So the (very bad) warning Minna had about the heavy Christian theme of Lovely People is gone again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah, the description used to include something something "Christian homemaker." This appeared in the author's notes for each SSSS page until the banner showed up, and the Christian homemaker part was like the only tip-off about Christianity. It absolutely flew over my head though! Because practically every piece of media I've seen in my entire life has included Christians by default, so I have no words to explain how unhelpful that warning is. (But as I've said, the inclusion of a christian element did not bother me. Rather, it was the overall message that the comic was trying to push.)
Now, it's just "a cute and serious story about a Social Credit system." Her description on her recent youtube videos also doesn't mention it
What'll we do...
SkyWhalePod, I've been having similar problems sorting out what actually happened after LP was released and what I dreamt up! But, no, I've checked dozens of times, the thing where she says there will be a Christian slant was for the newsletter sign-up link for her next comic.
I just watched her video, it's been making me nervous recently, honestly. Uhhh... honest thoughts? I feel like she's overestimating how much she knows about the future, and social credit systems, and what it's like to live in a dystopia. Part of that stems from basing LP off a country she knows next to nothing about. The other part might just be my growing sense of sadness.
catbirds, you just reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend, when I tried to explain her this LP problem. She concurred it seems wrong from A to Z but didn't understand why I have lost interest in SSSS. Civil discussion ensued; in short, she advocated for The Death of the Author. That does not mean anybody hopes something bad happens to any author! It is, instead, a way of reading and interpreting a work, where work and author are completely detached. By TDotA, when considering a work, nothing not explicitly inserted in that work exists. So neither author's intention, later explanations, even later sequels have to be considered. That'd mean that, as long as SSSS does not show itself as 'problematic,' there's no reason not to read it, as there's no link between it and LP.
Yeah, death of the author has come up in online discussions about literature a LOT recently. I think what you're saying is that it is better applied to literally dead authors? Forgive me if I misread. Either way, I can see that a lot of people's feelings towards SSSS were greatly soured by the events that unfolded either in the recent past or post-LP release, so death of the author does not
really work in its purest form. There have been many worse instances where authors turned out to be pretty terrible, and it's pretty unfortunate that people will have to contend with having supported someone while disagreeing with a large chunk of their beliefs or actions.
The alternative, which is not a formal concept that has been dissected by scholars as far as I can tell, is "separating the art from the artist," as approximately explained by thorny and grey. I'm pretty on the fence about that concept tbh, especially if the artist has begun actively pushing their agenda as Minna is doing right now. But, y'know, SSSS has become quite special to many of us and inspired a lot of us to do things that we would not have done without it, so I understand the need to find some kind of compromise. (Further reading is available in the Future of our Fandom thread)
