The way that a handful of corporations in Los Angeles dictate how our stories are told creates a real poverty of imagination and it's a big problem.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I would say that many of the characters in my stories do not live in true poverty - they are not out on the street; they are not wondering if there will be anything to eat in the next week. They are people who are at the lower echelons of the economic strata.
I don't have them down here asking me what my urban agenda is. I don't find them really doing in-depth stories on community-based organizations that have been struggling for a long time and who are out trying to get funds. They aren't interested in those stories.
Everyone is treating it like a Hollywood story. In Madison, it's a neighborhood story.
Imagination is a poor matter when it has to part company with understanding.
The media doesn't create narratives, really. They're not that powerful. What they do is they tap into narratives that are already bubbling amongst their viewership or readership.
The mainstream media spins stories that are largely racist, violent, and irresponsible - stories that celebrate power and demonize victims, all the while camouflaging its pedagogical influence under the cheap veneer of entertainment.
There's a problem with narratives. Most that spring to mind are fictional.
It's difficult to write about poverty in a way that doesn't feel cliched.
The telling of stories creates the real world.
Narrative is so rich; it's given up so much.