“I can’t relate” is an invalid excuse to criticize a story.
I saw this on Twitter and was compelled to write this, because as an author, it hit me to my core about how utterly disgusting this concept is. I never could understand the idea of ‘the character is too unrelatable’. It’s been a foolish excuse for people to push something aside they may not like for personal reasons.
But, and this is indeed an opinionated dig at many people, if you don’t expand your horizons to other peoples’ experiences because you ‘can’t relate’, then you’re incredibly closed minded.
We, as empathetic, social animals, should be open to learning about other peoples’ experiences and listening. Not everything has to revolve around us. I enjoy hearing other peoples’ stories, and sometimes I really can’t relate, but I can listen, and I can learn.
It’s just so frustrating to see art dissolved and filtered down to things ‘only the masses can relate to’. It’s why I’ve felt so alone dealing with my inner struggles, there’s just things not widely spoken about because it ‘doesn’t appeal to the masses’.
I see ‘Inside Out’ being widely praised and honestly, couldn’t relate to Riley much, or her parents, as mine were divorced. Her likes were different from mine, I don’t care about nor enjoy sports. And yet, I loved that movie a lot. Even if I couldn’t relate, but many of the ‘masses’ could.
Just like, in terms of Turning Red, how I wasn’t ever a child in Canada and am not Chinese. I’m a white woman with a very different childhood, and while some aspects are similar, there are many deviations. And yet, I absolutely loved that movie, as an adult, because I could relate to Mei’s emotions. I was rooting for her and really thought it was such a cool movie. I wish I had the strength to stand up to my mother at that age.
Anyway.
Two movies, one seen as ‘not successful’, one seen as ‘very successful’. It’s not that difficult to see why that may be, if you look at the writing on the wall, but I will leave that to more qualified voices to speak about.
In my case? I wanted to call out the storywriting and experiences aspect, because stories and art in general should NOT just be appealing because it is ‘relatable’, it should be appealing to share experiences and learn about each other.
