“The old Fairy Tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it’s his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he’s normal. But in the modern psychological novel the hero is abnormal. Hence the fiercest adventures fail to affect him adequately, and the book is monotonous.”….. G K Chesterton
Right??? Oh my goodness, I cannot tell you how much this truth afflicts my soul! It’s a bit funny, but what is wrong with IB? Finances, family, health…. the general decline of Western civilization??
Nope, as usual she is just furious over what a complete mess we have made of fairy tales and prone to long spells of melancholy and frustration over it. I’ve written about this matter extensively in dozens and dozens of posts, some of which can be found here, here, and here.
And by “fairy tales” I pretty much mean fiction, books, comic books, movies. I still read, extensively, but it is becoming harder and harder to find those tales of ordinary heroes, as if to say, “She was rather plain and normal, there was nothing special about her at all. Quite a boring girl, really.”
Ahhh, now that’s what makes an adventure so grand….
Everyone these days is a billionaire, a top-secret agent, a wizard, an elf, or a transgendered alien. GK Chesterton is quite right, “the hero is abnormal,” and since he is so bizarre himself, “the fiercest adventures fail to affect him adequately, and the book is monotonous.”
Exactly. It is a very good lesson in writing, too.
We modern people have become very jaded, somewhat numbed out, exposed to way too much knowledge and not nearly enough wisdom. Try to explain to people that privacy is gone, that the government and other entities are spying on us and they’re prone to just go, “Meh, Google, find me Aunt Ida’s recipe for chocolate cake.” We’re just a generation who have had all our conspiracy theories come true. The “fiercest adventures” now fail to affect us adequately.
And so “Identity” is now completely replacing adventures and overcoming, and what challenges the characters face have become secondary to an almost narcissistic snap shot of who they already are. It’s just a hero selfie. In the latest Star Wars movie for example, the Jedi is a woman and that’s pretty much the beginning, the middle, and the end of the tale. She has simply been dropped onto a stage set for a hero selfie.
I went to see the remake of Mary Poppins Returns, a pleasant afternoon for sure, so don’t feel sorry for me, but it really jumped out at me how much we are really losing. No offense to Emily Blunt, but she was simply yet another hero selfie, taking on the identity of Mary Poppins, the entire movie being much like a series of selfies and stage sets, props and poses, complete with plenty of Poppins swag. But it was completely devoid of that Poppins edge, why she was the way she was, what she taught the children, why it all mattered, how they changed and began to see the world with fresh eyes….
Sigh. Alas, there was a cleverly placed song that did sum up my mood very well, my mood about the nature of our modern fairy tales and what we are losing in the process, a song called , “The Place Where Lost Things Go.”
Excellent points, especially that quote at the beginning. The littlest person can have the greatest adventure. That’s one of the great things about life. Then by reading the adventure, we dream about what we could do in our own life. That’s the fun of storytelling, since humanity first learned to communicate.
We HAVE become jaded with all the tech and worldly connectivity at our fingertips, but also in this modern world where heroes aren’t allowed to be outside a certain caste system. And it is a worldly thing. These are worldly values, not spiritual ones.
You shouldn’t have to have a “great” status, or any “approved” status in life to do great things. That’s why we love adventure. And I think the spirit of adventure HAS declined in modern western civilization.
“Hero selfies” — that is such a great term 🤣. It’s not really a story. Just (if you have a comedy) moments where you throw in sight-gags, and (if you have an action flick) moments where the hero is made to look good.
This is just a guess, but in that respect, if that spirit can’t come from us anymore, are we really so civilized? The betterment of society leads to civilization, right? How are we bettering ourselves if we’re restricting the ability of our humble spirit to take flight in a story of adventure, where the most humble character can do great things?
Remember the original Luke Skywalker? He started out as a humble farmboy, complete with an “Uncle Owen” who gave him chores. But he looked up at the stars and dreamed of more. Just like all the kids who saw the movie!
Remember the original Obi-Wan Kenobi? He was the sagely source of new knowledge that took the hero *and the audience * into new territory. And in each progression, Luke found himself in new territory. And in that new territory, he had to have courage and new strengths (visible to the audience) to keep going. And the kids dreamed of growing like that.
Wasn’t that fun?
In light of your points, I wonder if I really brought an adventure to life with my own Fantasy-adventure story. My heroine is not humble — a young, strong barbarian swordswoman who has a lot of ability and status at home. I tried to take the status away and send her out into the world, with her insecurities, to push her to make a name for herself outside the world she knew.
Once again, I’m having to learn as I go. But I don’t mind, because I have so much fun with the writing.
In a way, is that like an adventure?
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Great comment. You make some really good points. I do remember the first Star Wars, and Luke was indeed ordinary, a “humble farm boy” as you say. And writing really is fun, an adventure of it’s very own. 🙂
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I’m waiting for the story of when Alice and Dorothy meet unexpectedly and they go down the rabbit hole to Oz and what strange adventures they have in Oz.
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That would be quite fun! Both Alice and Dorothy were those ordinary girls I spoke of, out having grand adventures and being transformed in the process.
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You definitely need to go see “The Kid who would be King.” Ordinary child with extraordinary adventure–just what you are craving. J.
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Very well said, IB. The Chesterton quote has only shown how much we’ve flattened the world and removed the mystery and enchantment. In other words, we progressed ourselves into boredom.
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Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, “progress”. Let’s go back to a world of imperfection.
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Mind blowing post
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Please read my first post
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@IB
Thoughtful. Made me think. I suppose there are at least three kinds of heroes in fiction.
What I think you are complaining about is the invincible hero. We imagine through such a hero becoming unstoppable. Because of who we are, we own the world.
A second kind of hero seems ordinary. Challenged, he finds within himself capacities he did know he had had. A sage may tutor him, but the ability still comes him.
What Western literature use to emphasize is the hero who through sorrows and trials learns wisdom. Instead of himself, he depends upon the power of his Creator and the love of his friends. Instead of unremitting success, he experiences failures, but he learns to persevere. That sort of hero is not as popular any more, but this hero is more like a real hero.
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