re: #110 The Ghost of a Flea

Authoritarians are terrified of ambiguity of meaning and subtlety. You can’t trust symbolism that isn’t part of a formal set. You can’t trust individual viewers to react how you want, if you don’t control the precise way they receive that art and “get” what it means.

Hence their opposition to any kind of literature that pushes against conservative social norms, especially against authority figures. Lately, that has included any recent young adult lit, including Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Authoritarians prefer literature featuring “heroes” that follow the social order and that have predictable conclusions. IOW, very boring, formulaic fiction.