R. Michael's Blog, page 5

Just because a lot of people believe…

We all know the saying, “Just because everyone believes it doesn’t make it true.” Most people understand this is truth intellectually.  At the same time how many people believe things just because it is popular, or due to authority figures or intellectuals adhere to the same beliefs?

A common phrase I hear “studies say” is used to shut down conversations with supposed intellectual superiority.  Someone may know of a study’s findings and suddenly they are armed with absolute knowledge.  However, studies always have flaws.  Sure, they are they are the best we got to gather information.  Studies are useful tools, but they are based on averages and probabilities, not absolute truth.  There are almost always exceptions.  I have seen and heard countless discussions about what studies say such as “Liberals are more…” or “Conservatives are more…” which might be true based on what the sociologists discovered, but that hardly is supposed to be a justification for blanket statements.

It isn’t just studies that are abused to justify beliefs, so is science in general.  Disclaimer, I am not anti-science.  I really like it and appreciate it.  I simply do not believe using the phrase “most scientists believe…” as evidence in and of itself.  That is an appeal to authority fallacy.  Show me the proof as to why scientists came to the conclusion they did, do not tell me what they believe.  I want to know why.

These are two reasons I’ve seen large amounts of people believe something, and many times the data is warped to the point it becomes untrue.  Ideology often gets in the way of facts.  We certainly see that in the modern political sphere.  Liberals are apt to criticize Conservatives and Conservatives do the same but neither side regularly critiques their own.

It is an easy trap to fall into.  It is our duty to sift through truth, even if we must dig deeper.  Truth is often masked in ideology and buzz words these days.  The result is large crowds of people believing something just because others who think like them believe the same.  We see things through the lens of ideology and emotion more often than we use facts.  There is a cultural pressure to believe certain things right now, and those who disagree are branded with harsh labels at minimum.  Once again, just because a large amount of people believe something, or pressure others to think the same way, doesn’t make it true.  That pressure is transitioning to us creative writers.  Our job as authors is not to pander, as I’ve said before.  We must tell stories that people can learn and relate to, not become popular through forcing certain tropes.

What Makes Humor Humorous?

Humor can be difficult.  There is such a wide range of humor and what people find to be funny, it is difficult to pin down a concrete set of rules to go by.  While that is true, it is also true that there are things that more people will find funny than others.  I believe the root of successful humor is reality.  Something we find funny is usually an exaggeration of reality.

I recently wanted an episode of “The Last Man on Earth” a show which I felt has gone downhill since last year.  However, the last episode my wife and I saw came across as no where near the realm of funny but down right absurd.  Now I’m not going to give away spoilers or details, but it came across to us as 4th-6th grade humor.  I’m sure the comedy displayed on the show appealed to someone out there.  After all it is still airing new episodes.  For me it was so wildly sophomoric that I thought it was dumb and the furthest thing from funny.

This had me thinking about humor.  As authors we need to convey a range of literary elements, and humor is one of them.  When it comes to comedy, sometimes creativity doesn’t reign supreme.  Instead, how funny something is has to do with reliability.   We see the world through the lens of experience.  Of course not all experiences are relatable, and thus where the differences in tastes lies.  That is okay, but when “comedy” crosses the line into implausibility and absurdity, that is when it becomes immature.

 

This is why over-reliance on fart jokes for a movie geared towards adults is typically frowned upon.  Farting can be funny, but adults don’t relate to the idea that every fart is funny like a child would.  For us writers, we must keep this in mind when we include comedic scenes.  Not all my find our attempts at humor funny, but we should at least aim for the situation to be as relatable as possible.

The Horror of Dialect

 

In a creative writing class, I had several years ago, the teacher cautioned against writing in dialect.  The irony was that at the same time I was taking an Advanced Place ent English class that assigned several books written in that particular style. Throughout high school and subsequently college I have periodically read books written in dialect, and I can see why it isn’t common place anymore.

“There Eyes Were Watching God” is often hailed as a classic, and assigned in classrooms all across the country.  I struggled to get through it, I could barely make out what the characters were saying.  I love reading, obviously since I’m a writer, but reading books written entirely or mostly in dialect is an insurmountable challenge for me.  I can figure it out, but my brain wants to fix the words which means it makes reading slow.

Authors are called to “show nor tell” in their stories, and writing in dialect is one way to accomplish that.  To me, though this shows the pitfalls of relying too heavily on showing and not implementing it wisely.  Sometimes, writing short bursts of dialogue, such as a few lines, might be a creative way to show a character’s accent.  Writing an entire book that way is clunky.  That isn’t me saying I claim to be a better writer than these classical authors, but I share this perspective to let others know that if they feel the same, they aren’t alone.  If you are like me, then dialect can be not only clunky, but distracting from the overall plot.  Thank goodness it is a product of the past.

Secular isn’t a Genre

I’m a Christian.  I love Jesus, and do my best to serve Him in what I do.  In this journey as a Christian though, I have heard secular come up in sermons and casual conversations as a genre.  Christian is a genre, Religion is a genre, but that doesn’t mean that is the case with Secular.  As a writer this drives me nuts.

When classifying everything that isn’t overtly Christian or religious as a part of the phantom “Secular” genre, it automatically implies that these stories are somehow subpar or less godly.  In the Christian community there is a general consensus that Christian books, movies, and music should be number one, and other genres should be secondary.  While I love Jesus more than words can express, I rarely find a connection to the Lord through “Christian” entertainment.  Honestly, I find it subpar in quality.  Obviously, this isn’t true in all cases, but it is far too common and rarely admitted.  I have heard the argument that quality doesn’t matter, it’s the message.  Oh really?  Try telling that to any author that’s ever lived.  I connect with the Lord best through things that make me ponder, think, rejoice that He is the way He is and not some awful pagan god that was once worshiped.

Thinking anything that doesn’t wear the “Christian” label is necessarily “Secular” also opens the door to the possibility of the audience missing the messages present.  Just because something isn’t thrusting Christian ideas in the audience’s face doesn’t mean the artist isn’t any less valuable or godly.

Matthew 25:31-46 is the passage used by believers to justify condemning another person’s tastes.  Yes, it is true, we believers need to guard our hearts.  However, if you are going to apply this passage to entertainment choices, I would submit everyone in the west is guilty of consuming media that others would say is ungodly.  We say we use Scripture to determine what is an isn’t Godly.  However, when some are convicted that they shouldn’t read Lord of the Rings because it has magic, where does one draw the line of condemnation?  This is where the Christian genre comes in.  Some say Christians must only consume Christian media.  Many times, Christian movies and fictional books are lacking in quality.  I think this is because there is an argument within Christian culture that quality doesn’t matter the message does.  Well, quality impacts the message, so yes it does.

Recently, I came across a blog post that gave ten signs you might be a lukewarm Christian. One of which was that you listen primarily to “secular” music. Secular music does not make a believer less faithful than Christian music.  As with everything, discernment must be used, but we also must consider everything effects people differently.  The words of Jesus come to mind when it comes to this logic, “Beware the yolk of the Pharisees.”