(no subject)

[heidi]

This probably isn't the best day to start up a discussion, so I am going to cross-post this on FictionAlley; if you can't comment here, you can post there if you want to.

So, now, a few thoughts on

There's been some discussion on LJs and on FA recently - as well as a long, long time ago - about what makes an anachronism.

Merriam-Webster defines it as an error in chronology; especially : a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other, or a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place.

People have called JKR's mention of Dudley having a playstation an anachronism; it might be, but then, it might not, as they were introduced on a limited scale in the Spring of 1994 in Japan, and were technically available, although at very exorbitant prices. A year later, they were easily available in the UK, though, so she's not really off by too much.

It would be, under that definition, an anachronism for Lily Evans to listen to Britney Spears sing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" - but Britney did not write that song, and the wizarding world is not exactly like our own. If you want to incorporate that song into a story, then why not toss in an offhand explanation that it had been written as a folk song by some random wizard back in 1968 to protest capitalist hegemony? If you're creative, you can explain anything that's outside of place and time - or just incorporate it creatively, like they did in Ella Enchanted (no, Freddie Mercury did not exist in Ella's world, but his song certainly did!). It depends, of course, on the mood of your story - but if you treat something anachronistic like it's natural and an organic element of your universe, like Mutton, Lettuce & Tomato sandwich that Miracle Max seeks in The Princess Bride, it's going to work, at least for those who are willing to get caught up in magic.

I like realistic and well researched fics as much as anyone, though, and when I'm looking to make something realistic, I personally look to see whether it is possible that someone had, did or saw something. Hermione might've been listening to CDs when her letter from Hogwarts arrived; she might've been watching laser discs, although it's not likely as they weren't especially popular except among cinema geeks (I dated one in 1993, which is how I know this timeframe). She was not watching a DVD, and she certainly wasn't watching Titanic. Or Star Wars. But it *is* possible for Harry, two or three years after finishing Hogwarts, to watch Star Wars on a DVD, even though they haven't been released yet; people have illegally burned the films onto DVDs, so it is *technically* possible to watch them now. Bad, illegal, and possible.

When I saw the pics of Hermione in her pink hoodie and rainbow belt, I thought that it showed her lack on interest in current fashions - my gosh, I remember when those *were* fashionable.

In 1981.

So it's, again, not anachronistic, because pink hoodies did exist in 1994, but it might not send the exact message you want to make. Or you may just be Alfonso Cuaron, and setting your story, because of some insane decision by Chris Columbus, in 2003 instead of 1994. And then we'll all just say "whatever*.

Now, what do you think? What makes something anachronistic to you? Is it implausibility in the Muggle world? Is it impossibility in the Muggle world, combined with an absence of an explanation as to how it is possible in the Wizarding world?

What is it? And what do you do about it?

Comments

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't really see the point at all to worrying about the films being anachronistic. I only want them to be internally consistent and not to misrepresent the characters in the books, such as when Hermione very inappropriately said Ron's line in the Shrieking Shack or when she stupidly tried to approach Lupin just after he'd transformed into a WEREWOLF (despite having been lecturing the DADA class about werewolves not knowing themselves after they transform).

Streamline the plot as much as necessary (I didn't mind about 99% of the stuff that was left out of PoA), dress the kids however and insert new school clubs (the Toad Choir) until the cows come home, but DON'T create plot holes, internal inconsistencies or insert unnecessary "explanations" (the Quidditch trophies in the first film) that directly contradict one of the central themes of the books (that blood isn't as important as personal choices).

In the world of the films, we never had the Deathday Party, so we never had any "marker" placing the films in a certain timeframe. That only exists in the books. Personally, I rather like that the films sort of "float" in a timeless state that makes it hard to bring any solid accusations of anachronism.

But when we're writing fanfics, we're usually doing it from book canon, and in that world the Deathday Party DID happen, so we know better. There is a way, however, to still get away with this as long as it doesn't come off seeming like you just wanted to get your favorite song into the fic or refused to do research: AUs. When I did an AU I managed to give sixteen year olds in the UK the right to drive (seventeen is the driving age) and allowed a character to read a John LeCarre novel that was written AFTER the time change. (People who were born after the time change didn't exist in the AU.) I got away with both by making the first change a dire result of the freakish dystopia that had been created and the other was explained in my author's note as a slightly different version of the book we know in our time, as LeCarre had been planning it before the time change. ;)

Perhaps it seems harsh to hold fics to a higher standard than films that are being created with multi-million dollar budgets, but the films have another purpose that the fics do not: they NEED to be timeless. I really wish that JKR hadn't ever put ANY sort of time markers in her stories. I'd have been far happier being able to imagine Harry going to school at any point in time. And considering how very bad she is with numbers, this might have been wiser for someone with her particular brand of innumeracy. We're all sort of stuck with it now, but I don't see any reason to saddle the filmmakers with this. They had the chance to eliminate time markers from the films and did just that, whether that was intentional or not. The freedom that gives allows us to have HP films that transcend time. That is definitely a Good Thing, as Marth would say. :D

[fadedjae.livejournal.com]

But Snape's potions allow Lupin to keep his identity when he transforms, right? So perhaps Hermione realized the Lupin had taking potions from Snape and approached him believing that he had taken the one that corresponded to that week's transformation.

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

There is no evidence given in the film that this is the case. In the Shrieking Shack Hermione only revealed that she knew Lupin was a werewolf from the time that Snape set them the essay on werewolves. What-ifs don't hold up; the film is as it is, with no explanation for her idiotic behavior. It's still not as bad as the plot hole in CoS that requires Ginny to know psychically that Harry has Riddle's diary, but it's highly annoying (to me, anyway).

[senji.livejournal.com]

I think it fits in entirely with Hermione's personality, actually.

She knows things intellectually, but not emotionally; and she's acting with her emotions there...

[fadedjae.livejournal.com]

Good point. I try to alleviate the annoyance by filling in the ocean sized plot-holes with information from the book but you're right about how the movie leaves that tidbit out.