Unpacking the stories that shape us

Stories: Can You See Your Reflection Yet?

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Everyone loves a good story. We tell them around campfires and dinner tables. We read them. We watch them. We stream them. Even our kids can’t seem to fall asleep without diving into one last bedtime tale. Stories are part of a precious group of experiences that are just uniquely human. For thousands of years, people from every conceivable culture have woven their own myths and legends. From Gilgamesh to Neo. From Aphrodite to Wonder Woman. The need for stories runs deep within all of us.

 

The reason we are so drawn to the telling of stories is because they help us make sense of the world around us.  The world is a mess of complicated, conflicting ideas and passions. But stories have a way of cutting through this chaos and speaking directly to our hearts. They can distill values, reveal emotional truths, and they offer a portal to points of view that we could not otherwise see. Whether we realize it or not, our souls long for stories.

 

The proof of this can be found not only in their ubiquity throughout history but in their proliferation through our lives today. Be honest, none of us are in short supply of stories to digest—particularly stories to watch. Between Netflix, Prime, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube and… I don’t know, Quibi?… we can rest assured that through streaming services alone we will always have a new story to draw us in. But in our age of plenty, it’s easy—even natural—to bounce from one story to the next without really looking at it. And this “looking” is beautiful and important. Because the stories that we choose to tell—they are like a mirror offering us a glimpse back at ourselves and our communities. And if we dare to look long enough they can reveal a lot, sometimes more than we’d like to admit.

Screens vs Books

Now this may all be starting to sound a little highfalutin. You may be thinking, “Hold on a second, Harmon. I don’t really engage with the kind of fancy stories you’re talking about here. I’m more of a space robots and caped crusader kind of guy. When I want to seriously look at a story, I’ll pick up a book. And what do you mean by ‘looking’ anyway? And, did you really just use the word highfalutin?”

 

I did…

 

And I hear you. The idea of “digging into the text of a story” does feel rather bookish in nature. On the Story Family Tree, books feel like the smart older sibling. Movies (and certainly TV) feel more fun and relaxed. Unfortunately, this premise has led to a bit of a stigma regarding screen-stories. Book-stories are suppose to be thoughtful, deep and complex, while screen-stories are for those who want to unplug and check-out.

 

Now as with any stereotype, there is some truth to this. Reading requires the viewer to actively participate by physically powering the information intake. If you check out while reading a book, the story literally stops. You’re either totally engaged in the story or you’re not. Screen-stories on the other hand, offer the viewer the option of not fully committing to the story. If you check out for a minute or two, the story keeps going without you.

 

This can be annoying if you nod off accidentally. But more commonly this feature is used deliberately for people to multitask while taking in a screen story. You can do the laundry, scroll your instagram feed or put together that new IKEA shelf-thing, all while still theoretically watching your favorite show. Now I’m not here necessarily to deride this form of screen watching. It can be a fun way to pass the time and brighten up any number of monotonous activities. But it does subtlety continue to stoke the flames of the idea that screen stories are for passive enjoyment while the life changing stories are in books.

 

Like many people, I don’t read books as much as I wish I did. Perhaps because of a mild case of undiagnosed dyslexia, my reading speed isn’t exactly stellar. If looking for a comparison, the DMV sloth from Zootopia would likely finish telling a knock-knock joke before I got through the paragraph you’re reading now. So while I truly love a good book, this little hurdle has enviably drawn me to absorb more of my stories through the vehicles of film and television. And as many of you know, when you take the time to really ”look” at the stories being told here, many of them here are as rich with meaning as any New York Times best seller.

Daring to Look Deeper

It is toward this idea of “looking” that this blog is most concerned. Not reviewing or critiquing, but instead seeking to uncover the riches of meaning in our favorite stories by simply looking at them with enough intention to see beyond the surface.

 

There is perhaps no question I dread more when exiting a movie theater than, “So, did you like it?” Boiling a story down to a simple thumbs up or down is not only difficult for me to do, it also limits my ability to see the story for all it is and all it has to offer. Most stories are both good and bad. Certain elements will succeed in touching us while others will fail. And while more successes certainly will led to a better story, taking the time to look at why these moments resonated with us (as well as, why others did not) can lead us to a more powerful understanding of ourselves and the communities that we live in. This is the ultimate power of storytelling.

 

It will surprise no one to learn that I am obsessed with stories. I’ve always loved the twisting plots, sometimes a fantastical setting, and most of all I adore deeply compelling characters. But over the last decade I’ve become increasingly fascinated with how and why we tell stories. Especially the ones we watch. But with so much to watch in today’s new streaming landscape, it’s easy to brush over the beauty found in the why and the how of the stories we love. This blog is a place where once a week we stop and breathe in the richness of our favorite stories. No reviews. No hot takes. Just a look into that mysterious story-shaped mirror.

 

It won’t be as highfalutin as you think.

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