You can’t get enough of a good story.
In the last few months, I went on three entertainment binges, totaling almost 150 hours (nearly a week of my life). These were on Donna Tartt’s two tomes in audio format: A Secret History and The Goldfinch, multiple viewings of all three seasons of Mike White’s The White Lotus, and seven trips to the cinema for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Rather than ruing over lost time, I feel lucky to have not one but three all-consuming experiences. Leading Carnatic musician Sanjay Subramaniam says artists should be grateful to audiences because entertainment is an indulgence. It is something people “choose” to spend their time and money on amidst their daily struggles and commitments. So why did I, an employed person, choose to binge on these works? The Pythagoreans considered the number ten a spiritual number, the building block of other numbers, so here are ten reasons why.
- Three singular creators: All three creators are unique. Tartt is reclusive and takes almost ten years to write a book. It is a risky move for an author, especially after their breakthrough success, a time ripe for capitalizing rather than pulling away from the adoring public. Although well-respected among the film fraternity, Mike White took a while to achieve mainstream success. And he wanted to ensure he “lived” while waiting for his moment in the sun and competed in the Amazing Race and Survivor. Ryan Coogler found success early and has high expectations running on him, especially from the Black community, almost like Bob Dylan’s crowning as the poet of a generation, against his will. Coogler, however, seems to lean into his role model status gamely yet responsibly.
- Work true to the creators: Ricky Gervais talks about why you must write about what you know, using an example from his school days. Frustrated by his Cs for writing science fiction, he spitefully wrote about his boring trip to an invalid neighbor with his mother, and voila, got an A. Similarly, these auteurs’ works are true to them. Tartt has a philosophy background and a love of art. Like her, her characters come across as measured rather than soft and have her haute couture style. Mike White only watches reality shows because that’s where human behavior is at its rawest, at least on television, which could explain why we connect to his characters. He, too, writes about what he knows; he has a house in Hawaii, is a Buddhist, and has met many crazy characters in his life in the entertainment industry. Coogler grew up in Oakland, CA, aware of racism (his father, a juvenile probation counselor took the young Coogler with him to these centers), and is a music enthusiast (long-term collaborator, Ludwig Goransson says Coogler only talked about music when they first met in College, and he was surprised to know later he was a film student). Coogler also tends to cry easily, which explains why his films are music-heavy and even his big-budget movies are personal.
- A clear story: Eventually, it’s all about the story: Tartt’s detailed plots don’t get lost within her broad sweeps. Aristotle says a good story can be held in its entirety in one’s mind. For example, in The Secret History, the story is about a boy trying to fit in, while The Goldfinch is again about a boy trying to fit in, except that Tartt traces his life to adulthood. Mike White says that season three of The White Lotus is about how your identity can be a prison that makes you do horrible things. Ryan Coogler always has a one-line personal message for his movies. For example, despite its vampires, Sinners is a story of his uncle’s nostalgic love for the blues after leaving Jim Crow Mississippi.
- The character arcs: This is a defining feature of all three auteurs; no character is left behind. This is easier for Tartt and White in their mediums, but Coogler manages it within a movie, for example, the little girl in Sinners, who is asked to watch Smoke’s truck, believably goes from mild to outspoken in minutes, empowered by the responsibility given to her. The young Lisa Chow, despite her loving parents, remains unsmiling throughout like a true teenager. In The Goldfinch, the unraveling of Samantha Barbour after her husband and son’s deaths meets our expectations in a cruelly satisfying way; she falls from great heights but still retains her steel; this is a strong woman. The White Lotus is full of well-developed characters, but one that randomly comes to mind is Sidney Sweeney’s mean girl character sobbing in her mother’s arms in the Season one finale. She’s just a young girl putting on a false bravado to hide her insecurities.
- Multidimensional characters: All their characters are “human” and flawed, especially the antagonists. For example, one of the most moving parts in the Secret History was how the seemingly shallow, beautiful twin Camilla pines for Henry years after his death, unable to move on. Somehow, that one detail deepens the story so much more, increasing my return on investment. White Lotus is full of multi-dimensional characters, you love to hate, but all have some redeeming qualities; the Russian con guys are scared of their wives, the goody good Belinda, eventually decides she wants to become rich at any cost, or how Tanya’s Assistant chases dangerous attraction over reliable affection. Sinners, as the title indicates, is about people who sin, albeit in multiple ways. Young preacher boy Sammy does not hesitate to woo a married woman; the main antagonists, the vampires, are likable characters. In fact, the Ku Klux Klan members, who are portrayed as one-dimensionally bad, perhaps with the larger box office in mind, came across as hollow and caricaturish.
- Simple and efficient language: Donna Tartt’s prose is borderline pulpy yet firmly stays on the serious side, a tough act to pull off in a five-hundred-plus-page novel. Her tone is conversational. I had an unforgettable experience listening to the audiobook of The Secret History narrated by Tartt herself. White, too, writes in conversational style, a hard feat to pull off with his densely populated characters from all walks of life. Ryan Coogler openly admits his film language is better than his English; his college English teacher encouraged him to become a screenwriter because of his vivid prose.
- Bold, go for broke, and be prepared for criticism: Expectations were riding high on Tartt after the success of The Secret History, yet she took her time with The Goldfinch; she says that’s the only way she can write. Coogler reflects on Sinners by saying he is one of the lucky few to have global success at a young age and wanted to go for broke by taking a risk. Mike White decided to look inward in season three, which riled many viewers but attracted die-hard viewers like me. His reaction to the criticism, in true White fashion, was to get off his bed and not to be a bossy bottom.
- Attention to detail: In Sinners, Stack has a slight tremor that makes it difficult to roll a cigarette. Since it is Sammy’s day out, I wondered why he couldn’t be more formally dressed like his cousins, but then Sammy is a poor plantation worker. He is dressed formally compared to his regular clothes, but not dandily. Tartt vividly describes how little Theo hides the Goldfinch, and you feel like you are in the woods with the characters in The Secret History. In the White Lotus, the seemingly insignificant scene in season one of the pregnant hotel worker breaking water at work is a moving look at how her life, despite the challenges, has more love: her partner tells her to come home rather than work, and the manager, a self-absorbed Murray Bartlett, is genuinely sympathetic to her. Attention to detail is a mark of respect to the audience; Coogler’s long-term editor, Michael Shawver, says the audience will never see the best scenes.
- Well-deserved endings: I first became aware of this idea after watching an interview with The Shawshank Redemption’s director, Frank Darabont. He said the film is deeply satisfying because its happy ending and freedom for the two long-term inmates are well earned. As humans, we crave equity, and all these works deliver or don’t deliver them intentionally to keep us hooked. For example, in Secret History, although justice is not served legally, it is served emotionally. In The Goldfinch, no morally flawed characters get the love they want. In White Lotus, we rejoice that the wealthy family will soon be dealing with poverty, we are upset with Tanya’s death, and we root for the prostitutes who swindle the rich guys. In Sinners, Sammy’s genuine love for the blues is rewarded by the vampires leaving him alone to pursue a musical career.
- Make you question yourself: This is probably the most important reason why these works stayed with me long after. As an ethics professor, I couldn’t believe I was biting my nails, hoping the lead character in Secret History, Richard, wouldn’t be caught for murder! In the White Lotus, I cheered as Belinda successfully blackmailed the late Tanya’s husband in exchange for her silence that he might have organized her death. In Sinners, I was rooting for Sammy’s affair with the married Pearline. I was so blown away by Patrick Schwarzenegger’s looks in White Lotus, that I wished he would somehow be okay after his father lost all their money; my friend reminded me he was a douche all through. Studies on empathy show that reading books with well-fleshed-out characters, especially of the antagonists, can help develop empathy. All three of these works forced me to question my values. If I could be swayed so easily by entertainment, how would I hold up during real-life challenges? These works forced me to step down from my moral pedestal and accept myself and others as human.
