A freedom that many white writers take for granted.
As I said before, I admit that I have been blind to how much people of color are underrepresented in autofiction. I have never had to see it because I have the freedom to explore my own stories because my story is the norm. Putting this in perspective and seeing how priviledged I am in being able to storytell in really important in keeping myself grounded.
Artistic movements are important because they offer artists who have new and startling ideas the space to migrate beyond the borders of the familiar.
I love this! This is something so resonate to me as an artist- specifically in theatre, finding what is traditional during a time period and pushing just beyond that allows for magical performances that really help artists find their voice.
Writers of color are sparingly featured in appraisals of autofiction.
I will admit that I have not noticed this trend and mostly because I haven't had to. I did not need to find representation as I see my own everywhere- so I ended up ignoring indeed that there is a great underrepresentation of people of color.
In one of the few stinging observations that I genuinely responded to in Normal People was a moment when Marianne’s intense self-loathing for herself is painfully laid bare:
This was one of my favorite things about Marianne. This is how she is an actual normal person She has real and normal insecurities that have been instilled in her through the social climate. The patriarchy is still so instilled in her reality that her self worth as a woman is completely dimished. It was one of the things that was completely real about her and I truly loved seeing it and being able to relate to her through that.
Culturally we are so deprived of women who write (flawed) women (that many of these current female icons are extremely well-educated, often wealthy and white says a lot of who we give license to tell “relatable” female stories), that when they do arrive, we leap at the chance to call them messiahs who intricately understand the female experience or indeed any experience.
THIS IS SO GOOD! Women characters so often written to be either angels, demons, or the "quirky" relatable girl. It's so rare to find characters who get to be real and act like normal people. These characters are not completely revolutionary or even perfect, they're just enough and essentially catching up with their male counterparts who have been allowed to be so for so long.
It’s a brilliant social drama, with communist over-tones that also represents the millennial experience.
I wish these were reversed (as I've said that I think it's more romance than anything else). However, I love that it brings in the idea of the millennial experience. That feels so concrete and real to what the story is an without keeping their ages involved, it would lose some of it's appeal.
Normal People’s trappings of quasi-socialism make it, ironically, a comfortably bourgeois romance novel to enjoy in the way that Twilight, for example, cost anyone who enjoyed it a lot of social capital.
Okay first- funny. Second, this feels a little too grandiose for me in what the novel did. Yes there's is definitely some conversation of socio-economic and political dealings, but at it's heart it is NORMAL PEOPLE. It's not some great pollical unrest and commentary (even though it is present) but it's about everyday millennials experiencing life.
Connell and Marianne love each other and seemingly want to commit but appear resolved in making their relationship needlessly turbulent.
I love this! This was one of my favorite portions of the novel- they teeter on just finally admitting everything for so long. They try and try and try to just be casual or see other people but always are drawn back to each other. Their refusal to admit their feelings is again what makes them normal.
Well, it’s an occasionally touching, often baffling romance set in Ireland.
I love "baffling". Their relationship is so topsy turvy and weird and convoluted but that's what's so interesting- people who have their shit figured out is boring. This is beautiful and raw and real- these are people who are not anything special, just normal.
We are never really given any explanation for why Marrianne and Connell keep miscommunicating,
I disagree with this actually- I feel like the implied reason we never see them realize they are miscommunicated and have a reason is because they are young and dumb. This whole plot revolves around people who don't know what they want and that's the beauty of it and what makes it so interesting.