Getting Angry
I write this on Sunday the 26th of August, 2018. At this time, there is still blood on the floor of a Madden video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida after somebody shot up the place, killing two people before turning the gun on himself. I listened to two different audio recordings of the shooting – something I cannot recommend to any other individual, unless they’re politicians making money on the sound of gunshots. I am angry and I am sad. This is a uniquely American ritual: once we understand all the facts of the case there will be thoughts and prayers, there will be calls for reform, and basically nothing of substance will transpire to prevent this from happening again.
I forget who said it… and exactly how it was said… but one piece of writing advice that has always stuck with me goes along the lines of:
Write about what makes you angry. If you’re not angry, you don’t have enough to say about that subject.
Now, I don’t 100% support any writing advice that restricts the writer’s options, but I totally get what they’re going for with this sentiment. Not every piece of fiction has to be angry but all fiction has to have conflict. Maybe that conflict is personal – the breakup, the missing child, the health diagnosis – or maybe it’s more political in nature. And boy howdy, there sure is a lot of political stuff to be mad about these days.
If it isn’t clear enough already, I’m going to be getting political up in here.
Fair warning.
Planting Seeds
I don’t know about you, but my creative output has not been the same since 2016. Not only is it more difficult to write these days, but what I do write is noticeably darker and more political. This, I believe, is natural. We are influenced by our environments and our current environment is marked by constant tragedy, controversy, corruption, greed, pain, and stupidity. The villains are legion and the heroes are without the necessary power to create immediate change.
A ‘protest’ piece of art isn’t going to change Donald Trump and make him a better man. And no art is going to bring down the NRA. But that does not mean that politically minded writing is without worth. Good art plants a seed in the subconscious. You can change a person’s mind without them realizing it.
Saying something about our world through the guise of fiction is one of the best ways for a writer to make a point. Reach people with your words. Give them a story and let them make the connection to their world. Don’t preach, if you can help it. If you’re caught preaching, even those who are on your side may find your attempt a bit foolhardy.
Mutants, Police, and Alien Invaders
James Mangold’s Logan (2017) is one of the best genre films of the past decade and it (purposefully or not) paints a striking picture of post-Trump America. Early in the movie, Logan drives his limousine full of drunk assholes past the newly constructed wall that runs across the border between the US and Mexico. The limo passengers chant, “USA! USA!” at the Mexican immigrants. Logan says nothing. A Mexican nurse comes to Logan with her ward, the mutant girl Laura, and asks him to take her to a sanctuary in Canada. Logan wants no part of it. Only upon learning of the government’s program to test mutant children that are being held against their will does Logan’s conscious get the better of him. He takes Laura under his arm and, along with a group of other children who are being pursued by the state, flee north toward Canada. The film, written by Mangold, Scott Frank, and Michael Green, came out in early 2017, not long after Donald Trump was inaugurated. When they were writing it, they could not have predicted that Trump would win the election, but the ugly campaign no doubt left a mark on the writer’s room. X-Men movies have long been about social justice, equal rights, and other issues regarding marginalized people, told through the lives of mutants. Logan just feels a little bit more immediate than the others. “We’re just trying to reflect our world,” Mangold said.
With BlacKkKlansman (2018), Spike Lee uses a story from the early 1970s to talk about race in America today. The film is about a black police officer named Ron Stallworth who successfully infiltrates the KKK with the assistance of a white officer going undercover as him. It’s funny, sad, and angry as all hell. While Stallworth views the KKK as an imminent threat, his fellow officers are slow to rally behind his cause. And even after he is able to prove how dangerous they are, the investigation is effectively shelved and hidden from public eye. Stallworth, believing the local KKK to be seen as a bunch of idiots by the rest of America, laughs at the idea of a David Duke running for higher office. Stallworth’s white sergeant stops him in his tracks by saying, “For a black man, you’re pretty naïve.” It’s one of the first indications that this period piece is very much about 2018. By the end of the film, Spike Lee’s drops the hints and introduces us to clips of Donald Trump’s “fine people” and the hateful violence that killed Heather Heyer. It’s a movie about crimes from the 70’s but, more than that, it’s a movie about a hate that lasts.
John Carpenter’s They Live (1988) is as relevant today as when it was released in the 80’s age of excess. It’s a movie about the alien elites, who live hidden among us, spreading their hidden demands for us to spend money, seek what we cannot afford, and so on. A special pair of sunglasses reveals the world for the way it really is and the dollar bill replaced by paper that reads ‘THIS IS YOUR GOD’ is so on the nose but so perfect. It’s about consumerism and capitalism, yes, but it’s just as much about the 1% dictating the lives of the poor and middle class. And when a poor man discovers the truth, the system decides that he must be crushed. As Carpenter explains it,
“…I’d had enough, and I decided I had to make a statement, as stupid and banal as it is, but I made one, and that’s They Live… I just love that it was giving the finger to Reagan…”
Writing Through the Flames
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
– Dylan Thomas –
If your political representative wants to make it more difficult for you to live but easier for you to be killed, be sure to set aside time so that you can vote that fucker out of office. But until the time to vote comes around, there are other things you can be doing. If you have the extra money, donate to causes you believe in. If you have the time, volunteer to those that could use your help. And if you’re a writer, throw stones at giants with your words.
It is also important not to drain yourself. We are faced with a constant barrage of news. It is exhausting. And very rarely is it good news. We want to fix things, but we can only do so much. We want to pay attention, but we need to take a break once in a while. Pace yourself.
I have developed a bad habit. When the writing flow slows down, I move the mouse and click the Chrome button on the Windows taskbar. I barely even realize I’m doing it. And before you know it, I’m on Twitter reading about Agent Orange’s latest clusterfuck. This is not the ideal way to write a book. The news occupies more of my daily thinking than it ever did before and that’s understandable, considering everything. But we must have time outs. We must ration our outrage.
I’ve taken to putting a sticky note over the Chrome icon on the Windows taskbar while I’m writing. Or, alternatively, I move one of my Godzilla desk toy writing partners into the way so that a scowling Godzilla is looking back at me whenever I move the mouse to check on Twitter. It’s stupid, but it works. The habit to reach for Chrome when I hit a snag is averted. I realize what I’m doing, move the mouse back to Word, and return to business.
The world can wait just a bit longer. You’ve got shit to write.
It’s also probably not the best idea to drink away your troubles, he said while opening a bottle of hard cider. No, but really, take care of yourself. Understand that self-care is important. Regularly digging through a pack of Oreos or downing a six pack of beer may satisfy short-term urges but chances are they’ll only add to your long-term dismay. Similarly, if the world on fire is getting you down, you’re allowed to check out for a day or two. Watch movies that make you smile. Disappear into a good book. Enjoy the great outdoors far from 3G or WiFi. Shut off the outside world and take care of yourself. You can rejoin the fight at any time. It’s all about moderation.
Things suck right now but I do believe that the long arc of history bends towards justice. The young people will win. I know that more young people will fall victim to senseless violence before they can claim that victory – the world is thus – but I 100% believe that the young people are the team to bet on. Likewise, I believe that justice will be served and criminals will be removed from power so that they may no longer twist the country into something ugly for their financial benefit. It will take longer than any of us are willing to accept, but we will one day look back upon these days with astonishment, horror, and dark humor, as is our way.
Later today I’m going to be working on an outline for a dystopian fantasy novel. The book is about an evil man rising to power who somehow convinces everyone that he is the only righteous man to correct a course of violence in the world, and the small but growing resistance that is made to be seen as dangerous in the eyes of a confused public. It is often draining to write fictional conflict while the real world burns all around us, but that’s the job of a writer.
Observe the flames, do what you can to put them out, and write stories on what can be learned from the smoke.
