About Leashes and Idiots

Post 2052:

When you sit down to read or watch a work of fiction, how long do you give it? How much grace, how long a leash do you allow?

I’ve got a couple general thoughts. If the creator calls you an idiot, I think you should walk away. If they write a line that makes no sense in the scene or throw in an action sequence that is completely irrelevant to the plot or they have a couple people walking around talking jack squat and doing nothing to advance the story or characters, get out.

Because either they are idiots or they think you’re an idiot. Unless I’m wrong. Then I’m the idiot.

We’re not perfect consumers, so the fact is, we get hasty sometimes. Occasionally I’ll drop a series or a book because it’s not moving fast enough, only to find out I needed to give it just a little more time. The payoffs were coming. I miscalculated. It happens.

I think I have a longer leash than most, but I can’t abide being treated like an idiot. Insulting an audience’s intelligence might be the cardinal sin of creating fiction. Or boring them. Neither is good, and they should make laws to stop these horrible crimes and do away with the laws that aren’t helping. Frankly, I can’t see what’s so hard about all this. Perhaps I’ll run for office and put an end to these atrocities.

Have some grace. Give them a leash. But don’t let them call you an idiot. You gave them time, maybe money. Eventually, it’s you they owe. Cheers and see you after.