153: Not All Burgers Are Equal

Stories Are Soul Food

If you're a crippled Eskimo girl, would the best story you could ever read have a crippled Eskimo girl as the hero? Many book publishers and movie studios today would say YES. (The part they don't say is that the only reason they don't make more movies about Eskimos on crutches is because that demographic doesn't sell enough tickets.) Another way to ask this question: Do stories appeal because the main character represents you? Or do they appeal because you connect with the main character? Here's the takeaway: Representation is pointless; connection is the holy grail of storytelling. And the confusion of "representation" and "connection" is behind much of our worst woke storytelling today. Nate doesn't connect with a "father of five" on screen because he himself feels represented as a father of five -- there needs to be some human connection, some shared feeling or experience, if you want a character to resonate with the audience. The SASF guys discuss the difference between, say, the generic heroine of Princess Diaries versus Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. And then they get into a discussion of character archetypes, and how, in storytelling as in a restaurant, you can have all the ingredients of a great burger and still end up with a terrible burger. You also get to hear Nate hate on Shakespeare's tragedies while Brian tries to defend them, and hear which Shakespeare play Nate has adapted into a high-school rom-com.

#SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Books #Movies #NDWilson #Shakespeare #PrincessDiaries #wokestorytelling