Creating a Monster?


As a children’s writer, mum and teacher, I spend a lot of time thinking about children; what makes them
happy? Worried or anxious? Angry? Troubled? As I write for young people, I like to add value to their lives in some way even if it’s just to give them a few hours of entertainment; make them laugh, cheer them up, give them a bit of escapism from our busy, competitive world. But I’m also aware of how easy it is to program them. For instance, take superheroes. We all love a superhero (I think I have a secret longing to be Catwoman and to whip those baddies into shape). They’re fearless, handsome/beautiful, strong, in fact, they’re invincible and that includes the ones that don’t have superpowers! Whatever scrape they get themselves into, however seemingly impossible, they manage to escape! Good always defeats evil and quite honestly, I love that story. The light can never be overcome by the darkness. 

However, as children grow into teens, it is so easy to move into the more adult and sinister versions of our superhero’s lives. Teens already believe that to be a superhero you need to be muscular with a six-pack or thin with glossy hair and an hourglass figure which sets the bar so high for our kids, and can give them a sense of inadequacy. They also need grit, determination, an outgoing personality, and, yes, they still need a bit of invincibility (somehow, they’re seldom hit by the bullets). There’s no room for vulnerability or a dip in confidence. After all, everyone wants to be a superhero, don’t they? 

Meanwhile, the evil in our fictional worlds has grown ever-present and increasingly powerful. Violence is extreme, good, innocent people are horrifically killed. The stakes are higher. Batman and Robin become Gotham City. Deadpool, an assassin and cold-blooded killer is also considered a hero. Suddenly, the lines between good and evil are fuzzy. The enemy is a poor, troubled soul who has lost their way and can be forgiven for their moments of violence and cruelty. I get it, I really do but it’s akin to sucking a delicious lollipop and finding a rusty old nail inside. 


When have we gone too far? At what point are we damaging our children? At what point are we damaging ourselves? Quite honestly, despite the age ratings, if my thirteen-year-old is tempted to watch or read something that could harm him, I have to hope that with enough good parenting, he’ll make wise decisions because quite frankly, I can’t keep a track of everything he watches and reads. Most of the children in his class at school have been watching the Squid Game which is all over social media including TikTok (which is most thirteen year old’s favourite social platform). It’s a very clever hyper-violent screenplay written by Korean writer and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk; Centred on a brutal survival game against the backdrop of the cultural divide between Korea’s rich and poor. Think The Hunger Games but worse. Believe me, I’m not one of those teeth-sucking, head-shaking do-gooders who believe everything with violence is wrong but I think it is important, as Christian writers, to continually ask ourselves the question: what effect am I having on my readers? Am I adding to their lives or am I creating a monster?


Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)


Comments

  1. I was at an event the other day at a library and we were discussing 'Banned Books Week' - most people were agreeing that, as soon as you tell a teenager that a book is banned, that's the book they seek out. It's the essence of human nature, isn't it, and makes it so difficult to be a parent! (Or grandparent.)

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    1. I'm with you. I made up my mind as a parent to never been any booked and that if my children wanted to feed certain books, is at least read them so we could discuss it. Also, you're right, I think will find a way too feed/watch the band film/book anyway.

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  2. So helpful, thank you. I'm writing my first YA novel and battling with these issues. The world is dark and good/evil are getting blurred progressively as the story goes on. I'm trying to acknowledge that we are all flawed, whilst allowing room for God's sovereign work in choosing to pull people out of the darkness. So my characters are not superheroes, though some of them have small special gifts. They will make mistakes, but will realise them and hopefully grow from them. They will be committed to walking in the light even though the darkness offers great temptations. I'm beginning to feel the weight of writing for children and how much stories can affect their lives. Yet remembering how I was blessed by good fiction as a young person encourages me to have a go...

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    1. That sounds amazing Natasha. I'm glad that I have encouraged you. I look forward to the finished book. X

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  3. Thanks for raising this issue. Personally I don't write children's fiction but it is a very important area, and I suspect we all remember quite vividly the books which we read as children. When ours were small, I learned to dislike very much the work of Rhoal Dahl, which was loved by everyone at school, children and teachers... I think its subversiveness is as damaging as the kind of books you describe here - it teaches the 'wrong kind of subversion' - to laugh at people, to disrespect people, etc, and this leads to cruelty. As a writer of grown-up fiction, I think we need to always respect our characters, even those who are not those we see as good patterns to follow - no t mock or describe physical stuff in unnecessary detail.There's basically a lot more to being a 'Christian writer' than whether of not we weave the (recogniseable) Gospel into our stories, isn't there. Tolkien seems to get it right - in LOTR (the book) he has a character (Sam, if you've read it) pause on the battlefield after numbers of the fighters have been slain, and look at a dead enemy soldier, who he sees as a person like himself, and wonders about - about the guy's life, his home, why he came to fight, that kind of thing... he sees 'the enemy' as a human being like himself.

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    1. Wow! Some great insight in this Clare. Thank you.

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  4. There's so much to think about here. I have five grandchildren, teenagers or almost teens, and I know the present culture is as far from my own experience as the sun is from the moon. There are so many good things about today's society, for example the advances in medicine, or the way parents and children are friends and can talk to each other (mostly!), but the other side of the coin is frightening - looking beautiful or being trendy do still rule. I've heard about a group of local teen girls, clever and from good homes, who think it's fun to shop-lift in the city. Christian nowadays need so much strength and resilience to stand by their Christian values. We need books where honesty, tolerance and respect are important.

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  5. Lovely post. I just pray that God will continue to bless you write for children to add value to their life, entertain and encourage them or for children to see works like yours as a way of escape rather than going into crime and drugs. More annointing in Lord Jesus Christ's name. Amen!

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  6. Such a thought provoking piece Nikki, and you're right. So many of today's films and series are presenting violence and evil as something not so bad. My kids are teenagers and they watch Marvel and lots of Netflix which I try to keep an eye on. As Sophia says more anointing in Lord Jesus Christ's name!

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  7. A really interesting piece with much to think about. For every generation, the challenges of parenting seem to escalate. And as a writer, it's so hard to get the balance right, whoever we write for. Godspeed to you, Nikki.

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