Kathy Martin's Blog - Posts Tagged "mad-about-the-boy"
Who calls the shots, the writer or the public?
Firstly, a warning: the following post contains information that might be construed as ‘spoiler-ish’ by anyone who hasn’t read a newspaper, glanced at Twitter or eavesdropped on casual chitchat recently. If that sounds like you and you find spoilers annoying, please do not read on.
For those still with me, thank you, and here comes one of those revelations that prompted me to start with a spoiler notice. In a bold and not universally well received move, author Helen Fielding has killed Mark Darcy in her latest Bridget Jones novel, Mad About the Boy. According to the Daily Mail, fans reacted to the news with ‘sadness and fury’ while the Guardian referred more moderately to the ‘distress of many fans’ and the Huffington Post declared that fans had been ‘left reeling’. Twitter, of course, went a bit insane. Funnily enough, none of that distress and fury has translated into poor sales. Mad About the Boy is currently number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list and is also doing very well on Amazon.
So, despite all the Darcy brouhaha, it seems the public is able to accept that popular fictional characters will occasionally come a cropper. Although not always, since the dust has yet to clear from the recent Downton Abbey furore. Perhaps unfortunate timing is to blame, since it was hard on the heels of the Mark Darcy hysteria that Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes stepped headlong into a maelstrom of criticism with his rape storyline. Once again, shock and outrage dominated the headlines as viewers and some critics vowed they would never watch Downton again. Will the controversy damage the viewing figures in the long-term? Only time will tell (but I doubt it).
Intense as it has been, the anger levelled at Helen Fielding and Julian Fellowes in the last few weeks pales into insignificance compared with the vitriol spewed at Andrew Lloyd Webber a few years ago when he launched his Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies. Ardent Phantom fans went ballistic because the new story moved characters they cared about into situations they deplored. For the record, I thought it was a magnificent show with a hauntingly beautiful score but my opinion was in the minority. After a disappointingly short run it was hustled out of London and transported to Australia where it has been significantly re-worked (to its detriment, in my view), although the storyline that caused so much offence remains largely the same.
I believe the failure of Love Never Dies in London was caused by the refusal of diehard Phantom fans to accept the fate ordained for Christine, Raoul, Meg et al by the show’s creator. This leads me to the question I posed at the start of this post: who calls the shots, the writer or the public? The evidence suggests that it is a brave, possibly even foolhardy writer who kills a much-loved character or places them in intolerable circumstances. Nevertheless I believe it is their prerogative to do so. I also believe it is the prerogative of a disgruntled public to deliver its verdict where it hurts most, at the sales desk.
For those still with me, thank you, and here comes one of those revelations that prompted me to start with a spoiler notice. In a bold and not universally well received move, author Helen Fielding has killed Mark Darcy in her latest Bridget Jones novel, Mad About the Boy. According to the Daily Mail, fans reacted to the news with ‘sadness and fury’ while the Guardian referred more moderately to the ‘distress of many fans’ and the Huffington Post declared that fans had been ‘left reeling’. Twitter, of course, went a bit insane. Funnily enough, none of that distress and fury has translated into poor sales. Mad About the Boy is currently number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list and is also doing very well on Amazon.
So, despite all the Darcy brouhaha, it seems the public is able to accept that popular fictional characters will occasionally come a cropper. Although not always, since the dust has yet to clear from the recent Downton Abbey furore. Perhaps unfortunate timing is to blame, since it was hard on the heels of the Mark Darcy hysteria that Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes stepped headlong into a maelstrom of criticism with his rape storyline. Once again, shock and outrage dominated the headlines as viewers and some critics vowed they would never watch Downton again. Will the controversy damage the viewing figures in the long-term? Only time will tell (but I doubt it).
Intense as it has been, the anger levelled at Helen Fielding and Julian Fellowes in the last few weeks pales into insignificance compared with the vitriol spewed at Andrew Lloyd Webber a few years ago when he launched his Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies. Ardent Phantom fans went ballistic because the new story moved characters they cared about into situations they deplored. For the record, I thought it was a magnificent show with a hauntingly beautiful score but my opinion was in the minority. After a disappointingly short run it was hustled out of London and transported to Australia where it has been significantly re-worked (to its detriment, in my view), although the storyline that caused so much offence remains largely the same.
I believe the failure of Love Never Dies in London was caused by the refusal of diehard Phantom fans to accept the fate ordained for Christine, Raoul, Meg et al by the show’s creator. This leads me to the question I posed at the start of this post: who calls the shots, the writer or the public? The evidence suggests that it is a brave, possibly even foolhardy writer who kills a much-loved character or places them in intolerable circumstances. Nevertheless I believe it is their prerogative to do so. I also believe it is the prerogative of a disgruntled public to deliver its verdict where it hurts most, at the sales desk.
