into consideration. I think - again - he simply denigrates TV when he should be looking at both TV and novels as falling into two categories: those designed for mass market (pulp novels, TV shows like Bones, CSI, or American Idol) and those intended to be art (literary novels, TV shows like Mad Men). Every professional writer wants to attract an audience, no matter what type of writing they do.

Anyway, a lot of it is talking about how to be successful writing for a mass audience, and the answer seems to be, "Write about things that appeal to a large number of people, but don't pander," which is probably much easier said than done. This quote in particular stood out to me: "But if you cleave to, if you support – as an entertainer – the basic values of your culture and society, you have a much better chance of reaching a mass audience than if you challenge the mores and morals of a society." And I couldn't help but immediately think of Dollhouse. But you know what, Hart? For all the problems (and they were legion) that Dollhouse had, I'd still rather have that on my television than Bones, ten times over. Guess TV aimed at a mass audience just doesn't appeal to me.

I have to admit, I was pretty confused about the whole "redemption of Sweets" section. Did I miss the part where Sweets needed to be redeemed? 'Cause I kind of loved him from the beginning.

Oh, but then there's this: "And America is anti-intellectual, in a way. I find… it’s very anti-intellectual. They tend to… if I hear one more person say, “He’s a president you can have a beer with!” Jesus Christ! I don’t want him to have a beer; I want him to make me feel stupid." WORD.