A friend of mine once said “The whole world’s mad except me and thee”; smug complacency from moi until I heard the rest of the statement, “And I’m not too sure about thee.”
This friend obviously had a slippery grasp on reality for it is my worldview which is the true and correct one and if everyone else would just understand that then we would all be in a better place – rainbows and unicorns on every street corner. World peace.
Which is a very nice deception we play upon ourselves, certainly there is some head nodding towards tolerance and empathy, but if we think that the other point of view is correct then we adopt it and hey presto! It’s now our point of view. No real issue with any of this, the world needs lots of variety and discussion, a healthy society demonstrates its robustness by allowing dissimilar views to happily coexist. We need a bit of friction – a rugby game between two teams where everyone supports Australia would be a bit depressing to the other side (New Zealand comes to mind). Put that gun down, sir! I am using an analogy, however close it may be to what the world should be, it is not reality. Yet.
The snag, of course, pops up when an author carries these sentiments into their work and does not understand that different people, different cultures, perceive the world through their own set of biases and prejudices (prejudicii?).
I know I’ve rambled on about this topic before but I am, at the heart of it, an insufferable bore. So I intend to bleat again. (Okay, no more NZ jokes).
I am brought to this point by the novel I am currently wading through, I’m no quitter but it is danger of being flung against a wall. The protagonist is yet to encounter anyone who responds in a way which is surprising to him – the bad people are bad people but bad according to his rules; there are bullies and tyrants, misunderstood wise old men (put me down for one of them) and family units which all think exactly the same way. Unless there is a tormented teen and then of course he/she/it acts exactly like a tormented teen would predictably respond.
Gak! Does the world really behave according to our own rules? Not the real world, one of the intriguing aspects of encountering another human being is the gobsmacking realization that they are, in fact, total nutbags.
As writers we have an obligation to take a deep breath and write like we are someone else, not just ourselves in another body at another age.
This current novel is a SF space opera, the big canvas. Yet I feel I am reading the adventures of Joe Average in Smalltown USA. The aliens behave remarkably like a bunch of good ol’ boys with the upper echelons resembling greedy capitalists complete with irritating laugh.
So come on, my fellow scribblers, let’s exert the brain and stretch the boundaries of good taste. Let’s have out characters behave in ways we can’t even consider – oh, wait, that’s the problem, isn’t it? We can’t consider how these people behave because we can’t…well, so it goes.
What’s the solution?
Get a life. Go out and about and mix it up with folk of whom you know not. Not a Christian? Go to a full on evangelical service. Dislike noisy, rowdy people? Hit a public bar on Friday night. Avoid getting your intercultural hits from stereotypical movies (Why, yes, Mr. Miyagi is exactly like all Japanese/Chinese/Korean folk so I’ll base my character on him.)
And then write up a storm, write so that people don’t know what is going to happen next. Just like the real world, especially in SF.
I’ve got some characters I’m trying to work into my new yarn, and they are just so not me. Zombies; better yet – Nazi zombies. From another dimension. In outer space. Oh, yeah, brother, bring it on.
I could be wrong, though; maybe they are a little like me.
I can’t resist – I have to say it………. I was bought up on this quote, it hung in our hallway, under a picture of an old man talking to a very cuddly dog.
“All the world is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer” — Robert Owen
and sigh…………. not a SF fan me, but really………. NAZI ZOMBIES!!! now doesn’t that just go against all you’ve said above? Invent a new philosophy for your imaginary characters, man, write a background for them, give them a history but not a cheap imitation of what we know, spice the pot a bit. Tolkien did – he wrote a language for middle earth, he created the history, and species that were as unpredictable to our experience as could be imagined. That’s why we love it. Yes, yes, it was a parallel – but not a cheap copy. I’m talking about the books here, not the movies which I have never seen. I’d prefer to love the Aragorn on the page, not whoever they chose to play him in the movie.
The book that hit the wall in my house recently – The Time Travellers Wife. What a bore!
Nazi zombies from another dimension? Yeah, I suppose that does sound a bit like you.
As for books hitting the wall, some of the ones I’ve given the heave-ho lately have been ones where the author has really, really tried to make up weird, wild, wacky, surprising characters and has ended up just creating a very silly freak show. And a boring one too.
And all that stuff Wittgenstein went on about, how if a tiger could speak you still wouldn’t understand what it was talking about, I think that’s cobblers. I think if there are intelligent aliens, we’ll find we have a lot more in common with them than we suppose. We are all shaped by the same physical laws, the same evolutionary pressures, the same struggle against entropy. (Curse you, Entropy!)
Of course, it’s another story when it comes to zombies.
I’m not sure it’s possible to write without our own world filters on. It’s only a problem when they clash with other people’s (ie the reader’s). I remember a post by Graham Storrs on how aliens would view religion that had my mind boggling trying to understand that different way of thinking.
I think we can question and be aware of our thinking and assumptions, but ultimately, some basic prejudice will be there. Even if it’s the prejudice that we’re not supposed to be prejudiced (so to speak).
Wow! What an erudite and thoughtful bunch you all are, I gained a lot from comments to this post – thank you one and all.
I did throw the book at the wall but in a couple of days I know I will wander over and give it another shot. I am a weak willed, vacillating creature. Not unlike a Nazi zombie, in fact.