A long time ago TV (they were called Television Sets back then)–we had a black and white model with a screen far smaller than the average computer–was very different. It had a channel dial with fully TEN possible selections on it, three of which actually worked. Oh, and despite the 1 at the top of the dial, the first one was always channel 2. Never did work that one out.
Back then, if you were able to mimic any accent that wasn’t your own, you were hilarious. If you could do two totally different accents, you were a genius.
Married couples on TV (erm, Television) slept in twin beds, Polish jokes were all the rage, and blond jokes hadn’t been invented. Your friend’s mommy could spank you if you were bad. Horror was called Suspense, and blood and gore never made it to the big screen… and we never, but NEVER talked about toilets, diarrhea, or gas.
Yes, it’s true. Things have changed.
Over the years our society has relaxed some rules, and tightened (many) others.
Now days it is common to have bloody gore in movies, realistic autopsies, and sex between consenting twelve-year-olds on TV. OK, I might be exaggerating a bit.
Here’s the point (oh, yeah, I forgot, these days we have to point to the point). We are now a society of strict rules about what you can say about a person, the person’s religion or their sexual orientation. People fart loudly on screen, and diarrhea remedies abound on TV, however.
We’ve invented PC (no, not the Personal Computer), Politically Correct. While the term has gone out of favor, the concept is still strong. Speak in an accent–even the one a “target” person uses–and you’re bad, bad, bad. Make a comment about a religious holiday, and BAM!
So, what is this all about? We live in a PC world when it comes to most of our lives. However, as a writer of FICTION, you are not bound by these societal rules. Why not? Because your characters are not bound by them.
Stephen King broke the fourth wall in one of his novels where he has his character sitting on a toilet and thinking that no writer would ever write such a scene.
If you let the rules of being Politically Correct get in the way of your honest story telling, then in my book, you’ve sold out.
Lastly, despite what I’ve said above, I still find it hard to break down those walls. Why? Because I, like you, am a product of my society.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio... and isn't it time you experienced some of them?
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