addresses a problem I have with things like luck or fate in fiction.
The show's protaganist, Wyatt, and his friends, "the Super
Readers," have the power to enter into the fictional world of a familiar
story (eg Pinoccio) and interview a character in order to export a
lesson learned to their own situation in their world. The twist is
that the lesson to be learned is always first learned in the story
universe, but the character is unable to act any differently
nothwithstanding having the lesson communicated to the character by
the Super Readers because the text of the story has predestined their
action. At this point, Wyatt invokes the power of some sort of magical
artifact to expose the underlying sentence of the text that mandates
this act and the super readers try other possible words or phrases to
change the story. The outcome is ultimately successful and a heraldic
ballad is sung in voice over.
When I was a senior at Rice, I wrote a paper exploring the ontological
status of fictional worlds. Specifically I was fascinated by the
relationship of fictional worlds with the real world and how the
ability to write additional text was a way to change not just the
world of that story but the ontological status of that creation. To a
certain extent I was thinking specifically about cultural icons who
seem to have a life beyond the original text (ie I examined Sherlock
Holmes).
In later years, however, I began to get very annoyed with "M Night
Shamalan" style movies about strange twists of fate. Audiences would
come out of the movie with a strong and very flawed notion of fate.
But in a story, fate is absolute and time is an illusion.
Thus far I am Dr Obvious. In watching Super Why, I realize that the
writers of that show are on to something brilliant. If ever you are
unhappy with how something happens in a book, get out your pen and
change it. You own the book, gosh darn it, that story better go the
way you want. Want Romeo to bloviate a bit longer until Juliet wakes
up and for them to cry and hug and kiss and skip town to become humble
shop keepers in Sardina where they live out their days in a rich and
full life filled with children, friends, grandchildren, and emotional
honesty? Well, go for it! Shakespeare can shove it, that is your copy of
the book.
Towards this end, I admit that SNL also stumbled onto this realizatiom
years ago with their far more satisfying alternate ending to "its a
wonderful life"
zuzu: daddy when a bell rings that means an angel got his wings. ...
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