dianeduane | Today's coined word: Literothanatophobia

Today's coined word: Literothanatophobia

Or, "The fear of death in literature."

A British book retailer plans to set up a counseling hotline for all heartbroken fans of Harry Potter, in case he dies in the much awaited next book.

As a former psychiatric professional, I can kind of see the point. ...But I do start wondering, sometimes... Are human beings actually less robust, more fragile, than they used to be -- or are we just being encouraged to believe we are?

And I remember clearly the resilience and fortitude of my younger patients as compared to the so-called "adults". The kids were endlessly more pragmatic and better at handling pain than the grownups. Any bets on the percentage of over-eighteens who wind up being counseled, as opposed to the under-eighteens?...

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Picking at scabs causes infections and scars. This sort of thing encourages people to pick at the scabs.

I don't think we really are less robost; I think we aren't given the chance to find out how strong we really are with so much coddling and pampering.

We believe we need it because 1. People presumably in authority say we do; 2. It's available and others are using it, so maybe we need to use it, too; 3. Using these things buys us sympathy and maybe even material things like sloughing off at work or school or getting extra consideration from others which may include meals and other signs of material pampering; 4. If others are getting back rubs and time off from work and responsibilities and free meals and chocolate and such for dispalying these signs of weakness, why shouldn't otherwise strong people also take advantage of it and get some of the sympathy goodies, too? and 5. A few people actually are so out of touch with reality they need some counseling to help them regain their perspective. I don't know if this sort of counseling will provide that.

Are human beings actually less robust, more fragile, than they used to be -- or are we just being encouraged to believe we are?

I think it's the latter, and I would even say that the younger the person involved, the more this is encouraged; the more "concerned parents" try to shield their children.

Same field, different example. There are so many mothers worried about their daughters (and sons?) seeing Daniel Radcliffe in the nude in Equus, or in promotional posters for that, because they think that their children will be disturbed by seeing a sexualized "Harry Potter". First of all, I think the readers of the Potter books and watchers of the Potter movies know the difference between the actor and the role (I know I did when back in the 1980s, in my teens, I had a crush on Marty McFly - and not on Michael J. Fox). And second, the concerned mothers do not know what kind of fiction their teenage daughters are writing on the Internet.

So anyway, I don't think we're more fragile than we used to be. But we are certainly more pampered, and I personally am surprised and frightened at the amount of people willing to be pampered and shielded from the world.

... this turned into a kind of rant, didn't it? ;)

Fictional characters have been dying for as long as fiction has existed. Teenagers and other sensitive readers/viewers/listeners have been moping and swooning over it equally long. And they get over it. There are such things as genuine mood disorders that require professional treatment, but this ain't one of 'em.

If someone doesn't get over it, they've got deeper problems that do need attention, but the majority of readers of this particular book will probably not fall into that category, and there's no need for a special emergency Harry Potter grief counseling service to take care of the overload.

Well, wasn't there a great wailing and gnashing of teeth when Take That broke up?

I hope the majority of broken-hearted teeny-boppers were under-18. :)

Oh, and another thing - you can tell this bothers me - is this literothanatophobia or simply thanatophobia in a different context? Are they / we simply less robust or more secluded when it comes to dealing with death?

I think what would annoy me most if Harry Potter dies, unless it's done really good and with good reason, is that it would feel like a cop-out. "No more Potter books, I'm going to kill off the main character!"

Are human beings actually less robust, more fragile, than they used to be -- or are we just being encouraged to believe we are?
The latter I fear. I do agree that if someone does need counseling after a trauma, then they should have it. On the other hand, in todays world if you dont need counseling after a trauma, there must be something wrong with you. Not that I could Potter being killed to be a major trauma.
I recall something my eldest brother told me about when he was in the Irish Naval Service in the late 50s (like I said, eldest). They had to go on a recovery mission following a plane crash in the Atlantic. By the time they got there, the bodies had been in the water for several days. so you can imagine the condition they were in. The ship returned to Galway, the bodies were unloaded, the crew went to the bars, and they sailed out the next day. And there were no PTSM noted.
Sorry - that pressed a button for me.

My question is... what kind of power has entertainment been given over people's lives that people are expected to be traumatized by the death of a fictional character? Growing up I read a lot of books - and whenever something in a fantasy/horror novel upset me - I didn't need consolation. All I had to do was remember it was a book that I picked up to be entertained. I was more upset when I saw books written badly (because trees were cut down to print it) than when I saw made-up characters killed. At the end of the day, is it so un-PC now to say "It's just a book"? Must I cry at sad movies or will I be considered cold if I'm sitting there analyzing the film for being 1-2 hours of flickering images designed to manipulate my emotions?

Of course here I'm questioning how vulnerable we are to media and why we aren't questioning that. Not really answering your musing, sorry! :)

You know how the Harry Potter books hit that demographic of people who don't read much, if at all?

My theory, which is mine, which is the one I have, is that this is one of the reasons why Harry Potter fandom is so crazy -- there are people reading those books who just don't have the mental or emotional tools for dealing with a fictional narrative. (It's also the case that it's a huge fandom, so there's more crazy to rise to the top.)

It's not a new thing -- Little Nell, as referenced above establishes that -- but given what we've seen from Harry Potter thus far, I actually be surprised if there weren't one or two suicides whose proximal cause is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So it seems to me that a counselling line is at least moderately justified.

Of course, part of what is going on is that parents find it difficult to cope with their children showing grief, and actually (I suspect) take it much harder on themselves than perhaps the children do. Hence the instinct to say, oh, the dog has just gone away, or, you won't be seeing grandad for a while.

On a related note, I'll always remember an article in the Guardian about a mother who had hit on this new psychological technique to get her child to eat properly; reading her own account, it was absolutely clear that although she didn't realise it, she was the one whose behaviour was being affect by this new "treatment".

You know, I remember the good ol' days when beloved characters like Roy Fokker and Ben Dixon died right before our eyes in the TV show Robotech. Some parental groups shrieked in horror, but far more parents wrote in to thank the Robotech creators for bringing this portrayal to American TV, to help kids learn about dealing with death and loss.

I think Rowling is doing much the same thing with the Harry Potter books.

I rather doubt that Harry, Ron, or Hermione will die in Hallows. But just about anyone else is fair game. Rowling has said that finishing the last book will be "like a bereavement," but that doesn't mean she's going to kill Harry; it means the series that has been an integral part of her life for the last decade will be over and she won't know what to do with herself after that. (Well, apart from wallow in money. :)

Give someone enough prompting that they require support to deal with a situation and they will begin to believe it before it has even happened.

I always cry at something in LOTR and I've read that for years, I cried at Bambi when I was little and at the end of Shanghai Triad as an adult. I'm good with crying at fiction. But traumatised, no. I can go back and watch or read those again and know I'll have an emotional response. And none of that sets you up 100% to cope with having a parent/spouse/friend die. Counselling or no, death is fact.

I blame this trend, as I do all things, on the Advent of Leisure time. People ahve to much time to think on these things rather than just cry their river, build a bridge and get over it. And I say that as a person who wept openly when they killed Tasselhoff Burrfoot in Dragons of Summer Flame, and every damn character that died in the Young Wizard's universe. I don't think less of myself for that empathy, but I would definitely expect someone to smack me if I let it control my life.

I thought that that was what fanfic and "alternative universe" were for.

Oh, you betcha: I remember the same phenomenon with the first set of Star Trek films. With one noted exception (my high school prom date, who went completely ballistic when the Enterprise went Em-See-Squared at the end of Star Trek III, I noted that diehard fans of the show and films who were under 30 when Star Trek II came out handled things a hell of a lot better than the ones who were over that age. (Of course, I'm a fine one to talk: I still bawl my eyes out at the end of Alien, when the only interesting character in the whole film besides the cat gets blown out the airlock.)

I can't wait to see Harry die. Heh.

Overall, wealth and leisure have increased, while human nature remains the same, and this kind of navel contemplation, this silly use of time and concern, is the natural result of the wiggle room created.

I honestly don't understand this. There is some bizarre dynamic out there now, that must have to do with the current generation of parents wanting to shield their children from...well, everything.

I read "Bridge to Terabithia" in elementary school as required reading. There was no counseling for us! (Oh, and I've heard no word on if that particular story is going to be altered by Disney for the movie...)

What about "Ol' Yeller?" "Where the Red Fern Grows?" "The Red Pony?"

All of these are stories that deal with death in one way or another. Granted, they didn't have the crazed fan base, or the extended series existence, that Harry Potter does. But the emotional investment is still there. We read, we cried, we processed it, we went on.

I chime in to say "the latter" with pretty much everyone else.

Granted this year has already been deliciously sucktastical in terms of dealing-with-death trauma already, but it does leave me in an excellent position to keenly appreciate the difference in the way I get choked up on contemplating my favorite (Xenosaga) character's death versus getting choked up, locking my jaw, and wanting to crawl into bed and never come out over a close family member dying.

(The perceived callousness is an attempt to keep myself from coming off as throwing a pity-me party down here; just making a point, not asking for sympathy. ;) Oyez.)

Is this hotline anything more than an invention of a Bulgarian writer? Notice that the "British book retailer [who] plans to set up a counseling hotline" isn't even named, nor any specifics about the hotline given!

Sounds like the way scary movies used to advertise the presence of a doctor in the lobby to treat anybody who was overwhelmed. Schtick.

And there'll be the usual angstfests among various HP fans, whilst fanfic goes merrily along either playing with "The GHOST of Harry Potter" or just ignoring the whole thing.

Come to think of it, the latter will happen even if he DOES live through it. :)

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