Suspension of disbelief. Empathy for the protagonist. A quest led by an unconscious desire by the protagonist to attain a perceived unattainable object becomes the story.
In some cases, the main character fails (The Wrestler), and the audience witnesses something called tragedy. A few characters employ humor to elicit sympathy from the audience, and these are comedies (The Hangover).
The most difficult part of creating fiction is the issue of authenticity, and its cousin believability.
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. With that, it’s often less difficult to insert simple, anecdotal truths into fictional characters, because the audience might not accept their credibility.
A simple problem, like Bugs Bunny wanting to live in peace. An antagonist, like Elmer Fudd, acts against this desire. But, Bugs Bunny holds a certain unconscious desire — to make a fool of anyone who attempts to sully his idyllic, rustic existence.
The two opposing forces act and react, and the realm of drama is revealed. Throw in a sub-plot — Daffy Duck’s desire to thwart his own shotgun demise — and the plot is interwoven and energized with complexity.
See what happens when Elmer tries to Kill Da Wabbit! For copyright (Warner Brothers) purposes, the original audio is censored in places.
Who is Joe Frank? (Not to be confused with Giuseppe Franco, the hairdresser to the stars). Joe Frank’s the man with the golden voice. And he’s one of the best storytellers in the world.
Joe Frank is an American radio personality, known best for his engaging, often philosophical, monologues and radio dramas. Frank started his career at WBAI in New York, and also served as a co-anchor for the weekend edition of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
In 1986, Frank moved to Santa Monica, California to work at KCRW, where he wrote, produced and performed in a weekly hour-long radio program, “Joe Frank: Work In Progress.”
Frank’s radio programs are at times dark and frequently ironic, humorous and absurd. Adding to the atmosphere of Frank’s monologues are loops of music over vocal drones.
While at KCRW, Frank received several awards including a Peabody Award and two Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards. One for his acclaimed three-part series “Rent-a-Family.” In 2003, Joe Frank was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Third Coast International Audio Festival. Frank is also a Guggenheim Fellow.
Joe Frank continued to work at KCRW until 2002, and his work evolved as evidenced by the diverse series he produced starting with Work in Progress, then In The Dark , followed by Somewhere Out There, and finally The Other Side.
His body of work (over 230 hours) continues to be aired on many NPR stations in the United States and on XM Satellite Radio.
For a sample of Joe Frank, this is a clip by William Orbit that made Joe famous in the club scene of the 90s. Joe Frank is “the voice” telling the story of the girl at Montok Point. Super GOODness.
The song is “Montok Point,” from William Orbit’s 1996 domestic release Strange Cargo 4: Hinterland.
Ernie Barnes was an artist and a football player. His “Sugar Shack” painting to the left is famous from the TV show “Good Times” and as the album art for Marvin Gaye’s I Want You.
Born Ernest Barnes, Jr. on July 15, 1938, to Ernest Sr. and Fannie Barnes during the Jim Crow era in Durham, North Carolina, his mother worked as a home helper to a wealthy lawyer’s family.
Ernie got through college on a football scholarship to the all-black North Carolina Central University, majoring in art.
He was drafted by the then-World Champion Baltimore Colts football team. He then spent the next five seasons as an offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. In 1965, New York Jets owner Sonny Werblin recognized Barnes’ artistic potential and replaced his football salary for one season so he could devote himself “to just paint.”
One year later, Barnes made his debut in a critically acclaimed solo exhibition at Grand Central Art Galleries in Manhattan and retired from football. His autobiography “From Pads to Palette” chronicles his transition from athlete to artist.
Ernie Barnes’ first professional exhibition was a sell-out, beginning an ongoing, long relationship with the Grand Central Art Galleries, as well as the McKenzie and Heritage Galleries in Los Angeles.
Ernie Barnes: Born July 15, 1938 – Died April 27, 2009
Lou Gehrig played on one of the best professional baseball teams of all time — the early 20th Century New York Yankees. He banged in 1,995 RBIs in 17 seasons, with a lifetime batting average of .340, and respectable .632 slugging percentage. Three of the top six RBI seasons in baseball history belong to Gehrig. He was selected to each of the first seven All-Star games and won the American League’s Most Valuable Player award in 1927 and 1936. He was also a Triple Crown winner in 1934, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.
Lou Gehrig was considered the perfect teammate, described by many as unselfish. He was also one of the greatest fielding first-basemen of all-time, with a career .991 fielding percentage. As a young Yankee slugger, he followed the legendary Babe Ruth in the lineup. Gehrig described this fittingly:
“Lets face it. I’m not a headline guy. I always knew that as long as I was following Babe to the plate I could have gone up there and stood on my head. No one would have noticed the difference. When the Babe was through swinging, whether he hit one or fanned, nobody paid any attention to the next hitter. They all were talking about what the Babe had done.”
Lou Gehrig played in more than 2000 consecutive games. He was the guy who showed up every day, put on the uniform, grinned at the media circus, and persisted in the folly of baseball — a sport meant for kids, but played by men.
Lou Gehrig’s extraordinary streak of consecutive games came to an end on the May 2, 1939, in Detroit, when Lou took himself out of the lineup because he thought his puzzling physical weakness was a detriment to the team and he needed time to “get in better shape.” Gehrig actually took the lineup card out to a crew of shocked umpires before the game, ending a 14-year streak. Before the game began, the stadium announcer told fans, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the first time Lou Gehrig’s name will not appear on the Yankee lineup in 2,130 consecutive games.”
At the Mayo Clinic, after six days of extensive testing, the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was confirmed on June 19, Gehrig’s 36th birthday. The prognosis was grim: rapidly increasing paralysis, difficulty in swallowing and speaking, and a life expectancy of fewer than three years, although there would be no impairment of mental functions. Eleanor Gehrig was told that the cause of ALS was unknown but it was painless, non-contagious and cruel — the motor function of the central nervous system is destroyed, but the mind remains fully aware to the end.
On July 4th, 1939, Gehrig’s retirement ceremony reduced all of Yankee Stadium to tears, including the Iron Horse himself. He remained a stoic figure of human strength to the end, dying from his illness on June 2, 1941, at the age of 37. Today, on his 106th birthday, Lou Gehrig remains a hero.
