I think in a previous post, I mentioned I watched all of the live action One Piece and that I loved it. And I definitely did. The show, while making some changes held to the spirit of the original and was created by people who respected the source material enough to let it stand on its own, cell phone snails and all.
One Piece is a weird world, wildly absurd, but also one that is immensely popular, I mean the manga itself is the second best-selling comic of all time. Only Superman is ahead of it, but that may not be the case forever.
The world of One Piece has floating islands in the sky, a rubber-man as its protagonist, the previously mentioned cell phone snails, birds that deliver newspapers, and devil fruits that can make one person made out of fire and another Buggy the Clown.
And yet, despite the absurdity, there lies a deep core of narrative truth in its story. Although the world is crazy, absurd, and in no way like the one we live in today, the emotions, the character arcs and journeys, the pain the characters feel alongside the joy they discover is genuine and real. One Piece, while fiction, speaks the truth in regards to the world of human emotion. Oda nails it.
Stories, no matter the medium, can provide catharsis. And whether in a galaxy far, far away or navigating the Grand Line, no matter how absurd a story seems on the surface, as long as the emotions are real, the arcs that the characters are put on can be imbued with genuine emotion and struggle. That's the true power of fiction, to serve as an almost Trojan Horse for genuine human experiences. No matter the world.
Ultimately, I'm still processing this idea and working through it, and my fingers hurt from jiu-jitsu so I don't think I'll type as much today, but this has been an idea that's been percolating in my head for quite some time.
What's real in fiction? Why do I want to write, and why do people want to read fiction?
And I think the answer is simple. Fiction provides an avenue for authors to explore the human experience and write about emotions and feelings we all have, no matter how wild the world they live in is. A large part of Star Wars is about a son's journey to find himself and redeem his father. One Piece is a story about dreams and the hardship one must face to overcome them. And that's just one take. In stories as rich as One Piece and Star Wars, there's a world of emotions out there for people to experience. All we have to do is be open to them.
Anyways, I know I need to develop this idea a bit more, but that's all I got for today. I hope you all have a great day and a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Josh Acocella
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