***Before I get into my post, I wanted to acknowledge the lives lost on Sunday. My heart breaks for Orlando.
For those who aren’t nerds like myself, you might not be aware of the recent issues surrounding the Captain America
comic. Apparently Captain America is a double agent. He’s a hydra operative. Hydra are the bad guys, Nazi really. Good ole Captain’s sudden outing as part of Hydra has the nerd community up in pale arms (you know, because we never walk in the daylight, sort of like vampires but without the sparkle).
Now don’t stop reading. This isn’t a commentary on the Captain America clusterf***k. I want to discuss responsible character actions. As the creators of characters, we have a responsibility to our readers. Heck, JK Rowlings admitted she shouldn’t have killed Harry off.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t kill off your characters. I’m merely saying, if you decide a character needs to die, make sure it’s true to the story. That’s what has people angry. This goes against EVERYTHING Captain America is, was or will be.
I can think of a million (okay, maybe a few less) ways to write one’s self out of the Captain America controversy. He could be a triple agent for example. Really a good guy all along. Yet if you kill off a character, like Harry, you’re pretty much screwed for the next book.
If you feel like being done with a character or storyline, I beg of you, give it a happy ending. My greatest reader fear is Robert Crais will kill off Elvis or Joe (if this is a shared fear, facebook Robert Crais and beg or bribe him not to do it). I also worry about Harlan Coben’s (@HarlanCoben)Win character (the finest example of loving an anti-hero).
I’m a wimp who can’t take it when my fictional heroes die.
Everyone should live happily ever after, damn it.
And yes, my nickname is Pollyanna.
How do you feel about the controversy surrounding Captain America? And for you non-nerds who actually see sunlight, what say you about killing off a character to end a series?
OMG! I saw a reference somewhere recently about Captain America being a Nazi and I just thought I mis-read it. How stupid can a writer get? I mean, Captain AMERICA! If this turns out to be a dream sequence or some kind of triple agent thing, they will never recover from it – I think the franchise will be dead. I agree with you, whatever happens in a story has to make sense to the characters and the story, and not just be some gimmick to get attention.
I completely agree with you on Captain America. It’s nothing more than a thinly-veiled (okay not really) attempt to sell more comic books. This is what happens when you’re writing for money as opposed to writing for your love of the characters, story, etc. Yes, we all want to make money at this but the story should never suffer because of it (stepping off soapbox now).
As far as killing off characters, personally I don’t mind if characters die (including the main character). As long as it make sense, I’m fine with it. In fact, I admire when an author can kill off a character in such a way that I actually feel the loss. That is when you know you’re “in” the story. By that same token, I despise happy endings that are there for nothing more than to have a happy ending. Authenticity means much more to me than singing songs under a rainbow.