My Literary Kryptonite
The wife and I just finished both seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel -- a fantastic, fast-paced show, and another creation of Amy Sherman-Palladino, whom I knew only by reputation as the creator of Gilmore Girls (which neither of us has ever seen).
Anyway, the show reminded me of something I already know -- that is, my one storytelling kryptonite.
I mean, I've always had the ability to watch or read almost anything. Murder, torture, sexual violence, bloodshed, sad endings, none of that bothers me. As long as something is well-crafted and well-written, nothing actually forces me to leave the room or book. "Oh, Reek is actually Theon Greyjoy? La de da, moving along . . . "
As you may have guessed, though, Mrs. Maisel has my one exception in abundance: characters publicly embarrassing themselves. This is true. If someone does something utterly cringe-worthy and dorky in public, I just can't watch it -- when the nerd kid in About a Boy sings "Killing me Softly with His Song" for his mother at his grade school talent show, I almost died. And, in Mrs. Maisel, as you might expect, there's lots of times when Midge -- a would-be stand-up comic -- completely just bombs on stage in the most cringe-worthy embarrassing way possible. I. Just. Can't. Have to leave every time . . . I'll only come back when the wife tells me it's safe.
Anyway, the show reminded me of something I already know -- that is, my one storytelling kryptonite.
I mean, I've always had the ability to watch or read almost anything. Murder, torture, sexual violence, bloodshed, sad endings, none of that bothers me. As long as something is well-crafted and well-written, nothing actually forces me to leave the room or book. "Oh, Reek is actually Theon Greyjoy? La de da, moving along . . . "
As you may have guessed, though, Mrs. Maisel has my one exception in abundance: characters publicly embarrassing themselves. This is true. If someone does something utterly cringe-worthy and dorky in public, I just can't watch it -- when the nerd kid in About a Boy sings "Killing me Softly with His Song" for his mother at his grade school talent show, I almost died. And, in Mrs. Maisel, as you might expect, there's lots of times when Midge -- a would-be stand-up comic -- completely just bombs on stage in the most cringe-worthy embarrassing way possible. I. Just. Can't. Have to leave every time . . . I'll only come back when the wife tells me it's safe.
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