I noticed from a young age that there are many calibers of fiction writing. Not just the quality of good prose, but the quality of subject and how it is treated. For many years I've witnessed online debates among writers about pushing envelopes to see how much they could get away with including certain topics, scenarios, and even words in their writing. The flow of this river seems to always want to pick up as much dirty debris off the banks as it can and gather energy over the rapids to make it become the new normal. There's the age-old conundrum of art reflecting society and society reflecting the art it consumes. Kind of a chicken before the egg or egg before the chicken scenario.
I'm not here to profess an answer, but I am a firm believer that you are what you consume - whether it's food, medicine, music, movies, books, news, etc. That, of course, implies that consumers should be responsible for their choices, and they should. But what if all a consumer was offered was junk food? Or the only medicine they could afford had six horrible side effects? It's the same with our media consumption. If all that is being put out is dark, violent, sexual, rude, biased, mean, promotes abuse, or is of one type of ideology, then what are consumers to do? It goes beyond trends. If this art we produce is what we feel society is like, aren't we also promoting that type of society?
I've seen society's moral compass rapidly slide into the trash bin. I find it highly disturbing, and as a consumer, it has greatly limited my options for consumption. I used to get excited to try out new media, and now I approach it all warily, ready to close the book, switch channels, or turn off the streaming service as soon as something horrible pops up. I don't care how compelling the story is. I'm sick of the vulgarity, darkness, violence, and sexual unreality.
Writing is one of the oldest influencer arts there is. Writing should reflect life, but I dare to ask, why are we so focused on reflecting the worst of us rather than the best of us? What is with this drive to create the baddest, darkest, most gritty version of a story in order to feed the consumer? True, there are stories that creep into inspirational when a character travels through a dark world and comes out victorious, but is it really inspirational when so much mud and filth has to smack the reader along the way?
I know when I was a teenager there was much eye-rolling going on over stories about perfect people. Perhaps the fall into the mire was a result of defying those norms. It is possible to balance these. Writers make choices over what to focus on in their writing. So even if the MC is going through a gritty world, do we have to spell out every detail of that world? Do we have to make the MC make subpar choices because it's now the norm in society? Where are the MCs who defy the norm by having higher standards? Where are the powerful meek characters? You know, the ones with great discipline, who don't stoop to roll in the mud with their counterparts because they know better? Meek characters aren't arrogant, or revengeful, or "in your face" (which is something the modern teen has so few role models for). Where are the noble characters who have a sense of duty and sacrifice? Where are the loving characters who show respect for the person they love by not undressing them but by serving them and being there for them?
There is no publishing or government agency (at least not in the USA) that sets a bar for accountability of this kind. I'm not saying there should be. I do say that whatever we write, we are accountable for to society at large. Once you write and publish something, it's out there, and there's really no going back. Your words are powerful, and they will influence the thoughts of someone else. Thoughts lead to actions and expectations. If you're adding the worst and most profane vocabulary to your stories, those words will stick in readers' minds. Words like that have become more common now because they became more common in the media consumed by people. We creators helped in a large part to make it more acceptable. If you're illustrating through words scenes of passion or abuse, then those images will be in your readers' minds. And some readers are so impressionable that coming across something like that distresses them, and they can't get those images out of their heads. If you're choosing to take your readers through one violent action after another, they will become inured to that kind of horrible behavior. That doesn't always translate into action on their part (because the reader has the power of choice and accountability too), but you influenced them. If your aim is to shock, bend the rules, or push boundaries, you are accountable for the effect on reader's minds. It's lying to yourself to say that readers know what they are getting into, because there is no regulation on books and their contents to prewarn them.
To desensitize means to expose yourself or others to something so often that it no longer disturbs, jumps out at you/them, or is noticeable to you/them. The point I want to make, is that the person was sensitive to that certain thing originally. If you think of a child, pure and wholesome, and then life and the influencers around that child create a level of environment that either keeps those sensitive guardrails intact or tears them down. Why do we think that becoming a teenager and then an adult means we have to weaken ourselves by partaking of horrible or harmful things? Why is that a rite of passage? I'm glad that a person can choose to re-sensitize and step back from the sheer cliffs of "adult" material. The walk up the mountain of life really is nicer when you aren't on the edge or constantly stumbling down never-ending pathways of addiction to "adult" content. Things of an "adult" nature are designed to addict, and content creators always have the challenge of coming up with worse material to one-up the industry. It's a death spiral for one's moral compass and grip on reality.
I know, this is a shot in the dark, an echo chamber against the powerful new norm. I miss the days when there were more choices for consumers out there. When I could pick up a book even in the MG or YA section of the library, open and read it without having my inner guard up for the moment the story violates my sensitivity level. I haven't been to a movie in a very long time, and the last handful I went to were rather subpar kids' films. I've been re-reading the books I've bought rather than take a gamble on something new for a couple of years. And I'm kind of tired of watching the same older shows and movies because new content on TV turns me off from the preview. A few things have passed muster, but not much. If this narrowing of my options has taught me anything, it's that I need to be accountable for what I create and dish up to consumers. Am I wallowing in the dirt of the worst realities or am I showing paths to inspire better behavior, better societies, better choices, and better outcomes? Good can be a reality too, things that are light, clean, bright, wholesome, and focused more on moral character than outrageous attitude. I know it can, because I've lived with people who are wholesome - not perfect or without flaw - but who try to emulate the best possibilities and are encouraging. Hope thrives among them, self-sacrifice, patience, love, virtue, kindness, determination, and respect.
Art doesn't reflect the life I know. The chasm between them is impossible to ignore.
It's your choice as a writer, as a consumer. I'll not deny you that. But regardless of choice, there is accountability of one type or another. We can help to lift or drag down our society. What kind of world do you want to live in?
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