"Pure Entertainment?"

We had a lot of lurkers out there yesterday. That’s okay. Some days I don’t feel like commenting either.

Speaking of comments, there are a whole bunch on Monday’s post that made me think, and they all were some variation on the following:

“When I read a book I read for pure enjoyment. It does not have to mean anything really profound except provide me with entertainment…”

Phrases like “a form of escape,” “pure entertainment,” “not looking for messages” etc. abounded. Which, of course, is awesome! Many books serve the same divine purpose as bubble baths and locks on bathroom doors as far as I’m concerned. And some don’t. Also awesome. Either way is fine by me.

But I don’t think that “meaning” is necessarily synonymous with “profound” or “preachy.” (I don’t think there’s much of a message in Donnie Darko, after all.) Sometimes things just mean something. An in-joke. A shout out. A reference that will further enlighten the audience as to character or plot. An observation the author is making about life. Whatever. You can have your “escape” and your “meaning” in one gorgeous package. Like how bubble baths are both relaxing AND make you clean and moisturized. Mmmm, bubble bath. You know, I did just scrub the tub this weekend.

And I don’t think said “meaning” necessarily equates with subjecting us all to a high school treatise about the symbolism of color in The Red Badge of Courage. (We all had to sit through that lecture once, right?) Sometimes, the author explaining something can be every bit as juicy and entertaining as the story itself. For instance, last night, I was watching the DVD commentary for Stand By Me, and Stephen King was talking about how once, as a child, he and his friends did wind up in a swamp covered with leeches. And let us not even start about the goss to be gleaned from the commentary on Mr. and Mrs. Smith! Whoa, Nelly! And if an author says, “I named a character Valentine Michael Smith for a reason,” I don’t think trying to suss that reason out detracts at all from my enjoyment. It gives me MORE enjoyment. It’s like an extra little game in the text. Part of the fun. Like reading a mystery and trying to figure out whodunnit before the sleuth does.

So I think pure entertainment can also be chock full of meaning. They aren’t mutually exclusive. What do you think?