\u201cWell, it\u2019s all subjective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many times have you heard that before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re like me, who watches a lot of YouTube videos about media analysis, then that phrase is achingly familiar. Often, it\u2019s used to deflect counterarguments by essentially saying that there is no correct answer, and you are free to believe whatever you wish. But, in actuality, it undermines the value of writing as craft. By saying that it\u2019s all a matter of the audience\u2019s opinion (i.e., the subjective), you are also saying that the work itself (i.e., the objective) has no part in the experience. When you think of it that way, it\u2019s a strange thing to say, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, don\u2019t get me wrong. You are more than welcome to like or dislike you want, and for whatever reason. There are things that we all enjoy for the simplest reasons like explosions, action, romance, and so on. For example, I have a friend that\u2019s only interested in watching hard science fiction TV series, and hey, more power to her! There\u2019s nothing wrong with just enjoying a movie or show for what it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personally, if there’s a story about a traveling monster slayer, I\u2019ll probably like it no matter what. But as for the quality of that story\u2026 well, that\u2019s a different discussion altogether. After all, there\u2019s a difference between saying \u201clightsabers are in\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u201d and \u201clightsabers are cool.\u201d The first one\u2019s a fact, and the second one is an opinion, albeit a very popular one. Likewise, there\u2019s a difference between saying \u201cX is a strong character\u201d and \u201cI liked X.\u201d The character\u2019s quality can be demonstrating by their consistency, motives, and participation in the plot. But, as for whether you like that character or not, well, that\u2019s just up to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, I find it so strange when a media critic says that \u201cit\u2019s all subjective\u201d when it\u2019s really not. Objectivity must have some part because the story being discussed exists<\/em>. Even if the only objective qualities are the names of the characters, there is still objectivity. No matter how hard you might try to ignore that, it\u2019s the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned earlier, disregarding the objective qualities of art means that you can\u2019t attribute anything, whether positive or negative, to the work or its creator. How could you? If it\u2019s all subjective, then you are the one responsible for your experience, no one else. And that would mean that there\u2019s no actual difference between a good and a bad story or a good\/bad author. What would \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d even mean in that world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But thankfully, objectivity does<\/em> exist. And trust me, dear reader, you want it to. Whether you\u2019re a writer or an audience member, objectivity is a good thing. As a writer, it means that your success isn\u2019t solely dependent on those who experience your work. It means that there are concrete things that you can improve, and that if you keep work at your flaws, you will become a great writer. And as an audience member, it means that there is something more to discuss than \u201cthat was neat\u201d or \u201cI really liked it.\u201d You can discuss the intricacies of how the character arc was executed or how certain themes were developed. Objectivity makes stories more<\/em> interesting, not less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If it wasn\u2019t obvious, this is something that I\u2019ve put a lot of thought into (part of the writer gig, I think). But as always, you\u2019re free to like what you want for whatever you want. Just know, that if you start saying things like \u201cobjectivity in art is stupid\u201d or \u201cit\u2019s all subjective,\u201d I\u2019ll jumped out of the nearest closest like the boogeyman to debate you and tell you how wrong you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWell, it\u2019s all subjective.\u201d How many times have you heard that before? If you\u2019re like me, who watches a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[18,19],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-writing","tag-objectivity","tag-subjectivity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261,"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cameroncorder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}