Has anyone else noticed
how prevalent violence has become in media over the last
year or so (or more)?
This may seem like a strange subject for me to cover
considering I write romantic suspense and have been focused
on creating the eeriest, coldest, evilest villains my
good-little-girl brain can come up with. But, I've been
noticing my own intolerance for gritty violence more and
more lately.
I
picked up a book CD at the library a couple days ago--Darkly
Dreaming Dexter. It's about a serial killer who kills serial
killers.
Damn. Why didn't I think of that?
The idea intrigued me. I wanted to see how this author made
it work. I wanted to see how a serial killer protagonist
would turn out. I wanted to see how many rules the author
broke and chuckle to myself with knowing chagrin when I
could identify every one.
I figured it would be pretty good considering the reviews
and comments on the container, and it lived up to my
expectations--which, now-a-days, is pretty dang hard to do.
Writing has ruined me as a reader (although I still read and
am trying to read more often).
If you don't mind a sick and twisted read, I'd recommend it.
Entertaining, dark humor, three dimensional characters, even
a protagonist who's part villain, one you have to both root
for and admire all while realizing he is one sick bastard.
And while the book was quite graphic, stomach-turning in
places, it wasn't as overdone as it could have been.
Then recently I saw this advertisement for a series on
HBO--Dexter. They made this premise a series. Dexter is, by
profession, a blood splatter expert working in a police
lab--only one ironic twist of his character. I could see how
this would easily become a series. As I felt I already knew
Dexter better than my next door neighbor, I was sure I'd
want to watch the series.
Then I saw the previews. And even knowing what I knew,
having read what I read, I found them disturbing. There is
something very different between reading about crime and
viewing said crime. The previews were based on acts
performed in the book--it was depicted accurately from what
I could tell. But infinitely more explicit.
Yesterday I saw the new movie, The Departed. Again, very
intriguing. Again, very violent.
It all solidified something that I've been struggling with
for a while now--graphic violence as entertainment.
How can that possibly be healthy? What does that say about
us as individuals, as a society? And, more importantly, how
is it shaping the next generation? Deep, disturbing
questions with few answers. At least, few positive answers.
With the prevalence of forensic-related television,
detective and police shows, violence in the news,
increasingly graphic movies, it seems to me we've become
desensitized. Because we know more, because we've seen more,
it takes more to reach us, move us, jolt us, scare us, give
us a thrill.
In other books I've read recently, I've noticed the villains
are scarier, colder, bolder, angrier and overall, more
screwed up, even more
hopelessly screwed up.
You've read the reviews of best-seller suspense.
Chilling is the word that comes to mind--and this
is touted as a good thing.
Maybe I'm reading in the wrong genre. Worse, maybe I'm
writing in the wrong genre.
I don't know.
What I do know is that keeping up a good edge-of-your-seat
suspense without all the blood and gore is one hell of a
bitch. In my opinion, a story filled with violence is much easier to
write. It's plot heavy, characterization light. There has to
be just enough characterization to justify actions, but it's
that action, that next ambush, that next murder, that next
beating that holds the audience's attention.
In lieu of action and violence, you need deep, meaningful
characterization. Your cast has to be powerful and flawed,
sympathetic and courageous. They have to have big problems,
inside and out, and they have to have the tools, or gain the
tools, to overcome them. They have to have a lot at stake
and those stakes have to continually rise until there is
either success or death--not necessary literal death, but a
death of some kind, of something invaluable to them.
