Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Is Nature Ever the Villain?

Check out this 900-pound Giant Bluefin, a member of the tuna family slowly disappearing off the New Jersey coast. The Jersey record is over 1,200 pounds, the average 600.

In the opening sequence of BIG NUMBERS, The Famous Author has me preparing to be yanked overboard by one of these suckers. Murdered. Then at the end of the story, I try to survive my battle with that same Giant Bluefin, one of nature's strongest creatures.

Me, I don't see Mr. Tuna here as the bad guy. Like so many disaster films--earthquakes, floods, meteors--nature is just nature, a force mostly beyond our control. TFA, however, says sometimes, for dramatic effect, a character should react emotionally to nature's forces, in effect making them a villain.

What do YOU think? Any examples I'm not aware of? Say, in science fiction?

1 comment:

Jack Getze said...

This thing should be filed under "Peyote Dreams." What was I thinking? Characters react emotionally to just about everything, particularly life-threatening disasters. I opened a new bottle of Patron tequila yesterday morning, and this batch might contain some "funny" cactus.