Spider-Man, Ocean's 8, and the Struggle of the Protagonist

So, for #LightTheWorld last week, I did in fact end up giving platelets. And, when I give platelets, I get to watch a movie.

This week it was Ocean's 8. A heist movie. I finally saw it. Took me long enough, considering I love heist movies, but I had been warned that this one wasn't that great. Not bad, just not great.

The warnings were correct. When I left the movie, I just felt, meh.

I, being who I am, started analyzing why. The actors did a great job and were well-cast, I thought, on the whole. The plot itself was interesting enough, although I felt like the twist at the end wasn't as well set-up as it should have been. But then I realized something:

The movie had no conflict.

Seriously. No conflict. Or, at least, none that mattered. Sure, I get that the whole plot was for revenge and lots of money, and there were some tense moments. But I didn't see any inter-character conflict, or major problems with the scheme, that would force the characters to change or grow in any way. The characters were the same at the beginning and the end, and they didn't seem to learn or improve in any way. They didn't overcome.

I watched a film about a bunch of intelligent, professional women pull off a perfectly planned heist with no major hiccups, and then leave. So why should I care about any of that? Where's the struggle, the growth? The ending was pretty much the beginning but with more money.

Fast-forward to Friday night when I saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

In a word, this movie is amazing. Absolutely stunning. The animation style is used well and fits the tone of the movie, writing is hilarious, and they strike a good balance between serious and silly (I swear I'll get to that post someday). But most importantly, the characters struggle.

So many characters have character arcs, to start. Miles does, for sure, as the main character (something Sandra Bullock's Debbie Ocean doesn't seem to), but so do two other Spider-people in the group, and Mile's dad, and his uncle, and while the villain doesn't have an arc, he does have motivations that make sense and humanize him. The motivations, and these arcs, are shown through them all struggling and dealing with matters that they're not already equipped to handle. I watched this movie rooting for the characters (villain excepted) and really feeling it when they fall, but loving it even more when, understanding their struggles, I see them get up again. There was a point to the movie, and to their challenges. Guys, this film was a tightly-written heart-filled blast of a superhero movie and you should all go see it. (And stay for the end credits scene.)

But, the point of both of these reviews is that I thought about what it means to have a protagonist in your story.

A "protagonist" is "the one who struggles." Without that struggle, the story doesn't matter much. If a character can easily get what they want, there's no story. In Ocean's 8, the fact that the diamonds are so difficult to get gives it a little more interest, but when the plot goes so smoothly, I'm left feeling unfulfilled. I wanted to see them overcome.

 In Spider-Man, I saw that. Again and again. A major theme of the plot was what it means to struggle and overcome. And that left me feeling a lot more fulfilled. I left the movie satisfied and wanting to see it again, whereas I didn't really care one way or the other with Ocean's 8.

The protagonist needs to struggle. I would even go so far as to say a story is only as good as a protagonist's struggle. I can't root for someone who doesn't have the possibility of failure; they don't need a cheerleader. I need stories where the heroes face odds that are daunting and because of that challenge, have to change and grow and rise to face it and overcome it.

Because that's what stories are really about: characters. How they develop, and meet challenges. Without that struggle, I really hope the character found twenty dollars, because the rest of the story seems somewhat moot.

So, this is likely going to be my last post for a few weeks. I'll be out of town and away from the internet next Monday, and after that, it's still the holiday, so, we'll see.

And, this coming week for #LightTheWorld is Light Your Family. I don't know exactly what I'll do for this one, but considering that I'm going to see a lot of my family this week, I'll figure something out, and tell you about it when I get back to posting.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Holidays Approacheth...And Not a Second Too Soon

Whew, that was a busy week.

Yes, I did do #LightTheWorld this last week. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted. I made a donation to the International Rescue Committee. I've donated to them before, so I've had this one vetted and I know that the money actually goes to helping the right people, so I like this option and recommend it, though there are many good charities and options.

What have you done this week?

This coming week, Week 2, is about Lighting the Community.

Ideas for this week include:

- Perform an anonymous act of service for a friend or neighbor
- Volunteer at a homeless shelter
- Give blood at blood bank/drive
- Help clean a church building

But, of course, there are lots of other options. This one's all about helping the people around you. I might give platelets. I should have time now.

Like I said, this week was a very busy week. I was hard at work grading, and since I'm up next (a little earlier than planned) for my writing group, I was flying through a revision of my work in progress, tweaking and perfecting so that other minds than my own can understand it.

(By the way, if you want to know what the daily life of a writer is like, yesterday I contemplated the possibility of one day using the phrase "Seinfeldian arms race" in an actual piece of writing. No word yet on the conclusion.)

I don't have a lot to report today. I haven't been pondering very writerly things yet, although I have an idea for a future post about the balance of silly and serious in really good children's books. That, though, needs some thinking and evidence gathering, so it will have to wait.

Today I'm just going to say that holidays are important. I'm busy, and I have present buying left to do, and finals week is breathing down my neck, but someday soon, I'll see my family, I'll fly off to a magical land of joy and wonder with them (Pennsylvania...and then, soon after, Orlando), and I'll have the chance to NOT be in the daily routine of grading and conferencing, I'll NOT have to get up early every morning for work, although I do love my job.

Sometimes, though, taking that break away from normal, even if it's a busy break away, is a good way to remind myself why I like that normal. And the breaks, the vacations, the holidays, are fun and friendly and good on their own. At least, they are for me, and I believe in people making their holidays into whatever they want/need them to be. In my case, that means internet shopping and not fighting the Orem traffic to go to the mall if I can help it.

So, as the holiday season winds up and down, happy holidays, and I'll see you again next week with possibly a post about ridiculous but heart-warming middle grade fiction. But for now, I need to rest and ice my aching typing fingers.

#LightTheWorld 2018

The Christmas season is in full swing. How I do know?

I made fudge. 'Tis the season.

You wanna know how else? The #LightTheWorld campaign from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has started again!

HOORAY!

If you haven't heard of this campaign, but would love a chance to do some good in the world, stick around. Or just go to their website, right here: Light the World This Christmas.

Or watch the video:

Every year the Church does this, and every year I take part as best I can. One year they had a schedule of things to do, one thing every day, but since then they've relaxed it. The break-down this year goes as follows for the weeks of December:

Week 1: Light the World
Week 2: Light Your Community
Week 3: Light Your Family
Week 4: Light Your Spirit

It kind of starts big and gets smaller. This is Week 1, Light the World.

The idea this week is to do good wherever in the world you can. Some of the ideas on the website include seeking out a person from another place/culture and learning their story, sharing a post on social media about a time someone served or helped you, collect supplies to help refugees, or make a donation to a good cause on your own or through a Giving Machine.

I gotta talk about these Giving Machines, because this is awesome.

They're vending machines.

But instead of selling candy and drinks, they sell things like, funding mobile vision clinics, or an empowerment pack for girls, or three soccer balls, or other things to be given to those who need them.

There are 5 Giving Machines, located in Salt Lake City, UT; Gilbert, Arizona; Manhattan, New York City, New York; London, England; and Manila, Philippines.

For more information, check out the story here.

Yes, I'm very excited about this. I've done this before, like I said, and I felt like this really brought a good spirit to the season. It's easy to get caught up in the rush and stress of December (and as a professor who has a stack of 10-page research papers to grade RIGHT NOW, I get it). But when I do this campaign and seek ways to brighten the world around me, my focus is on other and what I can give. I've had less stress and greater joy when I do this, which is why I'm going for it again this year.

Most of the ways to participate are small, like posting on social media or talking to someone you know. Size of service doesn't really matter. I think the benefits come when I do what I can, no matter what it is. They add up over time, and I always end the season feeling like I spent my December well.

So, hey, if you're interested, why not give it a try? Whatever your background or faith, it's a reason to help others (and a list of ideas on how) as 2018 ends, and that's no bad thing. If you do it, keep me posted! I'd love to hear what others are doing and get some good ideas for next year.

A Good Twist

I hope you all had a happy and safe Thanksgiving, and did not eat the bad Romaine lettuce.

(I am amused every time a vegetable is recalled due to food poisoning. If you're looking for an example of irony, this is it.)

Also, happy Cyber Monday! If you're looking for a good Christmas gift, may I suggest Under Locker and Key and Arts and Thefts?

 
 


















I don't know, I think they're pretty good. Great for kids who like heist stories, that's for sure!

Anyway, over the break I saw the new Fantastic Beasts movie, and I also got thinking more about heist movies after posting last week. This post is somewhat inspired by both, though not in the way you may think.

Here's my writing lesson for today:

Just because no one saw a twist coming does not mean it's good.

Just because no one saw a twist coming does not mean it's good.

Just because no one saw a twist coming DOES NOT MEAN IT'S GOOD.

Ahem.

I have to excuse good heist stories and even Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelvald from this. They actually handle their twists well. (As for my thoughts on the Grindelvald twist, it was foreshadowed well. I just didn't like it. No more now, since it's too early for spoilers, I think.)

No, what I'm talking about here is when the writer spectacularly fails to foreshadow the twist, fails to set up for it, and then yanks the rug out from under the readers' feet. And the sad thing is, too many writers and readers think this counts as a good twist.

For example, think of Frozen. How many of you saw the twist that Hans was evil coming, just based on what you saw in the film?

It wasn't set up for. Sure, you got a line about how he had twelve older brothers, but that doesn't immediately spell murderer, especially when you count in his smiles behind Anna's back, his consistency in helping the kingdom in her name, etc. His twist evil is never foreshadowed, and doesn't make a lick of sense.

But because it was a surprise, people think it's a good twist.

NO!

Another one of these was the Disney Channel movie Avalon High. The best part of that movie was the Merlin character. But the main character's identity is revealed at the end...and it wasn't set up for at all. In fact, the foreshadowing straight-up lies, telling viewers something incorrect just to prepare them for the wrong thing.

NO!

I'm sorry, this fires me up. (By the way, read the book Avalon High by Meg Cabot. That one has a good twist ending.)

Because bad twists are such a pale imitation of a good twist. A good twist does not lie to the audience. It does not come out of blazing nowhere. It's there, the whole time, just hiding and waiting. A clever audience could potentially discover it.

But they don't, and that's what makes it great. It's one thing to get jumped by a monster that didn't exist until a moment ago. It's another to be stalked the whole time, get jumped, and then understand all the clues that were there but overlooked earlier.

This happens in a great heist story: the heroes are checked and then check-mate their enemy, and we see how they did it. And then, when we rewatch the movie or reread the book, we see the preparations happening. We see how the "out-of-character" moments were part of the plan, or how everything came together. And we applaud it.

Because good twists are not easy. That's why so many rug-pulling bad ones exist. It's a difficult balance to present enough clues to the readers but not give the whole game away.

So, how to do it? Keep it natural. If a character would know something, don't suddenly start hiding their thoughts from the reader. That's lying. But it would be more natural to have that character focus on the present moment, all the problems and solutions happening now. Or, move to another character's head. Show it third-person. Movies do this well; it's harder in books. But possible.

Also, don't hide telling details without reason. In The Prestige, you see Christian Bale's character's fingers bleeding again, and you get no explanation. Until the end. But that clue was there the whole time. It would have been lying to keep it out. Kept in, a clever viewer might have caught on. The movie didn't make a big deal out of it; it was used to show character conflict. But it was there.

On that note, using clues in ways that make sense in other ways can help keep them subtle. Readers might expect a scene or detail to further character development, or show the political climate of the day. So when it is revealed to have another, hidden purpose in showing the possible ending, it's more surprising.

Or at the very least, just don't lie. Don't hide it. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, we learn Lisa's dad is the Vulture. That was not foreshadowed, but it wasn't hidden, either. We know Vulture has a kid, and we know Lisa has a dad. But there's no reason to see them together (Lisa's parents aren't home during her party, and Vulture keeps his work separate from his home life) until Peter shows up for Homecoming. This twist feels natural because it makes sense in the story, and the writers didn't deliberately force characters and plots to hide the twist until later.

Don't force a twist just because that's what the cool kids do these days. Like any part of a story, a twist should feel natural and inevitable. We just missed it growing this whole time. A good twist is a magic trick: we want to be fooled in a flashy and fun way.

But no one likes being lied to.

Heist Stories!

I'M BAAAAACK!

Two weeks of time off, and it's over. In all fairness, I could have come back and blogged last Monday, but I got hit hard with a bad cold, and last Monday it had a thriving business in my chest and throat and was opening a franchise in my nose, so all I wanted to do was sleep it off. Now, a week later, my voice is (mostly) back and so is my motivation.

Like I said, it was bad.

The social media fast was good. I learned that I can be super-productive when I'm not on social media, and I also learned that while Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media sites let you turn off notifications to your phone, Facebook not only doesn't allow you to fully turn them off, but also totally ignores your input on the ones you DID turn off.

Darn it, Facebook.

Anyway, today I want to talk about heist stories.

I don't think it's any surprise to you that I

Love

Heist stories.

On a related note, I saw Solo over the social media fast (the new Star Wars movie) and I really liked it. I was hoping for thieves in space, which was exactly what I got. It was fun and exciting and a blast to watch. I don't know why it did so badly in theaters.

I was talking about this with a friend and she said she actually liked Solo better than Ocean's 8, another heist movie. I asked why, and she said Ocean's 8 was too straight-forward. There wasn't a moment when the heroes seemed to have lost, like in Ocean's 11 or in many, many episodes of Leverage.

That got me thinking about heist stories and what we love about them. Sure, there's the element of the "bad boy" hero - the thief that we're supposed to root for, and that's a fun twist. But if that were all, then we'd be okay with something like Ocean's 8 or a simple back robbery story. We'd see thieves winning, and that would be enough.

But it's not.

There's something about a heist story that makes it different than a subverted hero trope, or even an action/adventure story. I've been thinking about it, and this is what I have decided.

The most important part of a good heist story is two powerful minds at war with each other.

It's a game of freaking chess, but with laser grids and motion sensors. And oddly enough, considering how many people might not care to watch a game of chess, that mental game is the draw.

Heist stories are all about outsmarting each other. We're not happy, as an audience, unless we see someone win through brains and planning, not by getting off a cheap escape or by pulling a gun. (By the way, I often see pulling a gun as proof that the gun-toter has lost the game.)

Player 1 has something valuable. So, Player 1 sets up the best protection they can to protect this valuable thing. No matter when the story takes place, this is always true. This can be walls, devices, guards, bribery, etc. The stronger the fortifications, the more hopeless the task to steal this, the better.

Player 2 (or "players" 2, in the case of a team) wants to get the thing, but they plan to do it in a sneaky, clever way. They have to think past all the protective walls and guards and policies to get what they want. We sit and watch them work against impossible odds, wondering how they'll do it.

But Player 1 didn't just vanish after the first play. Oh, no. They're still there, ready to counter any move they see Player 2 making. And in the best stories, they do. And Player 2 counters, and plans.

In my opinion, the best heist stories are the ones you can't see the end of. You don't know who is going to win: the mark or the thief. Even though you know who the heroes are, you don't know if they'll actually pull this off and get away with it. Even better, at the end, you actually think they lost.

But then they pull off one last sleight of hand, one last plan that proves that they were the smartest player after all. It doesn't come down to a car chase or shoot-off; it comes down to that last chessboard play when the thief knocks down the king for good, and there's nothing Player 1 can do about it.

(On a related note, I saw a stage production of The Scarlet Pimpernel this weekend as well; that's one heck of a great heist story, if set in Revolutionary France and with a very heroic "thief.")

We like the puzzle and cleverness of a heist story. We want to see how the thieves will outwit the mark. They can't just win; they have to win with style. And when that happens, and we were duped and surprised just like the mark, by the people we've been rooting for the whole story, we are delighted by it. A heist story isn't just a robbery; it's checkmate.

And it's so, so satisfying.

The Modern Monster

Hey! So, Halloween approaches, and you know what that means.

I did the Haunted Half in Provo again!

And my sister did it with me this year!

It was a beautiful day for her first half, and she did well! It was fun watching her cross the finish line. I hope she had a good time.

As for me, I did pretty well. I got 11th in my age/gender division. This is dangerous, because now I'm wondering if I should continue the speed training in hopes of getting a little closer to the podium on my next race.

I shouldn't think this way.

In other news, I'm about to take a 10 day social media fast under counsel from my church leaders, which will start on the first day of November. I think this will be good for me, and help me re-prioritize my life (not to mention avoiding social media during the election), but that means that I won't be blogging for the next two Mondays. I promise to come up with some good posts for you when I come back. Maybe, with all my free time not on Pinterest and Facebook, I'll even write a short story for you!

Today, though, I want to finish out October and my discussion on monsters and monster stories by talking about what makes monsters so compelling. I don't mean in general; I mean specifically.

On Friday I watched the old 1931 Frankenstein with Boris Karloff. As I've said before on this blog, Frankenstein is interesting because it's a situation where someone, Mary Shelley, created a new monster that somehow resonated enough to become part of the witches/ghosts/vampires/werewolves canon.

This is rare and not easy. I'm trying to think of any other stories that have done so well at establishing a whole new class of monsters. Even zombies and robots don't seem to come close, or at least seem like a subclass of Frankenstein's monster.

So what did Shelley do? What can we learn from this, and how can we as writers try to create monsters that, even if they don't last as long as Frankenstein's monster, resonate and chill readers?

Well, I'm no expert in writing horror, but here are the thoughts that I had: good monsters, good horror, is both familiar, and other.

Let me explain what I mean. I'm going to start with Other. Monsters are Other. There's something about them that is horribly out of place in our nice, neat, orderly lives. Dracula is a blood-drinking living corpse. Ghosts don't move on like dead people are supposed to. Skeletons aren't supposed to be able to move on their own. Something is wrong.

With Frankenstein, the monster is a combination of dead people that has been reanimated. This is Other. It flies in the face of all reason. The dead can't come back to life as a new being. The Other in monsters also seems to be very connected to ideas of life and death (mostly death). Something has gone wrong with the way things are supposed to go, and we hate it.

But monsters are also familiar. Dracula is a man, in form, and he's charming and hospitable. He represents something we know and like, but twisted. He also represents ideas that we understand: hunger, lust, longing. There are real, familiar fears wrapped up in him: death, of course, but also fear of becoming something you don't want to be, or being a victim and then perpetuating the cycle of victimization.

 

Frankenstein's monster is also familiar in some ways, though I would claim Victor has more of the familiar in him, and that's what makes him so horrifying. The scientist who burns for knowledge enough to seek forbidden areas, who is horrified by his creation and rejects responsibility. Sometimes I think the real fear in Frankenstein is the fear of consequences, which is something we all face.

The best horror I've read is about us: it's about human desires, fears, and understanding, and the monsters come when those things are perverted and turned Other. They're everything we hate and never want to be, but at the same time, everything horrible we see in ourselves.

So, how can we use this? Well, if you're going to create a monster, what material are you going to work with? What human fears or desires will you play off of? What twists your heart to think about, for good or bad? Now, how can you make it dark? How can you take the good desires and make them harmful, or the bad ones and give them power?

And, finally, like Frankenstein and his creation, how can you build this fear a body and bring it to life?

Happy Halloween, and happy writing! I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

Jonathan Harker Appreciation Post

Well, the Haunted Half is this weekend, so wish me luck! My goal is to run it in under 2 hours, again, so let's hope I can do that.

It's coming close to Halloween, so I'm continuing my discussion of monsters and horror stories, and today, I feel the need to defend a lesser-liked horror novel character:

Jonathan Harker from Dracula.

Today's discussion stems from my intense, burning anger at too many writers rewriting Dracula so that Mina gets with the monster that attacks and controls her, leaving her husband Jonathan or at least being unfaithful to him for a while. Jonathan, in this way, has to be portrayed as weak or controlling or foolish or all three.

I loathe this. I will spout off in fountains of bubbling rage whenever someone starts talking to me about this.

Why? Because it contradicts everything said in the book, and it's not as progressive as its sold.

Okay, first, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: What Dracula does to Mina and Lucy is NOT romantic or strong. It's an assault of the most basic nature, controlling the women's bodies and minds, and forcing them to become something they never wanted to be.

It is parasitism. It is lust.

It is NOT love. It is NOT liberating. It is everything that our modern #MeToo movement is against, so please, please, PLEASE stop romanticizing it.

Or yes, rewrite it so there seems to be something there and then Mina stakes her attacker in the heart! A-ha!

I do understand, in part, where the attraction to this kind of rewriting comes from. Mina is a strong, interesting character, and we want the best for her. We don't want her to be trapped in a situation where she can't be all she could. Which is why I think we get concerns like this:

"But Mina is such an intelligent, strong character! She deserves to be with someone who's also smart and strong, not that weak, pathetic Jonathan, who controls her and prevents her from helping with the fight."

Um, okay. First, yes, Jonathan and the other men do block Mina out. But I'd like to point out that it's a group decision, not just Jonathan's, and Stoker makes it pretty clear this is a bad idea when Mina starts to be fed on by Dracula. After that, Mina decides to stay away because she's aware that if she can read Dracula's mind, he can read hers, and if she knows the plans, well....

So second, Dracula is the controlling one. When Mina is under his command, she is prevented from acting and even speaking during the hours Dracula has full power. But during sunrise or sunset, she gets her power back and uses it to fight against the vampire. The group of men, in this case, listen to her and use what she offers them without dismissing her aid.

Dracula is the attacker, the abuser. Not the human men, and not Jonathan, though I admit that mistakes were made regarding Mina.

Which brings me to "third": I don't agree that Jonathan is a weak character. Maybe not as strong or dynamic as Mina or Van Helsing, but not weak. Please consider the following:

- Jonathan was the first character we meet in the book, so his voice establishes our first glimpse of the novel.

- He lived with vampires for days and days, slowly understanding how trapped he was.

- He makes an escape from Castle Dracula, and we don't know what happened or how difficult/terrifying that might have been, though we know he suffered a mental breakdown as a result. (This is often used as proof that Jonathan is weak, but again, we don't get the escape story, and frankly, there are much worse reasons for a breakdown than "trapped by and preyed upon by the actual living dead.")

- Dude saw female vampires eating a baby (or preparing to). And Dracula climbing the walls like a lizard. If anyone has first-hand experience with the awfulness of what vampires are, it's him.

- Upon returning to England and finding out Dracula is there, Jonathan is still willing to fight.
- He uses his clerical know-how to track and destroy Dracula's safe havens.

- After Mina is cursed, and he's been through so much trauma that his hair has actually turned gray, he's still in the fight. He doesn't shrink or run. In fact, he apparently hates Dracula and wants to destroy him, even if it cost his own soul to do so.

 
- Also, when Mina is cursed and asks the men to kill her if she turns into a vampire, Jonathan, the man who has seen vampirism up close and personal in ways even Van Helsing has not, decides that if Mina turns, he'd become a vampire too, for her.

- He's the one who decapitates Dracula, in the end. One of two men to get a hit on the vampire, and the only one to survive doing so.

All in all, I think we don't portray Jonathan Harker the way he was written. From what I see here, I see a man who is kind and loving to his wife, a sensitive man who is hit hard by the trauma around him. But this is not weakness.

Jonathan does not flee the fight, but stays and gives what he can to help. And, when his own wife is hit, fights all the harder. I think he loves Mina more than life, as evidenced by his desire to join her as a vampire if it comes to that.

This man is a cinnamon roll, a sweet person who has been through some crap and is done with it. He's not a weak, shrinking character who has nervous breakdowns on every page (I'm looking at you, Victor Frankenstein). He takes action to defend what he loves.

I think that's a decently strong character, and I also want to remind you that Mina is smart and strong. If this is true, can we then believe that she's smart and strong enough to choose a good man? One who is loving and sensitive and willing to be there for her, no matter what? Maybe there are different kinds of strength, and maybe Stoker was a good enough writer to show different people, all strong, but in different ways.

I, for one, am fond of the cinnamon rolls. I'd love to see this relationship explored more in the retellings, and I wish I'd seen more good interpretations in the past.

Monstrous Monsters

Big news! My friend Madeleine Dresden just got picked for #PitchWars!


YAY!

Okay, time to vent.

Last week, I talked about how the race/monster analogy makes me uncomfortable most of the time because it equates a human race to something that literally can harm people, and thus has a realistic basis in fear.

But I also hinted at one of my big pet peeves about monster movies that do this: the monster doesn't act like a freaking monster.

We have zombies that aren't dead and don't eat brains! Vampires who walk around in sunlight and give lip-service to cravings without it ever really being a problem! Come. The freak. On.



I understand why this happens in these race analogy movies: it's because the metaphor breaks down immediately if the creatures in question are scary.

Instead, of, you know, breaking down when you sit and think about it.


I also realize this isn't really a problem in writing, not like the metaphor can be. This is a matter of personal taste. I just really want monster stories where the monsters are monsters. Is that too much to ask?

Maybe this is a backlash against the angsty teen paranormal romance books where vampires are barely vampires. Maybe it's just Halloween and I want to be spooked. Maybe it's because I just read yet another Dracula retelling where Mina falls for the freaking rapey vampire!

 

(Stop doing that, please. Just...read the original book and see for yourself how not a gentleman, how not liberating Dracula actually is.)


So here I am, complaining. Whining, even. I'll admit that. But part of me wonders why bother using monsters as characters at all if they aren't going to be a threat. If they're not going to be other, and scary. That's the whole point, right? (See problematic race metaphor discussion.)

If you have zombies, but they don't eat people and aren't actually dead, why even have zombies? Why not just have people? If vampires don't drink blood, why not replace them with broody teenagers? It would be way less creepy that having century-old men lusting after teenage girls.

Besides, I like the pull of having creatures that may seem eloquent and charming (vampires, not zombies) but are actually serial killers. Evil can be quite beautiful, and as much as we need stories about accepting people who are different, I think we need stories about rejecting people who seem like us, but are cruel and sadistic and use people for pleasure.

I also like the idea of people having to chop down zombies who were once loved ones. How do you respond when the person hurting you is someone who was once loving to you, and who you still love back? There are stories here, with real human emotions, when the dark side of monsters is restored.

There's a place for the nice monsters. But please, let's not forget the dark side and the power that those stories have. The dark monsters: Frankenstein, Dracula, werewolves, witches, ghosts, etc. They came first, and they will be around long after the nice monsters' time has passed.

Maybe there's a reason for that.

In other news, yes, my YouTube channel seems abandoned. I have been very busy, and I wanted to make sure that I give it sufficient time and energy. So, yeah, it's coming back. Just give me some time to catch my breath.

The Problem with Monster/Race Metaphors

Folks, the writing is going well. I'm moving forward with my projects and just plugging along. Not much to report right now, but I'll let you know if that changes.

So, this last week I discovered that Disney Channel's website has a bunch of their old Halloween movies up to watch for free, like the Halloweentown movies, Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire, Scream Team, Under Wraps, those things.

They also had a new one called Z-O-M-B-I-E-S. I'd seen this movie on DVD at Target, and it was free to watch, and I was procrastinating fixing a toilet seat (short but boring story), so I decided to watch it.

My review: well, I don't watch Disney Channel original movies expecting the world's best films. Or even great films, for that matter. I watch them because they are nostalgic for me and because sometimes the music and dancing is fun.

That was the case for this movie. The music and dancing were fun, and I enjoyed the numbers. But the writing...not so much.

For one thing, the "zombies" in the movie rarely if ever actually acted like zombies (seriously, can I PLEASE get monsters that actually behave like monsters?), which made me wonder why they even wrote it like this. For another, various Chekov's guns were presented but never fired, and worldbuilding broke down in places.

But the thing that bugged me the most was the race metaphor through the whole movie. The plot revolves around a school being desegregated - aka, allowing zombie students to attend for the first time ever. The zombies leave their ghetto but aren't really accepted. The normal kids are disgusted by the zombies, who can't eat lunch with them, have to study in poor conditions, etc.

Sound familiar yet? It gets worse/better when Zed, the lead zombie character, becomes the star football player. His triumphs on the field lead to more respect for the zombies and better treatment, but only as long as he keeps winning.

There was a heavy-handed race metaphor through the movie, and it bugged me.

I don't mind stories about race. I think they're useful and promote empathy. And if there are kids who are more empathetic as a result of watching this movie, then great. But what annoyed me was the way that this movie, and so many others, draw a parallel between other races and creatures that can actually inherently hurt the protagonists.

In Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, the zombies are pretty tame, but they have and could eat people. The only control on them is a band on their wrist that prevents brain craving, but in a scene where cruel teens turn those bands offline, the zombies start hunting immediately.

The zombies are inherently dangerous, and the humans have a good reason to fear them. So, in the race metaphor, is the movie saying that other races also are inherently dangerous?

See the breakdown? And I see this all over. In X-Men. The mutants really can kill people with their powers in ways humans can't easily defend against. It makes sense that humans are worried that mutants will use those powers to harm them. So what are we supposed to compare them to again?

What about Zootopia? The predators literally have a history of eating prey. They have teeth and claws. They are inherently dangerous.

But in real life, racism doesn't make logical sense. It isn't based in any inherent danger. It's skin color and hair color. It's physical features that have no inherent danger, or it's cultural norms that are odd to another culture.

It's "I don't like that guy because of his skin color" or "I feel weird around her because her food smells strange." There's NO inherent fear of being eaten or set on fire with someone's mutant powers.

This is why I don't like this kind of metaphor. It's flawed. It doesn't reveal racism for what it really is, and could extend the metaphor to places that it doesn't belong.

So how do we fix this in our own writing? The race/monster metaphor is so ingrained that what do we do?

Well, one way would be to make the difference something cosmetic or at least not inherently dangerous. This alien race has tiny octopi for hands, or they worship a black hole (but don't sacrifice to it), or something. Something more in line with the way real racism works.

Or, if you use the monster metaphor, to show who over-the-top it really is. If these characters can accept the monsters with all this inherent threat, then why can't we accept people who are different when there is no inherent threat?

I don't think people who write these metaphors into stories are malicious in any way, but I think we can do better, and I hope we do. It will make better stories, and it will perhaps move race discussions into a more realistic light.

Two Hundred Years of Frankenstein

It's October, and this year also marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein.

So that's what we're talking about.

Frankenstein is kind of a remarkable book in a lot of ways. For one thing, it was written by a teenage girl, Mary Shelley. She was 18 when she first started writing Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Dang, that's young!

Frankenstein is also considered to be the first work of science fiction. This novel has a monster created not by magic or pulled from folklore, but made by science, using scientific methods. It includes scientific ideas popular at the time of writing, such as galvanism, working them into the story, and also addresses moral and ethical questions of science, like, is it okay to create life and then abandon it?

(This question is why I don't care for Victor Frankenstein very much.)

The book is also interesting because Mary Shelley created a monster, just like Victor Frankenstein did. This wasn't a creature from folklore: it wasn't a ghost, or vampire, or werewolf, or witch, or any other undead or magical threat. And yet we still include Frankenstein's monster in that list when we name traditional Halloween monsters/costumes.

Frankenstein's monster, and the title character "mad scientist" himself, have been added to the monster pantheon, and it's all because of this book. It has had such an impact on the world and on horror and science fiction as genres, so it deserves credit.

If you haven't read it, I recommend doing so. It's not very long and it's worth it.

Anyway, for the rest of this post I'm going to share some of my favorite pictures and links about Frankenstein, so feel free to enjoy it.


- This Overly Sarcastic Production video on Frankenstein. It's clever and summarizes the story rather well.

 

And on that note:

There are also a bunch of puns and jokes online, but I'm not including them here because most of them only tangentially relate to the book. You can also go on YouTube for other summaries and audio book versions of the novel, if you want.

How To Protect Against Fairies

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers about the fire!

This week, we did get better weather and some rain. Yesterday we had a storm that seemed to really come down right over the affected areas. Containment levels are up, and hopefully the fire will be out soon. People are already able to go home after being evacuated, in some areas.

Okay, so the title of the post.

I'm working on a nice autumn story right now, a novel about fairies in New England. When I asked a friend in my writing group what I should post on my blog today (it was a long day, and my brain is tired), she suggested talking about the new project.

It's about fairies, and it's kind of a dark take on folklore and fairy tales, set in New England. I think I've mentioned this before as a WIP. But the fairies I'm writing about are the Celtic ones, that are sometimes godlike in power and are amoral. They will help mortals they like, but curse badly the ones they don't.

So today's blog is a dumping of some of the lore I've learned on how to deal with this kind of fairies, especially some of the lore I use in this book.

Let's get started.

IRON

Iron, usually called "cold iron" (though this is a poetic term for iron), is supposed to be the best deterrent for fairies. They can't touch it and they can't even, sometimes, go near it. To protect babies from fairies, iron shears might be hung over the cradle.

Don't ask me why shears and not horseshoes, which, hung over a door frame, could stop fairies from entering. Sounds like a hazard, no matter how you slice it.

RED

The color red is sometimes a deterrent to some fairies. Red berries, like those from holly or rowan (pictured above), are sometimes used to keep fairies away. However, leprechauns and red caps are fairies who wear red and to some fairies, rowan is a sacred tree. So better to use iron.

PLANTS

Some plants can keep fairies at bay. Some of these are St. John's Wort (above - apparently this is also available in pill form, so for the modern fairy problem?), primroses, and marsh marigolds. Putting garlands of these on horses could keep fairies from stealing them, and on windows and doors, keep them out of your house.

Four-leaf clovers can prevent fairies from being able to hide. Fairies can go invisible and have glamors that make them look different. Carrying a four-leaf clover can cause the wearer to see through those glamors to the fairy's true form.

That said, DO NOT ALLOW THE FAIRY TO KNOW YOU CAN SEE THEM. Fairies don't often take kindly to humans being able to see through their glamors. If a human reveals this ability, the fairy might strike the human blind in retaliation.

Which brings us to...

ETIQUETTE

Fairies are very polite creatures. They work by rules of give and take, and they have rules of etiquette that can cause help or harm to humans. For example, if a human were helpful to a fairy, they may receive help or gifts. Squirting some milk on the ground for a fairy, when milking a cow, or leaving gifts of food or silver behind, could win the regard of a fairy. Obviously, harming trees (like hawthorns or oaks) or mounds sacred to or living places of the fairies is a bad idea.

(Hawthorns also have red berries, by the way.)


Fairies are offended easily, often by lack of hospitality. If they think they are owed something by right, and they are denied that thing, they may retaliate badly. Kindness and hospitality are good safeguards, but some fairies will take advantage.

Fairies cannot lie, but they can mislead. They twist words until what may sound like a straight answer actually means the opposite. They're like lawyers that way.

Don't offend fairies, but in dealings, there are some things that are not wise to do. Telling a fairy your name is a bad idea, as names have power and can give the fairy power over you. The reverse is also true: knowing a fairy's name allows you to summon it. If a human should ever make it down to the fairy's lands under mounds, they must not eat or drink anything down there. That will tie them to that world. Time also runs oddly in fairy lands, so a person may seem to spend one night and return a hundred years later, or vice versa.

Other things that can protect against fairies are running water, church bells, and bread, although the term "fairy" can cover things like mermaids, so obviously different rules apply.

It has been fun researching this topic. I've learned a lot, and I look forward to using these and other ideas in my novel.

Pray For Rain

So, the writing is going well, and I'm deep into a new project. Revision, but hard-core revisions to the point that this is practically a first draft. Just moving along, there.

But right now there's a much more pressing matter I want to ask for your help in.

Right now in Utah there's a nasty fire raging just south of where I live in Provo.

Actually, there are two of them. The Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires, but recently they just combined to make one mega-fire.

The fires were caused by lightning strikes on September 6, and were allowed to burn as controlled fires can help the environment out here. But due to drought and high winds, they burned out of control and now are burning pretty badly. The fire has grown past 86,000 acres and is at 2 percent containment. Many communities, like Elk Ridge, Covered Bridge, and Woodland Hills are evacuated, with other communities evacuated as well or put under pre-evacuation warning.

If you want to learn more, you can visit the sites below:

Daily Herald article

Pole Creek Fire InciWeb

At the time of writing this, no structures have been lost. No one has been seriously injured (there are reports of sprained ankles). However, it's a bad fire, and the fact that there have been hot, strong winds and no rain have only made it harder for firefighters to stop the blaze.

Also, as far as I understand, no physical donations are needed right now. This article says that the Red Cross has stopped donations due to abundance. There have been little miracles all along this experience: the fact that the fire's spreading hasn't been worse than it is, the structures that haven't been damaged, the people unhurt. The fact that 6,000 people needed places to stay and no one is in a shelter during these evacuations.

But like I said, it's a bad fire and they're still fighting it. Weather has not been on our side. So, while we don't currently need help with physical donations (though if you'd like to help, keep watching the news in case they are), please, please, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm serious. We need better wind conditions and we need rain. We need things that can't be bought or donated. So, if you're a person of faith, please say a prayer for Utah. Send physical donations to those who need it due to Hurricane Florence, and while you're praying for them, could you please mention Utah?

I realize there are many other people who need help, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd keep us in your thoughts as well.

Thank you.

Lots to Talk About

Whew, that was a busy week.

I posted my first YouTube episode! You can see it here.

I also went to Salt Lake FanX. It used to be Salt Lake Comic Con, but then San Diego got hissy about Salt Lake using their name. As far as I know, they haven't attacked New York, so I feel like it's about something other than the name, but that's just me.

And yes, much shade was thrown at San Diego at this year's FanX.

I only went on Thursday, so it was a relaxed kind of con year. Thursday had a lot of the voice actors, so I saw Vic Mignogna (of Fullmetal Alchemist and pretty much every other anime ever) and he was a super-nice, friendly guy. He was driving his handlers crazy trying to get him to places on time, since he just wanted to talk to his fans.

So go him.

I also got to see a panel with Paige O'Hara and Robbie Benson, who were the voices for Belle and the Beast in the animated Beauty and the Beast. They're great. I came out of there really admiring Paige O'Hara and thinking she is a great person. She shared a story about how starstruck she was when she met Julie Andrews (!) and, I don't know, she just seemed very grounded and relatable.

I'm starting to feel like the celebrities who are voice actors or who have more of a niche fandom are a bit more down-to-earth than others. Anyway, FanX 2018 was overall very wholesome. And such great cosplays! Here are only a couple.

I also cosplayed. Here's me and my sister taking our picture next to Han Solo:

I'm not a zombie (I was asked). I'm Jekyll and Hyde; my right side is Jekyll and my left is Hyde. It was my Halloween costume last year. I'm very proud. And, you know, it kept me from being one of a zillion Links, so there you go.

I also got to go down to St. George and see The Prince of Egypt (stage musical) with my siblings and grandfather.

This wasn't a picture from our performance, by the way. That was banned.

But here's a video from it!

It was good! The staging was amazing; the Tuacahn is an open-air theatre set in a canyon, so they could use fireworks, live animals, light projections on the cliffs behind, and water features like flooding the stage.

And they used all of it. The Plagues song was stunning to watch.

Plot wise, I liked the movie better. I think this a watered-down version of the movie, which has so much power in it. This was a nice story, with good music, but I think it lacked that same power.

Partially because the burning bush scene was greatly diminished. Just a few seconds instead of getting this:

So great.

The musical focuses more on the love Moses and Ramses have for each other as brothers, and for more of the family dynamics. Again, it made for a good story. Our Ramses did a great job; I really liked his performance. There were also some added songs, like "Footprints in the Sand," that I thought were beautiful.

But to me, the movie is a classic. Nothing can beat it, although my grandfather, not seeing the movie before, liked the musical better when we did show him the movie.

So, I do recommend it, especially of an example of phenomenal staging that uses every possibility. Still, I think it won't replace the movie anytime soon.

This week, I'm posting another video. Last week I made a retrieval puzzle, so this week it's the Beccas of the world's turn with a detective puzzle.

It's challenging to make up these puzzles, but I'm having fun. I hope others do, too.

Reversing a Common Fan Question

Hey, folks! I don't have a lot to say this week. Not much is happening.

Oh, wait. I'm posting my first episode to my YouTube channel this week.

Wheeee! To all of you who have viewed this promo and subscribed to my channel, a huge, glowing, heartfelt, THANK YOU!

And, this week I'm also going to FanX for a day, and going down to see the stage production of The Prince of Egypt over the weekend, so next week I should have more exciting things to say to you.

This week, though, I've been writing, and getting first-draft annoyed because I took a break from this draft to work on another, and now that I'm back, I feel like I'm writing a different book with a different feel.

I like it better, and I think this is more what I want, but GRRR! Do you know how much revision I'll have to do later?

So, hoping for better adventures to report next week, and maybe how it was launching my first full episode. I imagine it will take some time to post. Because bandwidth and video size. So, this will be interesting.

This week, though, I want to ask you a question. Or, two. Bear with me.

First, what fictional world would you like to visit?

You probably have a good answer to this. Hogwarts, or Narnia, or Middle Earth, are my go-tos, depending on how I feel. Right now, it's Middle Earth.

The point is, you've probably been asked this before. But have you ever thought about the reverse?

Who would you like to take from a fictional world and introduce into our reality?

Any ideas? I'll tell you mine. This guy:

I would take Arthur Weasley to the movies. And on an airplane. Heck, I'd show him Disney World and blow his mind.

And you? Do you have an answer to this question? Anyone you'd show the big, beautiful world that you belong to? Let me know your answers!