FAULT LINES


Someone sent me a YouTube video of Britain's Got Talent. Yes, Britain has talent. Two young people—16 & 17—sang their hearts out to win the approval of the fans and judges. The young lady was lovely and had a great voice. The young man, well, he had some drawbacks. Not his voice, which was extraordinary, but his size. He was treated with disrespect when they first appeared on stage, but maybe that's the way all contestants are treated. I don't know. I don't watch it. The person who sent it to me wanted to know what lessons I took from it. I wrote back that it was a complex issue. Once the two young people began to sing, everyone cheered and stood up. Everyone loves the underdog, right? I have just one question: Why was he an underdog in the first place? Why is it that everyone was so surprised that a fat person could sing? Do we, as a culture, not only judge by the “cover” of everyone, and think them automatically stupid and worthless? Worthless? Maybe that's the word.

How does this relate to what I'm writing? Or what you're writing? Simple. Our characters have to be believable, and to be believable, they have to have some universal traits. The unattractive prejudices as well as the intelligence, kindness and quick wit. Do our characters practice patience? Kindness? Do they volunteer to help the less fortunate? Do they secretly harbor ill-will toward a colleague who had a leg up? Did she steel a ring from a dime store when she was 8? (Does anyone remember dime stores?) Mary Fletcher and Sam Terwillager are talented poets. They hang around the local poetry scene together. But, is Mary satisfied with her talent? Does she envy her sister who is a world-famous poet? Would Sam go against the rules if he thought it was the right thing to do? And if it is the right thing to do, then is Sam perfect? What faults does a Zen Buddhist Sheriff's Deputy have? Anger? Pent up anger for the death of his wife? Anger then multiplied by the murder of a woman in the prime of her life? (BTW: a woman's prime comes later than a man's. Who's responsible for that farce?) Will his anger lead him to do something he knows is wrong if it will lead to the capture of the bad guy? I hope so.

And do you care? I hope so.

Characters need fault lines that make them human. Because we're all human and we need to root for the good guys despite their faults. It's what we want. Not to be the underdog, necessarily, but to be able to stand up to our fears and acknowledge our faults. Only then can we go on with our lives.

Sing your hearts out because you can.

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