The Problem of Unproblematic Stories

Sorry for the slightly late post. I just got back from seeing Infinity War.

*screams*

Ahem...anyway, the blog post.

This is something I've been thinking about for a long time.

Now, I love Disney. I have my whole life. And, soon I'll be visiting Disneyland with my siblings and I'm about as excited as an eight-year-old about it.

But I was talking with my sister yesterday about some of Disney's most recent blockbusters, and about their older movies (the Renaissance ones), and we discussed how those older ones could not be made today.

Think about it. Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and certainly The Hunchback of Notre Dame...all movies with plots or elements that would face enormous scrutiny and backlash today. Race relations and religion, gender roles and unfeminist messages. Un-PC terms and ideas.

I honestly think Disney could not have released these, brand new, today. I think the reason for this is that they're all a bit problematic, and big companies can't afford to be problematic.

Okay, before we move forward, I just want to say that I'm not advocating writing and producing stories that offend major audiences, or even minor ones. There are things that should be left out of movies and stories because they are offensive, and they do make people angry, and it's bad writing to include them because they can easily be corrected by compassion for one's subject as well as proper research and understanding. Look at Coco; Pixar did a good job with that one.

But I think that, sometimes, in the desire to stop this kind of problematic content, a writer can throw out all complicated, heavy, and problematic themes and plots as well as the offensive material. This makes the final product, well, weak.


I throw a lot of shade at Frozen, and here's some more. It was a good movie, but honestly, I think the heaps of praise it receives are a bit much for what it is. I know Frozen has a huge following and lots of people love it, and yes, the music is good. But when I look at the story and themes, I'm not wowed. I don't feel the awe I felt in The Lion King when Mufasa tells Simba to, "Remember who you are." I don't ache for the characters. Sure, I feel for them, but I don't feel for them. Everything is...a little washed out.

Frozen had a binary theme: love=good, fear=bad. No one is going to dispute this. No one is going to feel for the villain or question what to do in this situation. It's obvious; Elsa needs to let love conquer fear. Because of this weak theme, we had a paper doll villain who needs to be a psychopath in order to actually work as a believable villain (which is lazy writing).

Now, let's compare this to another Disney movie, one that I think they allowed to be a bit troubling. Big Hero 6.

In Big Hero 6, there is no easy binary. Hiro has a legitimate reason to grieve, as does Dr. Callahan. The film deals with ideas of depression, obsession, revenge, and justice, and it doesn't make it easy for the viewer. Hiro lost a loved one, but so did Dr. Callahan. Does that make Callahan's actions just? Is Hiro justified in doing the same? What is justice, and how can healing happen? We see Hiro come just shy of becoming villainous himself.

The movie does comment on the rightness or wrongness of their actions, and Callahan is the villain, but he's a believable, even relatable one. It's not neat or clear, and there is no easy fix, no wave of the hand that can return what has been lost. There are consequences that don't go away, and that makes me care a bit more. It also leaves me thinking about the themes for myself.

Let's look at another movie comparison. Moana had a protagonist who didn't actually grow all that much, or discover all that much about herself, through the whole movie. The movie presents a choice: Moana must choose between her love of her people and her love of the ocean. But it's a hollow choice. The two are not mutually exclusive, not inherently. I never felt like this was a real choice. No choice, no consequences. No problems to solve. So, I think, that's why Moana doesn't seem to grow. She's never challenged to determine for herself who she is at the expense of anything.

Now, there's Tarzan. Tarzan grows up among the apes, feeling like an outcast. Then humans come to the jungle and he realizes that there are creatures like him. Soon, he has to face a choice: to stay in Africa or go to England and be with other humans.

These choices are mutually exclusive. Tarzan cannot do both. In the end, he has to choose one or the other, and the other door closes, so to speak. Yes, the girl he loves stays with him. In the jungle. It's a good ending, but a choice is made, and there are consequences for choosing it. We see a moment where Tarzan decides who he is and where he belongs.

Now, I know the point of Moana is that she can have both. But there was never any problem with it, not really. No conflict in the viewer's mind. Moana starts as someone who loves her people but will go to the sea against her father's wishes, and in the end, she still chooses the sea and her people. There's never really a moment where she has to consider giving up one or the other, or where she's really stopped from having one.

Not like in Wreck-It Ralph where Ralph wrecks Vanellope's car. Dang, that's always hard to watch.

This is getting long-winded, so I'll wrap it up. I'm afraid that Disney, scared of offending anyone, has also stopped allowing problematic themes in their musicals. Other films, like Big Hero 6, aren't as scrutinized and so get away with more. But the musicals seem to have stopped trying to explore complicated themes.

So, here are some suggestions I have for Disney, on how to do this again:

- No easy binaries. If 99% (if not 100%) of the audience can point to love as better than fear, then why not replace the binary with personal comfort versus responsibility, like in The Lion King? Even if audiences know which one Simba should choose, they at least can see why he might want to choose the other.

- Consequences. If one choice is made, the other has been lost. Winning the day requires a sacrifice, even if it's small.

- Start treating the female-lead, musical movies like the male-lead, non-musical movies. Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6 have a lot more compelling plots and characters than the female-lead movies, which all seem to have the same plot and characters.

- Don't be afraid. Do your research, and be kind to the cultures you're depicting. But part of humanity is dealing with difficult ideas and making hard choices, and that should be present in your movies. Now, more than ever.

Codes and Code Breaking

This week is going to be nuts for me, and today is the worst of it, so today's blog post is going to be a little shorter than usual. So I'm going to make up for it by making it strange.

The book I'm currently working on is a mystery that features a lot of clues and codes. My three main characters have different strengths, and one of them, the boy Charlie, is skilled with puzzles and clues. Lately, I've been sharing the stories of female explorers (Anna's area of expertise), so I thought today I'd give you Charlie's.

Also, I'm a freaking code nerd. I love using them and making up clues with them, and I've been like this for a long time. I used to make treasure hunts a la National Treasure for my siblings, full of codes and clues. So indulge me, today.

I'm going to tell you what I have going on this week, but I'm going to do it in several different codes that I use in my book. If you want the decoded version, scroll to the bottom. But where's the fun in that?

First code: Atbash

The Atbash cipher is a simple one where you essentially flip the alphabet: A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on. The decoder is above. It's easy to use and easy to decode; me and my sister use it to share TV and book spoilers, since the recipient can decode whenever ready to know.

So, here's Reason #1 that my week is busy, in Atbash:

1. Gsrh dvvp, R zn tizwrmt nb hgfwvmgh' urmzo kzkvih. Gsv hvnvhgvi gvxsmrxzoob vmwvw ozhg dvvp, yfg yvxzfhv R'n gvzxsrmt lmormv R szev z hortsgob vcgvmwvw hvnvhgvi. Hrmxv hfnnvi rh hgzigrmt, R'n gibrmt gl tizwv gsvhv zh uzhg zh R xzm dsrov hgroo yvrmt gslilfts, dsrxs rh hgroo z olmt grnv: gsvhv kzkvih ziv 10 kztvh olmt. Rg zohl wlvhm'g svok gszg zoovitb hvzhlm rh fklm nv.

Second code: A1Z26

This one is a lot like the Atbash cipher. It's a simple substitution cipher that switches numbers for letters. A=1, B=2, and so on. I don't typically use this one because it's just as easy to break as the Atbash and writing it requires a lot of hyphenating. You'll see.

Reason #2:


13-25 23-18-9-20-9-14-7. 19-5-18-9-15-21-19-12-25, 23-8-1-20 5-12-19-5? 9 8-1-22-5 1 23-18-9-20-9-14-7 7-18-15-21-16 13-5-5-20-9-14-7 20-8-9-19 23-5-5-11-5-14-4 1-14-4 1-12-20-8-15-21-7-8 9 4-15-14'20 20-8-9-14-11 9'12-12 13-1-11-5 9-20 (18-5-1-19-15-14-19 6-15-18 20-8-1-20 12-1-20-5-18), 9 19-20-9-12-12 8-1-22-5 20-15 19-5-14-4 15-21-20 1 19-20-15-18-25. 20-5-14 16-1-7-5-19, 1-14-4 9'13 14-15-20 19-21-18-5 23-8-1-20 20-15 19-5-14-4? 13-25 23-9-16? 15-18 19-8-15-21-12-4 9 19-20-1-18-20 1 14-5-23 19-20-15-18-25 20-8-1-20 8-1-19 2-5-5-14 20-9-3-11-12-9-14-7 13-25 13-9-14-4? (9-20 9-14-22-15-12-22-5-4 6-18-1-3-20-21-18-5-4 6-1-9-18-25 20-1-12-5-19 19-5-20 9-14 1 22-9-3-20-15-18-9-1-14 20-9-13-5 5-18-1.) 9 1-12-19-15 16-18-15-13-9-19-5-4 13-25 7-18-15-21-16 9'4 23-18-9-20-5 5-22-5-18-25 4-1-25, 1-14-4 9-6 9 6-1-9-12, 9'22-5 2-5-5-14 1-19-19-21-18-5-4 3-15-14-19-5-17-21-5-14-3-5-19 23-9-12-12 2-5 4-9-18-5.

A1Z26 also takes up a lot of space. Not my favorite code, but handy.

Third code: Keyed Caesar:

The Caesar cipher is typically a shift cipher, meaning you switch the letters over a certain number, like this picture, which shows a left shift of 3:

This makes it a little tougher than Atbash or A1Z26. But I like the keyed Caesar, which uses a key word to create the shift. For example, if the key word was Batman, the alphabet used for the code would look like this:

BATMNCDEFGHIJKLOPQRSUVWXYZ

You see how those letters went to the front? This makes the alphabet shift over. Repeated letters are only used once. It's unique to any key word.

So, here's the third reason in keyed Caesar cipher. Key word is "Elgar" (figure out why I picked that word):

3. Ky sfstrq fs cqeauetfmc! Sdr's crttfmc drq arcqrr fm Soemfsd Tqemsjetfnm jfir e lnss (sdr's oqrtty kugd tqfjfmcuej mnw) ema jrevfmc gnjjrcr lrdfma bnq lrttrq tdfmcs! Ky oeqrmts eqr bjyfmc fmtn tnwm nm Tursaey mfcdt, ema nb gnuqsr F wemt tn sorma es kugd tfkr wftd tdrk es F gem, sn F'k tqyfmc tn gnkojrtr ky wnqi pufgijy. Ft wfjj lr cqret tn srr rvrqynmr ema tn grjrlqetr wftd ky sfstrq. Tdr wrri wfjj lr lusy, lut sn cnna!

Is this a bad time to tell you that there are lots of decoding machines online that handle all three of these codes? (But again, where's the fun in that?)

Anyway, that's it. That's my week. I hope the puzzles entertain you enough that the fact that this content isn't all that interesting this week. I have papers to grade; my brain is a little fried.

Go ahead and scroll down for the translated messages. But before we get there, here's one more for you, using all three codes. I'm not going to translate this one; it's for you to figure out. Just a piece of nonsense that may be fun to decode. Key word, when you need it, is "Hesperides."


Rm gsv svzig lu gsv dllw gsviv'h zm zkkov givv. Yb wzb rg rh tmziovw zmw tizb, yfg yb mrtsg rg kilwfxvh uifrg lu nllmorg hroevi.

2-5-25-15-14-4 20-8-5 1-16-16-12-5 20-18-5-5, 20-8-5-18-5 9-19 1 18-9-22-5-18. 2-25 4-1-25 9-20 9-19 13-21-4-4-25 1-14-4 2-18-15-23-14, 2-21-20 2-25 14-9-7-8-20 9-20 12-5-1-16-19 23-9-20-8 6-9-18-5. 

Hkp erylkp tar obvro, h shvr. Ey phy bt bq phof hkp qbgrkt, eut ey kbdat bt alwgq wbta tar wbkp taht bt qusfq bk, gbfr h aukdoy jluta. Bi ylu tllf tar jllkgbdat hmmgr, hkp olhqtrp bt lvro tar obvro'q ighjrq ql taht bt qjrggrp gbfr Lstlero, hkp morqrktrp bt ht tar jluta li tar shvr ql taht tar wbkp shoobrp tar holjh prrm wbtabk, waht jbdat rjrodr tl qrr waht ylu ahvr eoludat?




Decoded messages:

1. This week, I am grading my students' final papers. The semester technically ended last week, but because I'm teaching online I have a slightly extended semester. Since summer is starting, I'm trying to grade these as fast as I can while still being thorough, which is still a long time: these papers are 10 pages long. It also doesn't help that allergy season is upon me. 

2. My writing. Seriously, what else? I have a writing group meeting this weekend and although I don't think I'll make it (reasons for that later), I still have to send out a story. Ten pages, and I'm not sure what to send? My WIP? Or should I start a new story that has been tickling my mind? (It involved fractured fairy tales set in a Victorian time era.) I also promised my group I'd write every day, and if I fail, I've been assured consequences will be dire.

3. My sister is graduating! She's getting her degree in Spanish Translation like a boss (she's pretty much trilingual now) and leaving college behind for better things! My parents are flying into town on Tuesday night, and of course I want to spend as much time with them as I can, so I'm trying to complete my work quickly. It will be great to see everyone and to celebrate with my sister. The week will be busy, but so good!

Religion in Stories, Or Why "A Wrinkle in Time" Wasn't a Great Movie

Last Friday I got to do a school visit at Saratoga Shores Elementary School!

I love school visits. They're the best part of being a writer (other than the actual writing). I love visiting the kids and talking to them and getting their interesting questions (like "Will Jeremy and Becca get married one day?" BWAHAHA! Maybe.), and I love their enthusiasm for the books they like, even if they're not mine.

So, when that enthusiasm is applied to my books, I have a great day. The class did a reader's theater of Under Locker and Key, which they had for read-aloud, so they all knew the story. I got to sit in and watch, taping it all with the other proud parents. It was such a special experience to see the class act out my characters; it was a real honor, and I thought they were all talented actors.

Then I gave my presentation, and I didn't even have time to do a reading because the class was so active and involved in my presentation and they had so many questions. They were a great class, so thank you, Saratoga Shores, and may I see you again one day!

And now, on to my main topic. Recently I saw A Wrinkle in Time, the movie. (See previous blog posts for that review.) Even more recently, I rewatched The Prince of Egypt and reread A Wrinkle in Time, the book, and started to think about these films and book and what makes them special, or not special.

A Wrinkle in Time, the book by Madeleine L'Engle, is a great book, and I mean that by all definitions of the word "great." It's a classic, and it is a powerful read. Likewise, the film The Prince of Egypt is a great movie. It has recently been adapted as a stage musical, and I have yet to find someone who doesn't think it did a great job with the story of Moses. More often, I find people who think it is also a classic in its own right (though this is Utah, so perspective is a little different than mainstream).

But the film A Wrinkle in Time? It was...okay. Good, sure. Fun to watch. But next to the book, it is a sad, pale imitation. It is not great. It lacks the power that the book has to make you feel and think things deeper and broader than you've thought them before. Sure, they talk about timespace, but so do a lot of movies. That movie, had I seen it without reading the book, would have been fun, but would not have rocked my world the way the book did.

So much was cut from the book to make the movie. SO. MUCH. And, rereading the book, the things that got cut the most were religious in nature: references to scripture, or religious figures, and even themes that are also religious. A Wrinkle in Time is a rather Christian book.

And, honestly, I think that's what gave it its power.

Yes, I am Christian, and yes, I value religion in art. I love The Prince of Egypt as a religious film along with its storytelling and musical qualities. But I also think that religion, any religion, has a power to it. Religion has shaped people and nations; it has spurred great acts of good and also acts of evil. It has become part of who many, many people are. Looking at it from an objective, secular view, it has power. Looking at it from a religious angle (and many people are still religious these days), it has more.

The Prince of Egypt is based on a religious text, and handles it well. Artistic license was taken, but they're upfront about it, and they researched their source material heavily to best reflect a story that three religions consider scripture. They did not cut out religion, but instead respected it, left it where it was, and allowed it to fill their story with power. And, personally, I think it worked. Compare it to a movie like Exodus (with Christian Bale) and see the difference.

But Disney cut out the religion. They stripped the references and even the themes were watered down. I understand why they did it; Disney is a massive company and they don't want to offend anyone, and someone would have been offended. But in doing so, they cut out the power that religion brought to the story and turned it into just another kid's adventure movie.

A Wrinkle in Time is a daring book. It was rejected by 26 publishers because it was considered "too different" and because it dealt with such heavy themes, like good and evil, that publishers didn't think it was suitable for children.

But it did get published, and now it's a Newberry Medalist. It is great and will be remembered. The movie, while good, won't be. Not for its story. If the book dared to knock on the Door of Truth, the film looked at it for a while and then walked away.

What does this all mean? I think Disney and Hollywood, and other writers, are afraid. Afraid to deal with complex issues and religion, because they don't want to offend. I understand that. But I think, in this way, they are doing themselves a disservice by removing a huge part of human culture, and something that matters to many individual people, from their stories. Religion has power, and it has many good themes to explore. But if storytellers are too afraid to allow it into their tales, when it has an appropriate place there, then they are essentially telling decaffeinated stories.

Religion is hard to handle; anything potent is. But it can be done, with respect and hard work, and it can make some truly great, not just good, art. If writers are courageous enough to try.

Being an LDS Runner

Hello!

This morning, I did a school visit! At BYU! In front of a class of creative writers!

It was exciting. I always love talking to groups, and since this one was a group of young adults who want to write, I had the ability to talk to them in "writerly" terms and really talk about process with them. They had excellent questions. One of which I'm still trying to figure out an answer to:

How do you keep yourself from writing the same character into every story?

Great question. The answer I gave was something along the lines of, "I treat characters like different people, and every different situation requires a different kind of hero," but I'm not sure I like that answer. I typically don't like answers that boil down to, "My characters are real to me and they talk to me like real people," because those answers sound crazy and aren't very helpful.

Too bad so many situations in writing come down to that kind of answer: I don't know how I can do this, but it works so I don't question it.

I have another school visit this Friday and I'm super-excited! Will keep you posted on developments.

As for other things happening in my life, I am getting further in the marathon training. Last Saturday, I ran 20 miles. I have a few more super-long runs before race day. Here's the thing about super-long runs: you have lots of time to think. LOTS of time. So I did, and one of the things I thought about was the unique experience I have being LDS (Mormon) and a runner.

It is unique. There's a culture to running, and there's an LDS culture and set of values, and sometimes they overlap/clash. Frankly, I think it's funny. So here's a set of behaviors unique to the LDS runner:

- Making stink-face and passing by when I see that the free gel/goo on a long race is caffeinated (NOTE: This is a little bit of a cheat. Caffeine isn't outlawed for LDS people, but my family avoids it, so I do too, and thus it makes the list.)

- Altering training schedules so they don't require Sunday runs

- Searching for races that AREN'T on Sunday

- Looking ahead to see if the next Fast Sunday (a day we go without eating) is the day after a rare Saturday race, and being relieved when it isn't

- Being super-disappointed that the Disney Park marathons are typically on Sundays

- Trying to figure out the modest/comfortable running clothing balance

- Throwing away the "free post-race beer" ticket that comes in the swag pack

- For once, not being the only one in the area totally obsessed with chocolate milk

These are based on my experience, and while they are true for me, they may not be true for all LDS runners. I'd be interested in other people's experience. If anyone out there is LDS and a runner, comment with any others that I might have missed!

Lady Explorers of the Turn of the Century

The tax situation has been resolved. Hallelujah!

That is such a load off my mind! Now I'm free to focus on my writing again, which I have been doing.

Last week I talked about how I was putting together a revision plan and getting to know my characters better, and how helpful that has been. Over the last week, I have been revising my first chapters of the book (I like to go through drafts from start to finish; it helps me keep my story straight) and I've also been doing research.

I also mentioned previously how I wanted to share some of my research on the female explorers I've been researching. My character Anna is a free-spirit who loves stories about these explorers. She sees herself as an explorer, as well, although she feels like all the good exploring has already happened, and there's really nothing left for her to explore in the 21st century.

The women I've been learning about all lived and explored through the 1800s into the early 1900s. That seems to have been a golden age of modern exploration for both men and women, as people took advantage of modern transportation methods and increasing globalization to go places they hadn't before. These men, and women, did great things and their stories sometimes sound like they came out of an Indiana Jones movie. I'm going to share what I learned about a few of these daring women.

ANNIE SMITH PECK

Annie Smith Peck was born October 19, 1850 in New England. She was the first woman admitted to teach at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece. When she was in Europe on her way to the school, she saw the Matterhorn and vowed to one day climb it. She did, becoming the third woman to climb the Matterhorn in the 1800s. Her goal was to one day climb a mountain no one had ever climbed before. In 1908, she climbed Mt. Huascaran in Peru, the north peak, accompanied by two Swiss guides. The north peak was later named in her honor.


ALEXANDRINE TINNE

One stubborn lady, Alexandrine Tinne was born October 17, 1835. She was Dutch, and she was the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara Desert, although that wasn't her first adventurous enterprise. She was an heiress who used her money to travel to exotic places. She searched for the source of the Nile River, becoming a skilled photographer, botanical illustrator, and naturalist. She attempted three missions to find the source, but failed on each one. The third mission took the lives of her mother and aunt. On her attempt to cross the Sahara, she was murdered and her body was never found.

JEANNE BARET

A somewhat older entry on this list, but worth noting, Jeanne Baret was a Frenchwoman born July 27, 1740. She was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. To do this, she dressed as a man and went by Jean, working as assistant to the expedition's naturalist, Philibert Commerson. Commerson was her employer; she worked as a housekeeper for him before they both went to sea. It's likely and hilarious that he did not know Baret was coming. Baret was herself a naturalist. Her identity as a woman was discovered when the crew stopped in Tahiti. She returned to France and lived quietly for the rest of her life, but was given a pension by the Ministry of Marine.

LUCY EVELYN CHEESMAN

Lucy Evelyn Cheesman was a British entomologist born October 8, 1882. She really loved bugs, even from a young age. She became the keeper of the insect house at the London Zoological Society. Cheesman went on expeditions to the South Pacific to study the insects and other creepy crawlies there. She preferred to travel alone, and was respectful to and respected by the indigenous people of the islands she visited. In my research, I found a story where she reported being trapped in many big, strong spider webs while exploring. She cut herself free as the spiders hung around her, and from then on, she carried a machete.

I'm calling this enough for now. There are so many names to look into, though, if you want to learn more. Like Nellie Cashman, a female prospector who struck it rich on gold, or Delia Julia Denning Akeley, a big game hunter who was the first woman endorsed to lead a safari alone.

It's amazing how much we know about the world thanks to these women, and how little we talk about them now. It has been very interesting to learn more about them on behalf of my middle grade character.

Writing's the best, guys.