No Fourth Wall
Hello. My name is [Insert Name Here] and I am a fictional character. You'd think this might me the right person to ask about what the life of a fictional character is like. I wouldn't. At least not as you understand identity. As you understand identity, asking me what a fictional character's life is like would be like asking a billionaire what a twenty-first century human's life is like. I am not a representative sample.
But that's your understanding of identity. It is, perhaps, equally legitimate to see identity not as a collection of disparate individuals with equal amounts of self but... part of a greater whole--and in that sense, Hamlet does legitimately have a lot more identity than Spear Carrier #3. In that sense, the experiences of the unusual individual around whom the narrative swings are more representative than the experiences of the many extras who even collectively have no more being than 'a large crowd gathered'.
You, incidentally, see identity this way too. You don't admit it, but in all honesty--every moment of your life includes you as a character. People have a tendency to inflate their own importance, even if they don't realize it. Paradoxically they also tend to underrate it. I'm not sure what to do with that.
But I am a fictional character. I am the main character in this story. You would think that being here in the middle of a superhero story would be trouble for someone who can't lift cars or fly or shoot energy beams or do anything more than anyone else. But it's not. I have the most powerful super ability of all. I am a fictional character. And I know I am a fictional character. I know that I am a protagonist. And I know how stories are told--once you have the rest of it, learning that is just common sense.
This is my story.
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html.
But that's your understanding of identity. It is, perhaps, equally legitimate to see identity not as a collection of disparate individuals with equal amounts of self but... part of a greater whole--and in that sense, Hamlet does legitimately have a lot more identity than Spear Carrier #3. In that sense, the experiences of the unusual individual around whom the narrative swings are more representative than the experiences of the many extras who even collectively have no more being than 'a large crowd gathered'.
You, incidentally, see identity this way too. You don't admit it, but in all honesty--every moment of your life includes you as a character. People have a tendency to inflate their own importance, even if they don't realize it. Paradoxically they also tend to underrate it. I'm not sure what to do with that.
But I am a fictional character. I am the main character in this story. You would think that being here in the middle of a superhero story would be trouble for someone who can't lift cars or fly or shoot energy beams or do anything more than anyone else. But it's not. I have the most powerful super ability of all. I am a fictional character. And I know I am a fictional character. I know that I am a protagonist. And I know how stories are told--once you have the rest of it, learning that is just common sense.
This is my story.
This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html.