People are the only thing that interests me.
Clothes are interesting on people. They tell me much
about who wears them.
Weapons are interesting in the hands of people. A sword
or gun is a material extension of an individual. If a particular weapon is chosen,
the personality of the wielder is reflected.
Our humanity is not our dust and water but rather the
soul that animates the dust and water. We are more or less than the sum of our
material existence.
I am a storyteller. I write fiction. I imagine scenarios
and give them personalities. The situations are what give the characters things
to do but no one cares unless they care about the personalities involved.
Characters are figments imagined as people. Their
archetypes classify their use. Personalities are what make them endearing.
The hero is
courageous and excellent. The mastermind
is sinister and intelligent. Of course these archetypes can be spoofed. The
cowardly or inept “hero” and the silly or witless “mastermind” are quite
common. The parodies are meaningless without their meaningful inspirations,
however.
My creative specialty is the useless foot soldier of villainy archetype. This typically
anonymous and individually insignificant character serves a profound purpose.
It represents ordinary people as the actively hostile and ultimately expendable
pawns of evil.
Everyone has a name and face but most of us are nameless
and faceless in the grand scheme of things. We are this group or that. The group
is our identity and its culture is our personality.
The expendable characters in our fiction are the most
like most people in reality. They are plentiful, insignificant and their deaths
are inconsequential.
People are the only thing I find interesting. I am
inspired by the courage and excellence of heroes. I am amazed by the evil and
genius of masterminds. I am contemptuous of the mediocrity of the common folk
but amused and morally satisfied by their inglorious demise.
