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Writing Advice On: Relatability
Hot Take: Make you characters relatable, not like that!
When people hear the world "relatable", a certain image comes to mind of the early to mid 2000s where the most important thing for a celebrity to be was "authentic" and "down to earth" in the most superfluous and superficial way possible.
Using this jumping off point, I will talk about what I hear when people advise to write "relatable characters" and what naysayers for relatability hear! Because it isn't the same thing.
When people read stories, they are looking for an immersive experience into the lives and emotions of others with the word "other" highlighted in order to make a point against relatability. Most naysayers of relability think that "relatable" means:
"has all of my superficial personality traits and life"
Obviously, the most popular characters in western media such as drug lord Walter White in Breaking Bad or disabled Ryan in Special aren't relatable to the majority of people.
And with that last paragraph, I have already pointed out a problem in "relatability is pointless". Walter White and Ryan are relatable.
Walter White is the story of corruption as his lust for power drives him further away from the man he once was. While this isn't the trajectory most follow, many can relate to being or knowing someone who went down a bad path paved with good intentions.
Ryan is the relatable "coming of age" story of a gay man with cerebral palsy who decides to go after the happier life he has always wanted. Ryan is the relatable protagonist who is awkwardly going after what he wants which is something that all of us have either tried or wanted to do.
These characters are relatable, not because of their specificity, but universality which is a made-up word probably.
"Sympathy Is Caused By Relatability And Understanding"
We sympathize with people not because we always relate to the individual circumstances but because we relate to stories about personal suffering which is universal.
It the belief that characters are only relatable when they have superficial traits that are similar to our own superficial traits that has prevented minorities such as Ryan O'Connell and Walter Jr. from taking the spotlight!
It comes from the belief that being a white cishet neurotypical abled-bodied man is the default and everything else diverse should be marketed toward a specific member of the populus.
Women protagonist = Woman story
Disabled protagonist = Disabled story
Etc. Etc.
But because people are learning simultaneously that "universal relatability is important" and "human stories are human stories which are universally relatable" which has allowed movies such as Barbie and shows such as Special to be such hits.
Obviously, Barbie is steeped in the existence of womanhood and Special is dedicated to representing disable existence BUT this doesn't remove their non-disabled and non-female audiences.
TL;DR: Relatability is important in the sense that relatability is not the "stories of people who look and act exactly like me" but instead "stories of people who live, thrive, and struggle just like me"