Sympathetic Characters or Not So Much by Jenn McKinlay

JENN McKINLAY: I recently read a book that was a debut novel last year. It sold thousands of copies and hit the bestseller lists, primarily because of the buzz it received on BookTok. I was excited to find a new author and bought it...only to discover that it was the WORST book I have ever read. To clarify it wasn't bad because of the writing but rather the characters or more accurately because of the lack of character in the characters.

This is a subjective opinion (clearly) and no I won't say the title or the author because that's not what this post is about. What hit me square in the face was the reality that "sympathetic" or "likable" characters as we once used to know them are gone, baby, gone. Now the unsympathetic character is not the same as the unreliable narrator. The reader knows going into it with an unreliable narrator that they're, well, unreliable. 

The unsympathetic or unlikable character is just that. A person who does things or makes decisions that are so thoughtless or mean or just bleck that you can't like them or forgive their transgressions. And it used to be that your editor would encourage you to find ways to make the protagonist likable because readers want to root for the hero or heroine and see that they had a character arc worth being invested in.

But here's the thing, judging by the immense popularity of recent books with awful protagonists, I'm thinking the unlikable character might not be as forbidden as it used to be. Naturally, I started to ponder why and when this changed.

Terrifying!

I looked at the different shows/media that have shaped the current readership  for the past twenty years and realized that "reality TV', which has gifted us with such gems as Dance Moms, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Bachelor, Survivor, and Love Island--to name just a few--have fine tuned diva moments, bad behavior, lying, cheating, fighting, and flouncing into high entertainment. 

Dance Moms - Eek!

It occurred to me that we're now writing for readers who think people behaving badly is normal -- and, yes, I know it's not just reality TV modeling the bad behavior. We've definitely become a country of self over community but that's another blog post entirely.

According to thestreet.com, reality TV boomed in 2007 ironically during a 99 day WGA writer's strike that allowed studios to create fresh content without relying on writers, establishing a foothold with Gen Z viewers that is going strong to this day. Is it any wonder then that the fiction which features incredibly unlikable or unsympathetic characters is suddenly hitting the top of the bestseller's lists? Nope, it isn't.

So, tell me, Reds and Readers, without naming titles or authors please, have you noticed that some of the most popular fiction features protagonists that are not sympathetic or likable? What other formats do you think have changed reader's expectations in fiction?

Reality TV, World War II, and Controversy

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: There’s a new reality TV show, an eight-part series called Holiday in the Protectorate, about life under Nazi rule in the Czech Republic airing now on Czech television.

This is not a joke.

If you don’t believe me — or just want a taste — a trailer (in English) may be viewed here. 

The show sends three generations of a present day Czech family back in time to the year 1942 and life under Nazi occupation, to recreate the circumstances in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia after the invasion of Germany. The family members are not professional actors, but the rest of the “cast” is, such as the Gestapo informers, who keep a close eye on the family.

The director, Zora Cejnkova, came up with the idea for the program, calling it “not just entertainment, but a kind of history lesson for all those who didn’t experience the period 76 years ago.” 

Critical reaction has been divided. While some people praise the show for its attention to historic detail and educational value, others have found much to criticize. A columnist for The Times of Israel wrote, “Fortunately, for the family, they will not be treated like the 82,309 Jews who lived in the protectorate” — who were deported to concentration and extermination camps. 

Lovely readers, I haven’t seen the show (if anyone can find it online, even without subtitles, please tell me), so I’m going to withhold comment. 

But I will say that my family and I have enjoyed many of the same sorts of shows from the BBC — 1940s House, about life in England during World War II; Manor House, an upstairs-downstairs view of the aristocracy and servants; and 1900 House, set in London during Victorian times.

There are U.S. versions “docu-tainment” shows as well — we just finished watching PBS’s Colonial House with Kiddo, who’s studying the build-up to the Revolutionary War. We all enjoyed it—and learned quite a bit.

Reds, what are your thoughts on these sorts of shows? And if you could choose produce a reality TV program highlighting a particular time and place, what would you choose? (Me? I’d go for Lower East Side of New York City at the turn of the 20th Century and call it Tenement House.)

RHYS BOWEN: I find that idea tasteless, since so many were persecuted and died. But I have enjoyed other reality shows sending people back in time. They had 1900s House, 1940s House set in London during the war, even Jane Austen house which was fun. I liked the American frontier one, although in each case I thought they chose the participants badly. These people had trouble adapting and did nothing but complain. Having grown up in an old unheated house in England I would have had no problem. 

But yes, Susan, a taste of the Lower East Side 1900 might be interesting, although I don't see how you could recreate the teeming masses. Ancient Rome, minus the gladiators?




HALLIE EPHRON: This question really stumped me. Maybe because I've never watched a reality show. Also because I'm devoted to my space and creature comforts. I remember reading Little House on the Prairie thinking how glad I was I didn't have to deal with what Laura Ingalls Wilder's family did. Or the stench and violence of Oliver Twist's London. 


LUCY BURDETTE: Can we spend just an hour or two somewhere instead of days or weeks? LOL I don't watch reality TV shows either, and I have to agree with Rhys — I do like the idea of making sure people don't forget what happened, but not sure this is the way...

Places I'd like to be for a couple of hours: My first thought was same as Hallie, Little House on the Prairie. But how about Gertrude Stein's Paris? That would be fascinating!


DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'd go for Gertrude Stein's Paris! But then, it might not be nearly as glamorous as we like to imagine... 

Marcia Talley set one of her Hannah Ives novels in a fictionalized version of Colonial House (based on a real historical house in Annapolis) and she did a great job of showing the difficulties of adjusting to life without modern conveniences—and showing that these programs deliberately pick people who whine and complain and can't adapt because it makes "drama."  I'd like them much better with cast who really tried to cope! 

I was fascinated by the guy who came and spoke to the North Texas Jane Austen Society. He wore full period clothing and explained the history and use of every item. Made me wish I was writing Regency books!


SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: My absolutely unscientific opinion is that the British on the various shows are better at "coping" than the U.S. casts, who are always trying to bend the rules and get away with things...


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Oh that is tantalizing! I certainly would love to be in Lady Georgie's world for a little while…the glamorous part, with heat and bathrooms at least. Or maybe in New York Society, in… The 30s? With the Stork Club and evening clothes and big bands and Broadway babies.

Do you know what would be really fun, though… To be transported to a Broadway musical. To be the lead in the Broadway musical, and know what it was like to practice and worry and have talent  and sing wonderful songs and have opening night. Well, perhaps that's A Chorus Line… :-)

And Susan, the show you mentioned… Not quite sure I would watch that…



JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Agreed, Hank, I'd love to see a reality show set in Lady Georgie's time — although the contrast between upstairs and downstairs, or Mayfair and the Isle of Dogs would have been appalling in the 1930s. Really, being rich is always nicer in any era, isn't it?

I loved the 1900 House, the Colonial House and the one set on the American frontier - can anyone recall the name of that program? [Julia, it was Frontier House — xxSusan] 1900 House was perhaps the most interesting, because it was just technologically advanced enough so that the modern-day participants didn't spend all their time just trying to heat water or get food. Instead, they had to deal with the subtle effects of the class and gender roles they were saddled with. I recall the Royal Marine father coming over quite the Pater familias, while the whole upstairs family began to treat their maid as a sort of domestic machine.

As for the Czech show, I suspect a better, more comprehensive and more tasteful way of educating the current generation on life under the Protectorate would be a good-quality miniseries or multi-part documentary.


SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Yes! The fathers in every era seem to become (even more) overbearing with their white male power and privilege, don't they? That seems to be a constant, regardless of era.

I was discussing this idea with Hubby (who is Black) and we decided the one show we could never do here in the U.S. is Plantation House — although he brought up the interesting idea of having African Americans in the roles of plantation wonders and European Americans in the role of the slaves....

Lovely readers, what are your thoughts on Holiday in the Protectorate? Have you watched any of the historical reality TV shows we're talking about? Is there any era you'd like to go back to? Please tell us in the comments!

Trashy Reality Show Addicts, Unite! a guest post by Tammy Kaehler.

JULIA SPENCER FLEMING: We here at JRW like Tammy Kaehler. I gave an enthusiastic blurb for her first Kate Reilly racing mystery, DEAD MAN'S SWITCH, and Hank called the second book in the series, BREAKING POINTS, "A high-octane mystery that'll keep you turning pages at top speed." 

So we thought we'd check in on Tammy, since BREAKING POINTS was launched this week. Was she touring throughout her native California? Behind the wheel, reporting for the Sports Car Club of America? Signing books until her hand cramped? (Yes.)

Turns out she was thinking about reality TV...




Confessing My Reality TV Addiction

Hello, my name is Tammy Kaehler, and I’m addicted to trashy reality television shows.

I hear you all chorusing a virtual response, thank you.

Truthfully, “addicted” might be a strong word (though isn’t denial the first sign of a problem?). I can go days at a time without watching them, it’s true (unlike books, which I can’t do without for even 24 hours, but that’s another post). But I’ll admit to a well-stocked DVR and to reality shows being my first choice when I allow myself unfettered (and unaccompanied) television time.

But I discovered there’s a good reason for my addiction fondness for them: social comparison theory, in which social psychologist Leon Festinger posited that we compare ourselves to others to evaluate our personal and social self-worth.

That seems like a blinding case of the obvious, right? (No offense to Leon.)

Doing a little digging around (thank you, Wikipedia), I learned that upward social comparison can provide inspiration to improve oneself—unless we’re comparing ourselves to the relentless depiction of the ideal in the media and feeling unequal (not as pretty as Diane Kruger, not as thin as Angelina Jolie, not as anything as Charlize Theron). In that case, the comparison can be damaging to one’s self-esteem.

Downward social comparison, when we look at those who are worse off, can be similarly positive and negative. While active downward comparison can be bad, if we’re actively denigrating others, passive downward comparison can make us feel superior or better about ourselves.

Which brings me back to reality television. Because after enough hours of this kind of intelligence-challenged television programming, I rationalized figured out why I enjoy these shows so much. 

 

First of all, after long days of managing people and projects at my day job, then writing, blogging, tweeting, facebooking, pinteresting, and answering e-mail at home for my author job … sometimes my brain needs a break. I need an absolute lack of thought, plot, and written words. I crave entertainment with zero redeeming value. (You gotta have highs and lows, am I right?)

Second, I watch some (not all) reality shows because I’m entertained by the people and stunned by what they do that I won’t (spend $20,000 on a wedding dress?). I never expect people to be as bitchy, controlling, over-the-top, or downright mean as they are on these shows—but I need to be able to write about all kinds of people, not just the people I meet, know, and expect. Tah-dah! That makes watching reality television into research!

 

But mostly, I watch them to be comforted by the knowledge that I’m nowhere near as terrible, hypocritical, or deluded as they are. Downward social comparison at work.

And if you scoff or look down your nose at me … realize what I’m doing for you: I’m giving you your own opportunity for downward social comparison! You can feel smug and validated that at least you’re not like that poor little author out there in Southern California who has to turn to “Say Yes to the Dress” or “Dance Moms” for validation.

But it’s cool. I own it. I love those shows, as well as “The Millionaire Matchmaker” and “What Not to Wear”—though I draw the line at one episode of “Toddlers and Tiaras” a month. 

 

So now that I’ve bared all, do you have your own true confessions? Guilty pleasures? (Is there a real psychologist out there to tell me I got social comparison theory all wrong?) I've got a copy of my brand-new Kate Reilly racing mystery, BREAKING POINTS, for one of you!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some dresses to go say yes to….

 When she's not "saying yes to the dress," you can find Tammy at her website and at three different blogs: From the Pits, Two for the Road and the Poisoned Pen Press. You can friend her on Facebook, catch her reviews at Goodreads and follow her on Twitter as @tkaehler.

On Reading with Robin

Jan: I first met Robin Kall when I was working on A Confidential Source, and I needed some background on talk radio. Robin got me into the studio at WHJJ, introduced me to Rhode Island's celebrity talk show hosts and then not much later, wound up with her own talk radio show. Now, her show has been on 920AM WHJJ for almost NINE years. Even at the early hour of 7 to 8 a.m. Saturday mornings, it's still one of the state's top rated talk shows, and it lives streams at www.920whjj.com.

Robin now authors a "Well-Read" column every Tuesday on www.golocalprov.com in the lifestyles section, where she suggests book titles and takes on all sorts of topics like book clubs, book lending, e-books, and summer reading. As far as I'm concerned, she will always be the LAST WORD on reading.

I asked her just how many books publishers and publicists send her and whether it ever becomes a burden?

ROBIN: I receive about twenty books a week between what comes to the station and to my home. And burden?? Never. It's so much fun to open those cardboard mailers from the publishers to see what's inside.

JAN: How do you choose which book to talk about or review?

ROBIN: If something looks interesting - for example, if it's a debut novel, and it's a reputable publisher, or if it has blurbs from authors I like, or if its a compelling non-fiction topic, something new and relevant - I will consider it for the program even when I'm booked. Usually, though, the program is already filled with interviews of author of books I've requested. As I only have the one hour a week sometimes it's impossible to review all of the books I'm interested in.

To handle some of the overflow -- books I like but can't fit into the radio program -- I will sometimes tape a segment during the week and put it up on my site. The site gets lots of hits, so as much as I enjoy a live interview on a saturday morning, the web site is another place to showcase the authors that I want to share with my audience. (plus no commercials!)

JAN: From your perspective, what's the craziest thing about the book biz?

ROBIN: It still amazes me when certain titles are sent to me. Books I rarely feature on my show, sports-oriented books, or politics, war books, big international spy thrillers. It's obvious that they are being sent out blind which is shocking at a time when we're hearing about how tough the business is and the ways that the publishers are cutting costs. These books are often the ones that come Fed Ex.I think I just found a way for the industry to save some money. Regular mail. Book rate even!

JAN: Recently Robin, you interviewed people to find out why they read: What was the answer?

ROBIN: Pure entertainment. people want to sit down with a great book and be totally immersed in its story. I did get a few of those 'escape into someone else's life for a bit' answers, but for the most part people enjoy their favorite books for the page-turning fun!

JAN: After hosting a reading radio program for nine years, why do you think people continue to read when they could be watching movies or YOUTUBE or reality TV all day long?

ROBIN: Good point. there are so many ways we can distract ourselves and still those same 24 hours in each day. With all of these other things competing for our time, and the list continuing to grow, I think people who enjoy reading will only put up with youtube,reality tv to keep current. It's not where they will turn for the most part. I place movie in another category. I've found that readers are usually movie watchers.(good movies.)

JAN: From your show, do you notice any trends in reading?

ROBIN:It seems like every book I read has dust motes in it. And some character is always padding down the hall for a steaming mug of coffee. And there's been an awful lot of books with Tiger in the title. Tiger Mom, Tiger Woods/Swinger. Tiger Wife. Tiger, Tiger. Or every book title is about someone's daughter, or someone's keeper, or someone's wife.

In terms of the big e-reader trend, I haven't joined in yet, but of course we cannot ignore its popularity. Many of the book people I know are using them in conjunction with not instead of books. Recently, my aunt noted that riding on the train with her e-reader there was nowhere to place her train stub...not something i would have thought of, but books serve so many purposes!

JAN: Do you think people read more in the summer and why?

ROBIN: There is so much talk about 'summer reading' and I'm not certain there is really more reading going on in the summer. it might be a marketing thing...the long lazy days of summer in this 24/7 world of ours might at this point be folklore, but I like to think of summer reading as a state of mind. when a chunk of time is set aside to simply derive pleasure from turning the pages one after the other with not so much as glancing at a clock. if done at beach,in hammock or that type of setting even better!

Check out Robin's website at www.readingwithrobin.com

And come back tomorrow when guest bloggers and private eyes, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman explain how to find important clues in the trash.

By Colleen Collins & Shaun Kaufman