What kinds of “real world” stories stand out most to us? This is ironically one of those questions that’s been pestering me for a long time. Seriously, why do we care? Whenever I hear a story like “the child with two heads” or “the man who climbed Mount Everest,” I get really intrigued. But then I wonder why. My theory (and I can probably speak for many people) is that the stories or events that people just can’t get out of their minds are the ones that are simply rare. How often do we hear about a fifteen year old graduating college? Almost never! Most college students are somewhere around twenty years old- nowhere near as young as fifteen. And that’s why it’s so fascinating.
The average, mundane stories are easily forgotten. “Do you remember that one time when you saw a red car on the way to school?” Uh…not likely. Why? Because on any given day, I probably see ten to fifteen red cars. They’re everywhere. Now, if the scenario were to be changed to, “remember that one time when you saw a giant red piano in the street on the way to school?” then the chances of it standing out to people are much more probable because that just doesn’t usually happen.
The stories that stand out also depend on the person they’re being told to. It’s people’s different experiences with life that also determine a story’s “wow factor.” The story about seeing the red car, for instance, would probably seem unbelievable to someone living in a developing country where they rarely see cars. But in a city like Chicago, you can’t walk two blocks without dodging fast-moving vehicles.
A story is what people make of it. If it seems too good to be true, or just plain rare, chances are that it will draw a lot of attention.
I really liked your point of view on this one topic Jessie, especially our point on rare stories. We covered the same question but the reason I believe we remember stories is wether they hit home, the level of connection to it, it's tangibility. Now that I've read your post however, I also realize that the rareity of a story is also a great tactic to draw people in. I myself am drawn to weird, rare stories like a mutant snake with two heads or a child who's eyes can see in the dark. It's fun to share these with other people too- being the role of storyteller and getting good reactions is fun, and it helps us internalize the story even more. News is all about the reaction of the public, and some of the the best reactions come from oddities!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that stories are written or movies are made about interesting scenarios, not about what we expect to see on a daily basis. My question is, are you saying that documentaries are created to record interesting real-life stories? I would think so. I find that most people are interested in hearing the unordinary but true stories. I wrote my blog about how I think documentaries are created to shed new light and perhaps alter opinions about the things that are documented. Perhaps shedding new light on or dissecting in detail certain topics can make them seem more fascinating. Then again, like you mentioned, what is considered interesting varies from person to person. And from reading your blog post, I'm starting to think that documentaries attempt to make stories (even if the seem like plain every-day ones to some) more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI agree that you made an interesting point about point-of-view, Jessie. This might explain why something that seems common to people in Afghanistan, for example, might be shocking to us, and vice-versa.
ReplyDeleteHere's my suggestion: can you open with a somewhat developed and specific example? This could be a great way of pulling your reader in more effectively.