Should a story that extremely touches people on personal levels be published?

Valkyrie

Not so Active Member
#1
I know I posted this in the Off-Topics thread, but I read around and found out how extreme this story is being taken. I completely understand what people have said in the other thread, but this isn't just about the extreme explicit content now, but it has touched people on personal levels - they have experienced the same things they have gone through in real life. They even have messaged the author about how the story is affecting them personally yet she laughs in their faces about it, more specifically, responded with the 'laughing' emoji and three red hearts. That is utterly despicable and intolerable of any author to do.

I understand if you may not care, or anyone might not, but this needs to be taken care of. I have read that a few are even having suicidal tendencies and mental breakdowns because of how awful this story affects them on personal levels. Again, I did read what was said on the other thread, but this is getting more serious, and people need to start caring.


https://www.change.org/petitions/anna-todd-keep-after-a-fanfiction
 

Blackstock

don't you fret, my dear
#2
I'm just gonna say this: I read that story before. And I thought that their relationship was correct. This should be kept a fanfiction, because if this makes it to the big screen and becomes a hit series...well, after Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey, do we really need another messed up relationship like that being shown in mainstream media in a positive light? Not to mention what could happen to Harry Styles's reputation from this.
 

Valkyrie

Not so Active Member
#3
I'm just gonna say this: I read that story before. And I thought that their relationship was correct. This should be kept a fanfiction, because if this makes it to the big screen and becomes a hit series...well, after Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey, do we really need another messed up relationship like that being shown in mainstream media in a positive light? Not to mention what could happen to Harry Styles's reputation from this.
Thank you. The author isn't even nice tbh, she acts fake to her fans but she's so rude. According to what I said above, it is true. She's even reported accounts on twitter for 'harassment' when they've given her valid criticism on her story, and they've been suspended, and some of those accounts had a follow from one of 1D which is really sad.
 

Jasmine

Well-Known Member
#4
My generally speaking answer:
Uhm, yes? There are tons of stories out there that focus on other (worse) topics that people have gone through.
Anyone who doesn't want a piece of work published because it touches on a subject that is touchy for them needs to grow up and get over it. It's not all about you.

My dad abandoned me when I was little. Does that mean books where parents abandon children shouldn't be published? Heck no. Everyone has the ability to choose what to read. If it offends you, simply don't look at it. It's not that hard. To go as far to try to get something to not be published just screams jealously and insecurity. People are likely jealous that this one fan fiction out of them all got chosen when theirs didn't. That's all there is to it.

And who cares if the author isn't nice? The book is what matters. If she's as nasty as these people say, then the book won't sale. So what's the problem here? I really don't see why it matters.
 

Valkyrie

Not so Active Member
#5
My generally speaking answer:
Uhm, yes? There are tons of stories out there that focus on other (worse) topics that people have gone through.
Anyone who doesn't want a piece of work published because it touches on a subject that is touchy for them needs to grow up and get over it. It's not all about you.

My dad abandoned me when I was little. Does that mean books where parents abandon children shouldn't be published? Heck no. Everyone has the ability to choose what to read. If it offends you, simply don't look at it. It's not that hard. To go as far to try to get something to not be published just screams jealously and insecurity. People are likely jealous that this one fan fiction out of them all got chosen when theirs didn't. That's all there is to it.

And who cares if the author isn't nice? The book is what matters. If she's as nasty as these people say, then the book won't sale. So what's the problem here? I really don't see why it matters.
I understand where you're coming from, but I should have mentioned above that this has over 500 million reads on the site it's posted on, and is extremely popular, and the books out there that touch on personal levels aren't as well known, and don't attract many teenage girls. And what you mean by the author being rude, she chooses to ignore what people have to say about her work, even if it's constructive criticism that is trying to help her improve, and taking that type of criticism from people makes you a good writer. You should always listen to what the public has to say about your works, but she obviously doesn't care about being a good writer then, and her books won't sell. She also attacks people on social networks as well.

The people who are against this being published aren't jealous, they're against it because it promotes abuse/rape culture, which is repeatedly glorified throughout the series.
 

†_Beast_†

l'antico vampiro
#6
Not going to bother reading the story but I will comment and say that I do not understand how any human being would have a mental breakdown or thoughts of self destruction over any fictitious story. People are going to create works of literature regardless of others opinions as seen over the course of history. If someone is weak willed and minded enough to believe suicide is the answer because of a story(?)..heh....well then...I don't believe your dealing with an actual human being with a conscience or mind.
 

BuddyByte

Legendary Hero
#7
I read a little bit of After, and honestly, I don't even know how it's becoming published and being made into a movie. The writing is horrible and the story goes around in circles. Plus it makes Harry out to be a huge jerk/party animal, which I am not okay with. It kind of makes me sick that she's writing this stuff when she's 25 and married.

I think people are taking the story too seriously though. There are tons of other works that have these same elements in them that are published and are well-written. As a member of the One Direction fandom, I know that these people will start drama with ANYTHING especially if they're jealous. Most likely, the reports of mental breakdowns are fake or an exaggeration (I'm not saying they're untrue, I'm just saying that they may not be). Plus, it's only a fan fiction.

It makes me really sad for the author to think about her age... She should be writing much better and much more maturely. I honestly thought I was reading something written by a 15 year old. I wonder what her husband thinks.

I know this is scattered but here are my main points:
1) Why are we worried about a badly-written FAN FICTION by a sad, 25-year-old that will only get attention from SOME of the 1D fandom when there are bigger things to worry about?
2) The story is being taken way too seriously. It's only fan fiction.
3) Anna Todd needs a new hobby.
4) I don't think this will get as much attention as the media think because the story is that bad.
5) This WILL be embarrassing to Harry and the other members of the band. I believe that 1D's management will have something to say about it before too long, espcially since she does not own them and has no right to use them in her "book". My guess is their management will prevent the book from being published.
6) It's only a fan fiction. Not an address written by the President.

Again, sorry this is so scattered. I just wrote what came to mind.
 
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Jasmine

Well-Known Member
#8
I understand where you're coming from, but I should have mentioned above that this has over 500 million reads on the site it's posted on, and is extremely popular, and the books out there that touch on personal levels aren't as well known, and don't attract many teenage girls. And what you mean by the author being rude, she chooses to ignore what people have to say about her work, even if it's constructive criticism that is trying to help her improve, and taking that type of criticism from people makes you a good writer. You should always listen to what the public has to say about your works, but she obviously doesn't care about being a good writer then, and her books won't sell. She also attacks people on social networks as well.

The people who are against this being published aren't jealous, they're against it because it promotes abuse/rape culture, which is repeatedly glorified throughout the series.
(Sorry in advance. I didn't realize this would be so long when I started typing it.)

Coming from someone with a big background in psychology and overall analysis of people and the things they say and do in general (including the fact that it's my major), from what I've seen, most comments scream jealousy and overall discontentment with the author. I'm not saying every single person who agrees with these petitions is jealous, but that the creators of them are certainly giving off both of those vibes.

I'm assuming that this thread is more about this particular book than your actual question (you might want to change that, by the way). There are popular books, movies, and shows that attract teenage girls and often cover "touchy subjects". Degrassi is definitely a well known example of a show that tends to show the experiences that today's teenagers are actually going through. They've done everything from rape, to suicide, school shootings, teenage pregnancy, abusive relationships, etc... Now Degrassi definitely doesn't glorify any of these things (at least in my opinion), but it does touch on them. But then again, "glorify" is a pretty subjective word. Just because a group of people feel that something's being glorified doesn't exactly mean it actually is. (The fact is, someone could claim that Degrassi glorifies some of the topics it covers. Because it's such a subjective word, anyone can claim anything with it. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's true. It's all opinion.)

What's likely the case here is this: the author chose to write about some touchy subjects. Though writing itself is an art, being able to convey certain topics in a way that isn't offensive is in essence an art form itself. It's a very difficult thing to do, which is why only recently people have begun to write about real life experiences of things like rape. In the past, they've been considered "taboo" to touch on because of the fact that they might offend people.

And what's likely happened is that the author is an amateur to writing and just isn't used to or hasn't learned to cover those topics in a way that doesn't make it offensive to certain readers. Honestly, it's incredibly brave of someone to write about topics such as these. (The same goes for people who create movies about them.) They need to be talked about instead of them being swept under the rug like they have been in the past. And when they are talked about, the realities and brutalities of these experiences need to be brought up as well. When emotional (and physical and sexual) abuse come into play into a relationship, people often stay in these types relationships for all different types of reasons. I'd say fear of harm and fear of the fact that they can't do any better would be some of the biggest reasons women are often stuck in these relationships. I also read something about her cheating on a great guy and ending up with this guy that abuses her. Well yeah, that happens in real life too. People make decisions... dumb ones, at that. And sometimes the decision is so dumb and so terrible that the person doesn't even realize they've made a mistake. Or they realize they've made a mistake and either can't do anything to correct it (possibly because of the aforementioned fears of people in domestic abuse relationships) or because they just don't know what to do and either can't or won't seek out help for their problem.

In your other thread, there was a link where people were criticizing some of the main character's actions. Now I haven't read this fanfiction, because first off, I'm not even into them. But from what I've heard, if anything, the character was acting extremely realistic, and that's what people are having a problem with. The author is bursting the myths that people allowed for all these decades about topics like this. And when someone does something like that, there's bound to be a lot of drama because of it. There are also other books, movies, and shows that people feel glorifies something. In the case that someone feels that way, it's best they just stay away from it. That's the adult thing to do. If you don't like it fine, but you don't drag other people down with you.

Honestly, I don't see how the petition you linked doesn't scream jealousy and discontentment. First off, no one has the right to try to guilt trip anyone (authors included) into thinking that their work triggered something. If you were triggered by a book, let's be honest here - you weren't mentally and emotionally stable in the first place. And in that case, who is to blame? The person that read the work. From what I've read here and there, not only does the fanfiction have a warning that it contains and is about certain topics, but to some people, it seems to have progressively gotten worse with those topics? In that case, who in their right mind would continue reading on if they were upset by something? (I swear half of these people didn't even find out about the fanfiction until it was announced that it was going to be published...)

And then another thing is this - if they were truly all about making people aware of the possible "triggers" this book has, why are they pushing for it not to be published? That's what proves there's jealously and discontentment involved there. If someone were truly concerned with triggers, this is what they would do:

A) First acknowledge the fact that the only person who can be held accountable for a trigger is the person who is being triggered. This is especially true if a warning has been placed.
B) They would also be asking that somehow it be made that younger people have a harder time accessing this fanfiction. (I have no idea how that would be done, but if they really cared about this, they would find a way. Anyone who feels super strongly about something will find a way to fix it without hurting both parties that are involved.)
C) They wouldn't be asking for it not to be published. (Like I said before, this is what ultimately proves that a lot of these people are just mad at or jealous of the author.) Instead, they would ask for more trigger warnings to be placed so that a person who might read it is well aware of what it contains. They would also be lobbying that the author make it known that she is not trying to glorify anything instead of accusing her of doing so, when they have no idea of her true intentions.
D) It's as almost if these people think that the fanfiction being published is going to give it too much attention, when in reality, they're drawing much more attention to it than just publishing it would do. They keep spreading around the name and link of the fanfiction, causing more and more people to read it. It doesn't even make sense. If you really were worried about something like this, one of your main priorities would be making sure more and more people (especially young girls, seeing as that's who these people are lobbying for) don't get access to the so called "trigger". You would handle the matter privately either with the author, the publisher (who is the person you should really go to with any complaints anyway), and any sites that it's posted on simply because you:
A) Shouldn't want to handle a matter publicly in the first place. It's completely unnecessary and immature to do so.
B) Don't want these young girls getting access to something you find so offensive.
 

Jasmine

Well-Known Member
#9
(I couldn't post it as one post because it's over the character limit x_x.)

As for the constructive criticism thing - I totally agree; in fact, it's not just writers that need to be able to take constructive criticism - we all need to work on that. But then again, these people have no right to be constructively criticizing her work. If anything, I can almost guarantee half of the "constructive" criticism she's received since the announcement has been plain 'ol criticism. And rude criticism, at that. You have to look at it from both points of view and stay objective, not subjective.

Like I said before, if she's really the way these people claim that she is, her books won't sell. So if these people have a problem even after knowing that her books won't sell, that's another possible clue of jealousy and discontentment. I also don't get why people don't realize all these petitions and stuff that they think is attracting "negative attention" to the story is actually helping her gain publicity. People honestly just need to be a bit more logical about these things. Instead, most people involved with this fanfiction seem to be thinking with their emotions, which isn't really a good thing a lot of the times. There are good and bad ways to go about change, and the way most people have been with this book is totally wrong. Have a problem with a book being published? Okay, write a letter to the publisher. You don't personally attack the author. I don't care what they have or haven't done or what someone's claimed they've done. If they haven't done anything to you personally (and even if they have), then these people have no right or reason to be acting this way. And if she did offend them, then so what? Be the bigger person. No one ever seems to remember this nowadays, hmm.

Another thing is - people attack once they've been attacked. It's human nature. I highly doubt this author is just blatantly attacking people constantly. It's very likely someone has incited a response out of her. I can tell this just from the little bit I've seen. If I were her, I suppose I'd be fed up too. There's a right and wrong way to go about responding to people too though, and that goes especially if you're in the public's eye. I won't deny that, but you also can't deny that this author has repeatedly been attacked, and she hasn't even done anything to most of these people.

From the petition you linked:
Please take this into consideration, Anna. I know you're trying to make history and all, being one of the first on Wattpad to have a fanfiction become a movie, but aren't you married? You should be paying more attention to your husband and your FUTURE children, if you plan on having any. When this is all over, what are you going to do? Go to college and work on your career. I may only be 17, but hear me out. Please, thank you.
This would be a classic example of how you DON'T approach someone. This also is not constructive criticism, but just plain criticism. There's a fine line between the two and few people online nowadays know how not to cross it. Another thing is the petitioner's age (but mainly her immaturity, which is quite obviously shown). What's the age range of these readers? Most seem to be young teens. In that case, I definitely know they've been downright nasty to this author without any reason because they're young and immature. The way young girls are online in their "cliques" is awful. Just think about how the obsessed Justin Bieber and One Direction fangirls can be (and how some have given death threats to people). (And yes, that's another huge factor. One Direction fans are mad that Harry's name is being used and they're worried about his reputation, which is also dumb and immature. First off, it's not their concern; it's his, because it's his reputation. They have no business worrying so much about someone who doesn't know them or even care about them the way they care about him. Second of all, it's a character, and one whose name can be altered at any given time, by the way. It's all up to the author and the publisher.)

Anyways, that's just how I see it. :shrug:
 
#10
I'll just say this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech

People can pretty much write or say anything they want, because everything someone says or writes is an OPINION. In America we generally don't stop people from expressing an opinion unless it falls under the harm principle (see the link above). For example, we don't allow people to yell "fire" in a full theater; if they do their are penalties.

While I personally don't support literature of the nature mentioned in the topic of this thread, I also don't support a lot of other things that people still do. There really is very little we can do to control stuff like this without outright censoring. I'd rather have people be allowed to write whatever they want and be able to read whatever I want than let the government overstep their bounds in yet another matter of public affairs and dictate what can and cannot be written.
 

Valkyrie

Not so Active Member
#11
I'll just say this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech

People can pretty much write or say anything they want, because everything someone says or writes is an OPINION. In America we generally don't stop people from expressing an opinion unless it falls under the harm principle (see the link above). For example, we don't allow people to yell "fire" in a full theater; if they do their are penalties.

While I personally don't support literature of the nature mentioned in the topic of this thread, I also don't support a lot of other things that people still do. There really is very little we can do to control stuff like this without outright censoring. I'd rather have people be allowed to write whatever they want and be able to read whatever I want than let the government overstep their bounds in yet another matter of public affairs and dictate what can and cannot be written.
I agree with this, even though it contradicts my points, but this story being published is also insulting legitimate writers. There are authors who work just as hard and they're not given enough credibility they deserve, but an author that wrote about an unhealthy abusive relationship, and portrays it as love and is being published is just despicable. If you read the story, (not that I'm encouraging it) you would understand the whole controversy over this. But I'm not trying to argue, so please don't think that.
 
#12
My generally speaking answer:
Uhm, yes? There are tons of stories out there that focus on other (worse) topics that people have gone through.
Anyone who doesn't want a piece of work published because it touches on a subject that is touchy for them needs to grow up and get over it. It's not all about you.

My dad abandoned me when I was little. Does that mean books where parents abandon children shouldn't be published? Heck no. Everyone has the ability to choose what to read. If it offends you, simply don't look at it. It's not that hard. To go as far to try to get something to not be published just screams jealously and insecurity. People are likely jealous that this one fan fiction out of them all got chosen when theirs didn't. That's all there is to it.

And who cares if the author isn't nice? The book is what matters. If she's as nasty as these people say, then the book won't sale. So what's the problem here? I really don't see why it matters.
A) First acknowledge the fact that the only person who can be held accountable for a trigger is the person who is being triggered. This is especially true if a warning has been placed
You are so on point!
 
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