Turnkey
The storyteller seems largely a lost citizen now. You can’t tell a story, in whatever medium, and hope to maintain the attentive focus of a listener. The listener now requires a simple step-wise construction of the idea, with minimal expansion beyond a taught conceptual lifeline. We no more long for languid strolls along thoughtful footpaths. We rather prefer the abbreviated course to the denouement notwithstanding the sacrifice of the story’s purpose in the first place, then. No surprise that we should have arrived at the shores to our brave new world to find not gentle savages with bright inquisitive minds but customer service clerks and turnstiles.
Yeah, I know: this is that same argument about how once-upon-a-time was better than now, when in all likelihood if not fact people of yesterday were as prone to plodding through it all with blunt indifference rather than a patient appreciation. To be honest, that really doesn’t make me feel much better.
4 Comments