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A major character was gunned down mercilessly. It hit me. I had grown to like that person ... yes, person.
Should we feel guilty for feeling bad at the death of a fictional character?
If you’re like me, you know they really haven’t died.
No, they’ve been Loved Into Being, just like that velveteen rabbit in the children’s story, gaining So Not Dead status and going on to further adventures and greater glories.
Living on in our hearts.
When an actor puts his/her heart and soul, along with keen intelligence, into creating a character, flawed and very much human, yet still someone we can love and admire and respect --
how can we not feel moved at the very thought of losing them, never mind watching it unfold onscreen before us ?
Yes, our hearts break a bit. We are sad. It is what makes us human.
What fictional character's death upset you the most?
Lennie from OF MICE AND MEN or was it George who would have to live with what he had done?
Or was it Lil Ann and Ole' Dan from WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS?
Sirius Black?
Myself? I don't cry when Spock dies in WRATH OF KHAN.
I tear up at the funeral scene, right around when Kirk's voice cracks when he says "of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human."
(I read in the "trades" that Leonard Nimoy would only make KHAN if Spock died, so I "knew" this was the end for that character --
as it turned out, Nimoy had so much fun making KHAN that he wanted to do another. Go figure, right?)
Speaking of HARRY POTTER: Every mirror is the Mirror of Erised for George.
Our own memories are actually fictions: we filter what we recall consciously and unconsciously.
Yet we feel true emotions mulling over our memories, so why should we not feel emotion over fictions that seem real?
Again what fictional deaths got to you?
I was so happy when pennywise the clown got his just rewards :-)
ReplyDeleteMark cracks me up...
ReplyDeleteFunny how we can grow attached to a character who isn't even real.
As I had to kill off one of my main characters, I'd say that death was the most difficult.
Mark:
ReplyDeleteAs Alex says: you crack me up. :-)
Alex:
If you have written your character well, you have drawn from your spirit to do so. Killing that character is then truly difficult.
Thanks for visiting and chatting. :-)
I usually avoid movies and books that I might call 'tearjerkers'. I don't like to be depressed by what I'm reading.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I didn't like 'The Road', it was true to its nature but had nothing to give me hope at the end of the story. I have read no more of his books since I disliked that one.
A character that follows his heart will always be my favorite type to read about.
PS - mentioned your site on Sylvia Ney's blog today. She was asking for other good sites for writing info.
ReplyDeleteHm, I can't think of any off the top of my head (everything flies out when I have to come up with examples :P). But all the examples you give are definite tear-jerkers. I think the stories would suffer a lot if the deaths didn't occur. There's something about the finality that creates a powerful resonance with people.
ReplyDeleteD.G.:
ReplyDeleteLike you, I stay away from books that I know end tragically. I skimmed through OF MICE AND MEN for my college studies since I knew how it ended.
Thanks for mentioning me on Sylvia Nye's site. I just dragged in but I will visit her. :-)
J E:
Death adds realism to novels. I just stay away from those since I have had so much grief in my life that paying money to feel badly just seems like a poor use of my money! :-)