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My friend goes on a rant about the power of stories

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
A friend of mine does the occasional blog post about this or that and he usually has at least some good points. This time he's on about how heroes in modern stories affect our view of life and the world: The Hero's Journey - how hardwork is for arseholes - The Boiling Pot

This isn't directly related to storytelling as such, but I think it's a good rant on the power of stories and how strong it can be, even if we don't always see it ourselves.

Warning: contains spelling and grammar errors.
 

Roughdragon

Minstrel
I have been thinking about this, and the fact that many stories revolve around a main character who is magically given a crazy amount of power out of the blue annoys me a bit. I can understand why stories have this, however; It's much faster, and can fit into a shorter timeframe.

I'm currently in a sport, and I realize that becoming exceptional in it requires a crazy amount of hard work and dedication, which seems to be a major part of the journey that many stories drop in favor of a magical bestowment of power and talent.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Well, I cant say I disagree with the argument put forth in the blog, but I fear I still want to leave room for stories to take liberty with the amount of effort required to beat the baddies. I fear that many of those stories would just prove too uninteresting to read if that were the case.

Characters unable to get launched because they still have too many ties at home holding them back might not meet up well with the story being told.

I suppose we could show a montage, and then we could cut to the place where the hero had the skills.



In fairness though, I could list out a few stories where heroes were not gifted and worked hard and it played well, least in IMO. Conan and Samurai Jack come to mind. Also, I would argue that Luke Skywalker does not fit this mold very well. He did not actually beat anyone. In fact, he was shot down in every space battle, had his hand cut off by the dark lords henchman, and had to be rescued by his father at the end. But, I suppose I could take issue with anything if I chose. The new girl, Rey, on the other hand....
 
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I suppose there's an element of story telling which requires some sort of catalyst to break up the status quo.

A hero character who has spent his life training, failing, succeeding, growing stronger, and so forth before the story begins would be the status quo when the story starts. So he goes on to fight and defeat the bad guy: life as usual, hah.

Of course, some stories do start with an MC who is exceptional in some way. The most common of these in fantasy (I think) involve a master assassin, master thief, master fighter. [Edit: Master detective is another good example.] I think there can be high entertainment value is a snapshot of that life, e.g. seeing the master thief overcome obstacles to secure a prize. The enjoyment is much like the enjoyment of watching a great sports team perform on the field or on the court, or watching the Olympics.

But most of us aren't Olympic athletes. We're very well acquainted with our own status quo, the same old-same old. And the chances are very good that much of the rest of our life will continue apace. This seems to fit the situation of those of us who are already on the older side. The younger crowd might still experience something...quite new, heh. But even then, life is often like a relay race and not an individual sprint. Receiving aid can make a huge difference. Success isn't always only a result of hands to our own bootstraps and pulling up.

I'm not sure I understand the blogger's exact complaint, but I think it's probably a bit misguided.
 
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