Saphire's ramblings

The issue of the meaning of art and the webseries ENA

Firstly, hi there Leslie UwU

I was recently watching a video from folding ideas^1 about the Thermian argument. The video explores how fans of some series will defend their series from criticism by citing in lore reasons as to why the piece of fiction is the way it is. I'd recommend you to watch the video for yourself, as it is an interesting watch.

Afterwards, I googled the video and found someone that disagreed with the concept of a Thermian argument, and offered several counterpoints to the idea and Folding Idea's video. ^2 ^3

There was specifically one point that I found issue with, and it's one of the earlier claims: "The author needs to engage in a series of “If… then” statements to make the story believable." (Late to the Party, 2019)

I made a reply to that claim in the comments, and the rest of this post is just a copy paste of that comment that I'd like to add here.

so, without further ado:

The author needs to engage in a series of “If… then” statements to make the story believable.

One example I'd like to give is how the subtitles in the videos sometimes intentionally do not translate the dialogue being spoken. This is seen most prolifically in the second episode, where some of the characters speak Japanese or Korean and explicitly warns Ena of going further in the maze and tells her she should not be there, while the subtitles explicitly tells her to go on. Why did the subtitles not match in the episode? Why did they tell Ena to do the exact opposite things? This on its own creates a dissonance and discussion while breaking the traditional notion of what subtitles are for. It's also worth noting that in the rest of the series, the series does not continue with this trick as far as I'm aware, so even on that front it refuses any consistency.

On something as simple as the subtitles, the series refuses to conform to any preconceived notions we may have about them while also defying the "if… then" logic, and in turn uses the subtitles as a plot device. Now why have I mentioned the subtitles and not the actual story? Well, that is because the whole series refuses any consistency and willingness to partake in "if… then" logic. From the setting, to the plot, to the music, to the characters, to the dialogue, it would be easier to list the things that stay consistent in all their elements than to list the things that do not and break the "if… then" logic.

If you assume that "if… then" logic is the only legitimate way to make or analyse a story, then Ena makes absolutely no sense. However, there is one thing that Ena is doing consistently, and that is exploring abstract themes. If you broaden your definition of art from "stuff that follows "if… then" logic", then Ena becomes an extremely interesting story.

In the latest episode, it centres heavily on the idea of "fun", and explores the ways that we humans try to attain it and happiness. In her attempt to have fun, Ena puts on a mask that leeches of her blue side like a parasite, and goes through the various bumps of the story talking to various characters, before she arrives to the last act which is called therapy. The therapy act is remarkably coherent for a scene in Ena, and it ends in Ena casting away her mask and seemingly being happy with not having fun all the time. The episode has one last scene where Ena joins with her friends, and some weird shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmXe-ZGr5RM

I know this was one point in your essay, but I see it as the central thesis of your post. I find it to be far too limiting as to what art can be, and as to what stories can and should tell. The sort of anti-intellectualism that insists that there is nothing valuable to be found in stories having themes, or the outright hostility to non-literal stories is something of a pet peeve of mine, and therefore I wanted to reply to that specific point.

1^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxV8gAGmbtk 2^ https://latetotheparty.medium.com/dan-olsens-claim-that-the-thermian-argument-is-a-fallacy-is-a-fallacy-in-itself-aeec5d701da9 3^ yes, good writing is exemplified by using the same word two times right after each other in a way that sounds bad, fight me on it it's intentional for me I swear