No Pity for Myself

“A tragedy is the imitation of an action which not by means of narration, but by means of pity and fear, serves to effect the purification of these and similar persons.”
Aristotle, Poetics.

The main theme of Lessing’s essay, “Aristotle and Tragedy,” is defining what Aristotle meant by the statement above, how tragedy (meaning drama, not a tragic event) should evoke pity and fear and would purify the passions, or as I would categorize them – emotions. Lessing discusses the popular translation that the depiction of a character enduring tragic events, even if he is villainous, creates in the viewer pity for the character. This feeling is intertwined with fear, as the viewer is afraid they may face the same fate some day. Both require certain sympathy for the character that I would say goes beyond just humanitarianism – sympathy because we are all human.

I agree with the statement, by the popular translation. For a fictional tragic story to work – in film, TV, or books – I will view it with pity and some fear. The closer I relate to the characters, the more powerful those feelings become. I think those feelings, based on identifying with characters, are what determine our favorite stories. We all have books, movies, and TV shows that we like more than they really deserve, stories that by the quality of their telling aren’t great, but they become personal favorites. The film The Greatest Story Ever Told isn’t the greatest movie ever made. My personal favorite, when it comes to tragedy, is the film Shadowlands. I realize by critique of filmmaking, I’d give it 3 ½ stars. But personally, no other film has affected me so greatly, even affecting my beliefs and behavior.

The reason for my personal favorite becoming such an influence in my life is because I relate to the depiction of C. S. Lewis so well. It is based on a true story, which makes it more powerful, but it isn’t necessary for the film to still be effective. There are fictional elements to it. What’s most interesting is that, while it includes some of Lewis’s words, it is based on a stage play by William Nicholson, someone who observed Lewis’s words and his life to depict the author in such a way as he did not necessarily see of himself. From Lewis’s autobiography and his writings I think it a very good depiction. The film portrays a man who lives a scholar’s life at Oxford, surrounded by academic men, books, and boys who learn in awe from a well-known author. He is taken aback when a woman enters his life. He isn’t sure what to say, which astounds those who know him for only asking questions to which he already has the answers. When the relationship ends with her death he doesn’t know what to do. Those lessons he had taught to students, colleagues and the public at large are tested by the experience of suffering. Accepting the theory that stories, to become great in our own estimates, should have characters we identify, it should not surprise me that great stories become fewer as I get older. Movies and TV are definitely not written for people over forty, or who have developed mentally beyond eighteen. Beyond that, all the modern categories of stories – including books, magazines, TV, film, theater, even music to some extent – have little to offer me, or anyone who is an individual who knows themselves well. I no longer define myself by those entertainments, as I may have in youth, as is perpetuated by MySpace, Facebook, and a host of other sites that encourage you to categorize yourself by pop culture. I define my entertainment by who I am, not the other way around.

I am a single white male, age 41, never married, no children, Christian, English major who studies literature and tries to write it, lower middle income, lives in the Midwest, seldom drinks alcohol, doesn’t drive a pickup or 4X4, dislikes materialism but defends capitalism, works in an office with 37 women and 1 other man, a kidney recipient, and disabled. That’s a quick summary of most of the important aspects of myself. With this forming my point-of-view, there’s not a lot of entertainment I view as great. That’s not to say there isn’t good entertainment, or well-made entertainment, but that is to say it won’t greatly affect me. It shouldn’t. It is one of my conflicts that while I try to build a career in entertainment, I also downplay its importance.

P.S. Seeing that there is little in the world, as portrayed in the media, that I relate to can make me feel I’m the only one. Continuing to attempt publishing, and finding some success, getting some responses, makes me realize I’m not the only one. Therefore, there is an audience for such work, who doesn’t find much of it. There is potential, not for popularity, but for success.