đ #213 - Resisting Toxic Normalcy
Who gets to decide what normal is?
Any idea of the normal currently in circulation is not an accurate map of what is customary for a human to be. We are â each one of us â far more compulsive, anxious, sexual, tender, mean, generous, playful, thoughtful, dazed, and at sea than we are encouraged to accept.
âAlain de Botton
Maria Popova looks at Alain de Bottonâs explanation of toxic normalcy, the idea that itâs a myth to think that there is a specific, single way to live a good life. A.R. Moxon looks at another strain of this conversation: the revulsion some people have to being called âweird,â and their need to assert âWe are The Normal Ones.â Moxon points out a distinction between âthose who celebrate weirdness and those who would eradicate weirdness.â
But are storytellers internalizing this message, even unintentionally? Are they self-editing out what they see as too far from âthe norm,â or running into gatekeepers unable to see the value in a unique story? For example, Priya Sridhar examines Pete Docterâs statements that Pixar movies like Turning Red and Elemental were not films with âclear mass appeal,â and that the studio is pivoting because their movies âshould be less a pursuit of any directorâs catharsis and instead speak to a commonality of experience.â
Lincoln Michel sees toxic normalcy in authors striving to make characters likable instead of allowing them to be weird and/or unlikeable:
A character who is somehow at odds with society feels more alive than one who is fitting in swimmingly. Their viewpoint is unique because it is off-kilter from everyone elseâs.
This urge to conform to a consensus view includes criticism and fandom, like how Freddie deBoer tackles the frequently regurgitated argument that Max isnât the main character of Fury Road.
Consider the kind of storytelling that can happen when storytellers give permission to let their unique perspective out:
Evasive discusses Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, a documentary about the making of a documentary about the making of a short film (that the actors donât know is a fake film).
Bryan Young unpacks the structure and influences of WandaVision, a show fusing the history of TV sitcoms with superhero stakes.
Screenprism breaks down the storytelling and production techniques that made Legion a unique show about the internal trauma and delusions of a psychic mutant in a way that explodes the standard heroic origin story.
Cinema Tyler delves into H.R. Gigerâs contributions to Alien, and its haunting atmosphere.
Thomas Flight looks for answers to a question so many have asked: Why are David Lynch movies so weird?
Itâs tempting to sand down the rough edges to seem more palatable. To try and predict what would be popular instead of pursuing whatâs interesting. To take the opinions of the gatekeepers and naysayers to heart.
Itâs harder to hold on to the idea that the umbrella of normal covers a wide variety of human experience and thought, and that there are many more types of experience that can be relatable, worthy of focus, and popular.
Itâs harder, but itâs true.
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