August 1, 2014
The Scourge of “Relatability”

newyorker:

image

What are the qualities that make a work “relatable,” and why have these qualities come to be so highly valued? Rebecca Mead writes: http://nyr.kr/1tCReIz

“The concept of identification implies that the reader or viewer is, to some degree at least, actively engaged with the work in question: she is thinking herself into the experience of the characters on the page or screen or stage.

But to demand that a work be ‘relatable’ expresses a different expectation: that the work itself be somehow accommodating to, or reflective of, the experience of the reader or viewer.”

Photograph by Alex Majoli/Magnum.

I relate to this.

(Source: newyorker.com, via newyorker)

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    Things to consider when creating/consuming.
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    I like relatable characters - they make me feel cozy and reassured. But the best stories I’ve come across were...
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