Essay Questions

What elements contribute to the author’s self-described classification of her novel as urban fairy tale?

Although the story is clearly set in the real world, it is not entirely the world we know. While Jayne Mansfield and Kahlua may be present, they co-exist alongside a magic lamp containing a genie that can grant wishes as well as the dark side of fairy tale magic: a witch’s curse. The urban part takes care of itself in that the parts of Los Angeles that the characters call home are tangibly real. The pleasure of the reading takes place in the way that these two worlds commingle, but not just that they exist side by side. What makes the novel feel like a fairy tale rather than the similar but distinctively different genre of magical realism is that the Los Angeles of the novel may be real, but often feels like something from a fairy tale while the genie and the witch are presented in a way that feels realistic.

Though published at the height of the “Generation X novel” genre’s popularity in 1989, to which 21st century novel genre does Weetzie Bat seem to be the godmother?

The Gen-X novels of the 1980’s are most specifically characterized by such titles as Less Than Zero, Bright Lights Big City, and Tama Janowitz’s short story collection Slaves of New York. These are other representative of the genre veer along a rather narrowly paved boulevard lying somewhere between nihilism and despondent self-obsession. To suggest that it is a genre that defined by optimistic endings is dive deep into the most frigid depths of irony. That Weetzie Bat was published as part of the general wave of the Gen-X movement is almost unthinkable. The final lines of the novel almost seem specifically designed as a slap to the face of such downbeat writers as the tale ends with Weetzie contemplating how she may be familiar with happily ever after, but she certain knows about being happy. The suggestion that this novel is the godmother of the 21st century literary genre known as “Up Lit” which is defined by quirky characters undergoing tumultuous adventures but ending up better off and looking forward to the future hardly seems an assertion worthy of argument or debate at all.

Why is the book considered controversial relative to being politically incorrect?

The most persistent rap against the novel continues to be related almost exclusively devoted to what has been described as the author’s offensive treatment of Native American culture. In the first place, it is always a prickly undertaking to assume that any offensive behavior by characters in a novel directly reflects the author’s own feelings. Do Weetzie and Dirk put themselves in the line of fire for accusations of offensive and politically incorrect behavior regarding Native Americans? Absolutely and without a doubt. But probably not to the degree that many modern readers especially might think. There is nothing remotely offensive about Dirk sporting a Mohawk hairstyle: that is an iconic signature of the punk rock movement and though somebody somewhere might be worthy of being attacked for cultural appropriation, that someone is certainly not Dirk. Weetzie’s preference for wearing a “feathered Indian headdress” and the naming of a girl with apparently entirely non-native lineage Cherokee are a different matter, of course. But even then it is still perhaps going too far to levy accusations against the author for choices her characters make.