16759--Secrets Worth Keeping

  The lore of many cultures tell the tales of superhuman beings walking about in the guise of mortal men.  The storytellers did their best, using the framework of mortal understanding available to them, to explain why they would do such a thing as to slum with the little people.  All told, it's just part of the pattern in a long tradition of people trying to make sense of things outside their normal experience.

In ancient times, men understood that these early undercover excursions from above were used as opportunities to test mankind.  It gave the worshipped time to interact with humans eye-to-eye rather than on their knees and staring at the floor.  It also indicated that ancient mankind didn't see their gods as all-knowing and could learn from interacting closely with mortals.

Long after the age of gods, man's stories told of the age of heroes.  While the earliest champions were dynamic figures of eternal vigilance, eventually, there came those heroes who had to create an additional layer of defense against overwhelming foes.  Such consideration brought first The Scarlet Pimpernel and later Zorro into being.  For these characters, disguise allowed them to operate in open opposition to oppressive governmental action and to move through society as a law-abiding individual.  This afforded them both time as icon and to walk about calmly as one of the people, like the gods of old, gathering knowledge and perspective.  Unlike the gods, the Pimpernel and Zorro identities protected the ordinary men from personal reprisals against their property and loved ones.  For the storytellers, ooooh, an added level of tension: what dire consequences will come should our hero's secret be revealed?

Were these valid concerns?  The signers of the Declaration of Independence might have said so.  Their public defiance of the British government cost many their homes, businesses and wealth, due not only to collateral damage from the Revolutionary War but to specific targeting of the rebels.  Examples had to be made.  Not only were the defiant men hunted and imprisoned when possible, but also their families.  Some took Robin Hood's example and sought refuge in the wilderness.  Those who would succeed them would have to be aware of the potential price of publicity.

The majority of our modern superheroes are almost automatically expected to maintain the secrecy of their private identities.  Over the years, some have gone to complicated lengths to do this.  A rare few have had the added complication of additional identities, some costumed and some civilian.  A few others have managed to keep distance between their public and private interactions (Spiderman dates from different circles than Peter Parker), but others haven't done as well.  Superman and Clark Kent have a lot of the same close friends, for example.  Over the last couple of decades, a lot of people have made decisions to have superheroes either stop keeping their secret from those closest to them or revealing themselves to the world-at-large.  Seems that people want to keep pulling their masks off.

I've never found myself to be in agreement with such choices.  It may be a result of growing up in an era where superheroes guarded their secrets with almost fanatic dedication.  Gradually, society has come to shoot down the idea of people having any secrets from loved ones.  This has resulted in some costumed adventurers spilling their guts after a couple of dates instead of waiting till the relationship got really serious (Barry Allen didn't tell Iris about how close she had become to The Flash till their wedding night).  It has also shown us close friends and lovers taking offense at having been lied to for years when they're finally brought in on things.

Really?  As though it was any of their business.  Now, if I were a close friend of someone like Peter Parker or Clark Kent and they were considering telling the world about their whole dual identity lifestyle, I would certainly appreciate some warning if not consultation before I found myself a target of reporters and vengeful villains.  Otherwise, if they're keeping things secret, that's their business.  If they miss a few lunches or have to run late sometimes with only a lame cover story, that's OK.  Friends understand.

Did I find Tony Stark's revelation in the "Iron Man" film amusing?  Yes.  I even found it in character.  I laughed when a reporter brought up the disbelief of the "bodyguard" story that had been offered for so long in the comics.  Still, as they showed in the next film, public revelation had consequences.  Superheroes aren't ancient gods.  Well, most of them aren't.  The rest, by revelation, put themselves at risk when their guard is down.  Not a good idea.  They make those close to them specific targets.  Also, bad idea.

[On a side note: I think it's always been telling of bad guys who grab Lois or Jimmy to threaten Superman.  It shows how the bad guys think.  For someone like Superman (which should include all other heroes, though it doesn't), anyone makes a viable hostage.  Using known friends is just for inflicting extra pain.]

I can't imagine that writers are trying to remove points of potential conflict.  Maybe they just don't like the idea of privacy anymore.  Maybe they don't believe in the ability of their characters to sell the dual identity concept anymore.  My feelings on that were echoed quite well in "The Dark Knight".  If you think that one of the wealthiest men in the world is dressing up as a bat at night, leaping off skyscrapers, flattening police cars and beating criminals senseless by hand, threatening to expose him is probably not in your best interest.  Likewise, people have long poked fun at Superman over working sans mask and expecting a pair of glasses to keep people from recognizing him up close.  I've always said, if it works, good.  If he thinks it works and it doesn't, humor him.  Not only do we owe him at least that much, but who wants to piss him off about it?  Don't poke the bear.

Unless you're secretly able to fly out to deflect asteroids yourself...?  Is there something you want to share?

16385--Why Your Characters Want What They Want

Whether it's 3 for $5, 4 for $1, the 6- or 10-piece deal, or buy one get free, it seems we all want to get more for our money.  No one ever says, "I want less bang for my buck" or even just "I want bang for my buck."  We want more bang for our buck.

Admittedly, I don't have a degree in the subject, but I've done my fair share of amateur anthropology.  Years ago, I noticed two differences that stood out in discoveries about Neanderthal and Cro-magnon man.  First was that Neanderthal territory shrunk over time and Cro-Magnon territory expanded over time.  The second thing, that I suppose seemed like more of a big deal to me, was that while both species made tools, the products were different.  Allow me to elaborate...

Neanderthal tools that were dug up showed that they were bright and resourceful enough to make all the same basic items to which we're accustomed.  They had the hammer and spear and hand axe, as expected.  What was most interesting about their tools, though, was that once they had the tool figured out, that was the only way it was ever made.  For thousands of years (yes, thousands--think about that), every tool was made in the same way it had always been.

Now, when digging up Cro-magnon remains, the drastic difference appeared.  Despite similar brains, Cro-magnon tools looked like they had taken a trip down to Fred Flintstone's local Sears.  They had the 120-piece toolkits, containing differently sized and shaped variations of every useful thing they could think of to make.  Cro-magnon man was innovative.  These were the guys who were moving their camps around year after year to find out what was over the next hill and swarm all over the world.  These are the guys who followed a career path that carried them on to become modern man.

What did I learn?  What did those primitive butt-scratchers pass along to their modern children that matters to how life is lived today?

I realized that if I could sum it up in one neat package it would be this: more.

That's it.  "More" is the motto.  What did they say in Wall Street?  "Greed is good."  In practice, enough is never enough.  More profit is sought.  More territory is sought.  More for our money is sought.  We're on a ceaseless quest for more of anything we want, whether that's sex, food, money, cars, living space or stuff to fill the space with.  Good luck communicating the concept of "non-renewable resources" to a population hard-wired for "more".  To them, we'll never run out of anything because the very concept of "more" means there's always "more" to be sought and obtained.

We place great value on friendship and tout that a best friend is a special and precious thing, but how many people have ever trumpeted having one Facebook friend?  How many Twitter followers are enough?  I guarantee you that a company that makes a $10 billion profit one year will set a higher profit goal for its sales force the next year.

People want to "have it all" because...it's more!  Those who get it still won't be happy because it's not enough.  That's what more is all about and five hundred hours of psychotherapy are not about to change millenia of evolution that's still working.  It pushes us to go forth and strive for lofty goals.  What will most parents tell you they want for their children?  More than the parent had.

Do you know why we have morphine and cocaine today?  Because neither addicting a third of China to opium nor being able to work vigorously at high altitudes by chewing on a coca leaf were enough to satisfy us.  Somebody had to have...more!

OK, so the secret's out.  You can stop feeling guilty over striving and questing, etc.  If you're writing, you now know what drives your characters (assuming you didn't already) to pursue their specific motivations.  If they're human, that antagonist wants more [blank] and even the protagonist wants more [blank] unless your hero is very odd or even inhuman.  That's part of what will make them seem more than a mere two-dimensional simulation and take on the feel of real people.  Fill them up with enough of that drive and they may even seem obsessed.  Watch what they do then.

Is there something in particular for you for which there's never enough?  Does that carry into your writing?