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This week: The Danger of Fear Edited by: Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline  
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Action/Adventure stories often overcome that which we fear. The problem is that that can reinforce stereotypes.
This week's Action/Adventure Newsletter is all about tired themes and problematic heroes and villains.
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Russian spies. Do you remember those? They were typical Cold War villains. There was tension in the air, and having movie and novel heroes outsmart and defeat these characters appeared to make sense. At least to writers and producers. It was a way to battle that which was feared. It offered a sense of relief, and a feeling of safety during a time of uncertainty.
It’s not the first and only time that this has happened. Movies about the Nazis remain popular, even though the Second World War has long passed. They’re a reminder that we can overcome that which is horrible and loathsome.
As much as such trends may be understandable, there’s a danger there of reinforcing stereotypes. Whilst there might be that sense of battling that which we fear, these stories can, at the same time, heighten that fear. See? These are the bad guys! Instead of offering a break from what’s going on in the world, there’s the same narrative, even in that which ought to offer relief and entertainment.
The more you see something, the more it becomes embedded in your consciousness. Think of the movies and TV series that show human beings as being horrible and destructive. We ruin that which we touch. We destroy nature. We destroy other species. If we ever find life on another planet, we will probably destroy that, too. How do you feel after such an adventure? Happy? Or is there a certain sense of guilt?
I hear and see more and more people describing humanity as a plague upon the planet. And I don’t feel that that is healthy, or helpful. If we believe that we’re bad and destructive, if we live with that guilt to an increasing extent, it can be damaging. It can also stop us from moving forward.
Happy news doesn’t seem to sell. At least, that appears to be the belief of the media, as it’s difficult to find any happy, positive stories on the news or in the papers. That doesn’t mean that there’s not a lot of good stuff happening on a daily basis. We’re simply not being exposed to it as much as we are to the bad.
In the same way, stereotypical villains are not realistic. Russian people can be lovely, you know. Same with Middle Eastern people who are popular movie villains, too.
As writers, we should tread with caution and care. Just like it’s lazy to make a villain ugly in appearance, or fat, as some writers have a tendency of doing, it’s not good to automatically join the latest villain-craze along lines of nationality, or faith, or whatever else. It’s good to be original. If the villain’s not of the same nationality as the hero/heroine, why not one from, say, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands? Would it feel odd to have a Belgian villain? If so, why?
Perhaps you’re reading this and you feel that I am a tree-hugging, politically correct so-and-so. Maybe I am. I just believe that whilst the stories we tell can certainly touch upon serious issues (many good stories do), there’s no need to heighten anxiety and division. There’s enough of that going on already.
And it can be fun to change things up a little. Be original. Be creative. Our only limit is our imagination and as writers, that imagination tends to be quite big!
Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline
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Action/Adventure: October 18, 2017 Issue [#8538]
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