I have come to evaluate novels differently. A good author can get me involved with a story without including violence. Most of the real drama in the human condition does not involve beatings, rapes, stabbings, gunfire, etc.

That’s my view.

And that contrast led to something else: people freaking out over the supposed demonic influence of Harry Potter because they couldn’t tell the difference between real life and enjoying a work of fiction.  And it occurred to me that those same people think that video games cause violence and that “Left Behind” describes real future events.  It’s one thing to cheer when Batman conks a criminal; another thing entirely to cheer someone being Tased because they were unruly or to shrug and say; “Well they shouldn’t come here” when an immigrant drowns.

In other words, when two people cheer a violent moment in a fictional story, and one knows it’s fiction and the other thinks it’s how things oughta be, they’re not necessarily getting the same story.

Oh well, break’s over; back to painting…