Melodrama

(source)

Are novels bad because they celebrate the mundane? What about television dramas and movies? incidentws? If novels portrayed the road of "ordinary holiness" would the reactionary [Catholic] critic still have grounds for complaint? What about those stories that have no morals, but seek only to portray life "realistically"? Petty squabbles and petty behavior? Or the inflated drama one finds on television, when people handle "relationships" poorly or selfishly, even if they adhere to some sort of bizarre contemporary romantic ideal? (The fantasy of the woman taming the bad boy, for example.) Those who produce television dramas have a financial incentive to drag a serial on, because keeping it on the air ensures future income. Usually this leads to a decline in the quality of story-telling, not a rise. The stories themselves may make for poor fare for the moral imagination, but there may also limitations due to the medium. If the characters make significant life choices, are we able to remember them? Or does everything blur together after 4 or 5 seasons of images? Movies and series that written with a limited number of episodes in mind would be better in this regard.

How often is conflict between competing personalities depicted, and without a truly Christian resolution! Some have criticized attempts at Christian art that are too overtly Christian or "preachy" and thus result in bad art. Or at least art that seems unrealistic. Can novels capture the everyday spiritual practices of Christians without being boring? Bernanos is said to have captured "ordinary holiness" in Diary of a Country Priest. It has been a while since I read it. How many good stories can be written about the daily life of the "ordinary" righteous man and his 7 falls? And the 70 times that he gets up again, with the help of God's grace? The lives of the saints may be better material for reflection and meditation than novels (and movies and television). Perhaps even exaggerated legends still have some usefulness. But I still believe that novels can rise above the level of mere diversion/entertainment, and fulfill a didactic purpose.