Originality

First, the plug: "Do Nothing But Read" is a geek-centric literature Podcast hosted by The Modern Day Pirates, a geek-centric website, and thank goodness because geek culture has until now been sorely underrepresented on the internet. Librarian Amanda and... dude who likes cool stuff Brandon spend a half-hour to an hour discussing books. That's the set-up, plain and simple. Worth a look-see (or a listen).

On their 25th episode, they discussed "Harry Potter" in celebration of Part 1 of "The Deathly Hallows" hitting theaters, and they discussed their own love for JKR's series. Now, there were a few things they hit upon that were actually not entirely accurate that I would have LOVED to have been present for to challenge them on (particularly Brandon's contention that JKR had no idea where the story was going until she reached Book 5, incorrect because she is on record as saying that a large part of what became "The Half Blood Prince" was material excised from "The Chamber of Secrets" which makes complete sense given the numerous ways those two books tie together).

In discussing the weaknesses of the books, of which there are many, Brandon contends that one failing of the books is their lack of creativity, how JKR is an expert in taking that which came before her and weaving it into her own story. Personally, I find that to be a strength of her writing and I would contend that those who write fantasy (which is a genre that includes superhero stories and the vast majority of mainstream comics) are essentially just feeding on what came before them, rehashing old stories in new and clever ways. Now, in a way every storyteller does this; hell, SHAKESPEARE was the master of it... and Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid are essentially the same story.

So the contention that JKR's masterpiece is comprised of a lot of various parts is something I'm completely in agreement with. The difference being, I think, that I don't think that is a flaw of the work. Brandon's contention, however, that unlike HP "Star Wars is completely original" is screamingly inaccurate, IMO. To repeat: the claim is that "Star Wars is completely original". Now, I love "Star Wars", as anyone who knows me can contest to. When I got married I gave each of my groomsmen a Force FX lightsaber with which to usher Jaime and I into the reception. (Can you believe she went for it?) But "Star Wars"? COMPLETELY ORIGINAL?! I don't think so... so I went to the "Do Nothing But Read" website and got in a discussion on the message boards about that point, concluding with this:

"There was a lot of creation going on in “Star Wars”, granted, but everything in fantasy (and that’s what “Star Wars” is, not sci-fi) borrows from what came before it. In “A New Hope”, who is Obi-Wan but Merlin? Who is Luke but King Arthur? Han and Chewie are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, except one carries a laser gun and one is a space-bigfoot. Princess Leia is princess… anyone. Darth Vader is, almost literally, the Dark Knight (no, not that one… although Batman is just Zorro, who is just the Scarlet Pimpernel.) Jawas are just elves with hoods. A lightsaber is Excalibur paired with a fluorescent light bulb. R2 and Threepio are Laurel and Hardy (actually, I think they’re based on wandering vagabond characters from a Kurosawa film. And BTW… I love “Star Wars” as much as I love “Harry Potter”. Those are the two DVD collections with the place of honor on my shelf.)

Also, keep in mind: Lucas created these worlds, with his team of artists. There’s no shame in that, but he had lots and lots of help. Until the movies came along, JKR created her world by herself.

Nothing in fantasy is completely original, and even Tolkien was influenced by that which came before him. To argue that “Star Wars” is “completely original” is really a weak stand, as Lucas himself will tell you the whole thing was massively influenced by all the things he loved as a child and young adult. And look… you can take umbrage with the “creativity” of some of the “Star Wars” universe. “Okay, this is a desert planet, and this is an ice planet, and this is a forest planet, and this is sky planet, and this is a lava planet, and this is a city planet.” That’s not serious, mature fantasy. That’s a Mega Man game."

To be clear: I'm not fighting with anyone here. This is not a flame war. This is just discussion, and I wanted to share a portion of that discussion with the 4 or 5 people who read my blog. I love discussing the craft of storytelling, and this was just a way to open a particular conversation up to some more people... as well as to help promote in my own small way a really cool little podcast.

Besides, no storyteller should be embarrassed by or kill themselves trying to hide the influences on their own works. There's a point I made in my "Race McCloud" talkbacks at FringeNYC a year and a half ago, and that point still stands: I truly believe that despite their protestations to the contrary, audiences do not want new stories. They want old familiar stories told in new and exciting ways.

(And they really want new podcasters doing old-skool radio format, so Amanda and Brandon... keep on truckin'!)