I had the exceptional good fortune to have been mentored by Gregory Allen Howard, the masterful storyteller who penned “Remember The Titans,” “Ali” and “Harriett.” If there was one cardinal rule Greg instilled in his many mentees, it was this: The art of good storytelling is not about what happened. What happened is plot, which is fundamental to story, but plot cannot engage an audience. Storytelling is about how the characters feel about what happened.
Stories speak to the human heart, to our humanity, through empathy. By empathizing with the characters, we come to understand the meaning behind the events that happened. Whether those events occurred in ancient Greece, in Nazareth, WWII or the Jim Crow South, by feeling what our characters feel, we come to understand the moral of the story. We develop an understanding heart.
In today’s climate of banned books and misguided attempts to ensure no one is made to “feel bad” or “guilty” for something that happened before they were born, we are missing the point entirely. It’s not altogether different from giving participation trophies so no one feels left out.
Empathy is developed through story. And empathy is a good thing! Lack of empathy is the hallmark of sociopaths. Are we really trying to raise a generation completely lacking in empathy? If so, we might as well let the computers take over the world, for they will soon be us.
Paula Iacampo, Bonita Springs