“Your morals in fiction reflect your morals in real life!”
Some people’s do, but mine and many others don’t. Fiction can explore dark, dangerous, and twisted ideas without the risk of direct harm to others, so it’s inherently morally neutral. Some people are more directly empathetic with fiction than others, but your ability to empathize with a fictional character is frankly just not a good moral thermometer.
“Well, ok, but it’ll desensitize you over time!”
Research says no. Personal experience says no, too; I have been consuming dark fiction for over a decade, and my empathy remains perfectly intact.
“Your taste in fiction reflects your world view!”
Sometimes, and to a limited and inconsistent degree. You’re probably comfortable with things (like young teens fighting in open combat) in fiction that would be horrible in real life, right? Everyone’s threshold for where their suspension of disbelief ends is different. For some people it doesn’t exist, and they never view fiction as any more real than the average person sees a Barbie doll as an actual person. This is a function of our relationship with fiction, not our relationship with reality.
QueerGalaxies 