I'm doing research on a topic, and I'm looking for books (or movies, albums, games, plays, stories, etc.) where "the real villain is the expectations of the audience" or such.
Can be directly stated—characters directly acknowledging the existence of the audience and stating how evil it is that they have to go through a story—or less explicit "Cabin in the Woods" style—characters have to go through something horrible because "that's how an evil force requires the story to go wink wink."
Any and all recommendations are welcome.
by gamingkills
1 Comment
I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re looking for, but Tom Stoppard’s play, *The Real Inspector Hound*, involves the audience as a character.
It’s a comedy spoof murder mystery, but it’s also got some deeper themes, and it *might* qualify as what you’re looking for.
A book that has a section that hits on the idea of the audience as a threat is Diana Wynne Jones, *Tale of Time City*.
And *The Homeward Bounders* by Diana Wynne Jones might also qualify.