What's Up, Doc?

Over the holidays, my sister-in-law played a podcast of an interview about Mel Blanc for our family. You may remember this man as the voice of many well-known cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Barney Rubble, Daffy Duck and, by some estimates, over one thousand other voices.

In January of 1961, he had a horrible head-on collision in Los Angeles while driving on “dead man’s curve” on Sunset Blvd. He was in a coma for two weeks at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. His family and doctors spoke to him but received no response.

One day a young intern, Louis Conway, asked Mel Blanc, “Bugs Bunny, how are you doing today?

Blanc immediately replied, “Eh, what’s up doc?”

The astonished doctor then asked to speak to Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and a number of other characters. Blanc responded in each voice then began talking in his own voice and eventually came out of his coma. The doctor later told a reporter that it seemed like Bugs Bunny was trying to save his life. Talk about breathing life into a character!

A psychologist who was interviewed about the case on the podcast said Mel Blanc’s higher brain function was injured while the characters were kept in the uninjured lower function. That’s the medical answer, but as a writer I’m not sure that’s all there is to it. Some of us have had the unusual experience of characters with minds of their own. They may behave in a different ways than planned and, for instance, refuse to be the murderer and instead become the hero.

This story made me consider my characters and how to bring them to life. I’ve used different techniques over the years that I learned in writing classes and in online discussion groups but I’m always looking for new ideas. Here are some of my favorites:

·         Create in-depth character profiles detailing characters’ habits, fears, opinions, strengths, weaknesses, values, life ambitions and so forth.

·         Talk with my characters. For instance, when I’m stuck writing a scene, I pretend my character is sitting across from me and I ask what to do next. Also, I might interview a character about her life and experiences.

·         Use enneagrams to create a character. An enneagram is a diagram that lists nine personality types such as achiever, helper, etc. Using the nine-sided star diagram, it’s easy to see how one personality type plays off another and how they might conflict.

Back to the family discussion… In an interesting twist, while we were talking about Mel Blanc and his injury, my mother-in-law said, “I remember that.” At first we thought she recalled the incident from media reports. It turned out she was one of Mel Blanc’s nurses while he was in the hospital. She told us that as a young nurse recently relocated from Quebec, French was her first language and she was still learning English. One day Mel Blanc asked her to bring his briefcase. She didn’t understand the word and looked around the room for a tiny box. They both joked about the misunderstanding and after that he referred to her as “briefcase girl”.

That’s All Folks!

Got any good stories about characters to share?

Why I Hate TV

Without today’s safety standards, it was said that at age nine months, I hopped myself in a bouncy chair (some contraption on springs without safety belt) over to the TV and turned it on (1956). My mother, who was in the kitchen at the time, heard the sound of the TV, ran out of the kitchen and came upon me, happily watching the box. Since that time, my relationship with the required home appliance has gone down hill.

In between, I had a love affair with Romper Room, Perky Platypus and Mary Jane (for those of you in the South Central Pennsylvania area) and Captain Kangaroo.  I had affection for Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, Mr. Magoo and Rocky and Bullwinkle (okay some F-Troop too). I watched my share of McHale’s Navy, The Addams’ Family, and Green Acres—they were all a hoot. Later, the Monkees played heavily in my Monday night schedule.

In high school, I invented a curfew, so that I could watch Johnny Carson’s monologue, rather than endure heavy petting that my dates finally and much too late screwed their courage to advance. Had they started at nine p.m. rather than eleven, who knows what would have happened? As it stood, Johnny and I had a date. My blind parents never knew to whom my true affections allied, and they were worried!

In my college years, TV held no appeal. In my mid-twenties, after work, I caught up on a lot of reruns I’d missed, mostly MASH, which I admit I loved, as I did “Moonlighting” with Sybil Shepard and Bruce Willis. After that, I had kids, and TV went the wayside.

In my thirties, TV meant kids’ TV. I have to admit that I was impressed with much of it. When I saw George Carlin as the conductor on “Thomas the Tank Engine,” followed by Ringo Starr when George “retired,” I was impressed. My son didn’t know, but he was privileged to have seen those two doing what they did best. Then, Sesame Street had its charms, and I was thankful my kids could watch a show of that quality.

Then, they grew up and I abandon TV. Once I was free to choose what I wanted to do with my time—TV wasn’t a consideration—it became last place in my priorities. Why?

Absorption: TV sucks people into its monotony like a hypnotist. My kids absorbed twenty years of my life. They were my priority. Why would I allow some “thing” to absorb me once I was free?

Advertisements: Out of every hour of programming about twenty minutes is devoted to selling the audience products. No, thank you.

“Real”shows: Aren’t. Even HGTV, which I watch with girlfriends on occasion, isn’t real. HGTV now uses its subjects to advertise products. You’ll see the happy couple trying to buy their first house, and then when the commercial break comes, that same happy couple promotes a sponsor, which I consider over-the-top blowing every bit of authenticity the network purports. In novel writing, it would be much the same if the author included a Jeep in the manuscript and then every third chapter inserted a Jeep advertisement. Turn me—off.

Noise: I’ve heard that the FCC is now clamping down on TV stations, which increase the volume when commercial breaks happen. Of course, the FCC allowed the networks to increase the volume—all for our convenience. Refrigerator-foraging TV watchers couldn’t hear the TV during breaks unless the networks blasted the TV volume so the FCC authorized volume increases—deafening most people. I called and complained. They assured me that they were within their legal right to do so. Why did I ever think the government worked for us?

We’re not all slobs who must clean out the frig at every commercial break. For most, who stay seated, the Mute button got a big workout during commercial breaks. Now, the FCC will be decreasing the volume increase that networks can assault us with from programs to commercials. About time—ya’ think!

My sister-in-law and daughter assure me that there are those shows like “Office” and “Monk” that are worth watching. Me? I’d rather read. Take the $115 per month for satellite TV and put it on my book budget. Oh yeah!

  

Violence

A co-worker and I were recently discussing the latest Mission Impossible movie. When I asked for her opinion, she said that she didn't like how violent it was, and thought it was one of the most violent movies she'd seen lately. I didn't agree. Yes, there were fights, guns, killing, etc, but I've honestly seen worse.

Many people think our society is too violent, and that we’ve become desensitized over time. I remember several years back when they started "editing" some Looney Tunes so as not to introduce children to all the violence in them. That bugged me on two levels. Not only were they messing with classic cartoons that I enjoyed so much in my youth, but they were also suggesting that children can't differentiate between real and imaginary violence.

Granted, there are some children for whom violence on TV is as real and frightening as seeing it in person – heck, Craig (my fiancé) doesn’t have a restful sleep if he watches a thriller right before bed – but for many of us, violence for entertainment’s sake helps us explore that darker side of our psyche in a safe, vicarious manner.

I strongly believe that each and every human being has the capacity for all possible emotions within them, including violence. Maybe writers just have the ability to tap into it easier than other people. Or maybe we're just not as afraid of it. Take Stephen King, for example. By all accounts, he's a nice (and seemingly normal) guy, and yet he can come up with such horrific tales.

I myself am a pretty mild mannered person. Were you to meet me on the street, I'm betting you would never guess that I enjoy James Patterson's books. Or that - while I'm not a fan of most horror movies - I watched the first five Freddy Krueger movies, and enjoyed them.

So the question is, do mystery writers seem drawn to violence more than other people? Is violence more acceptable when it's part of the news or a nature show, rather than a movie or book?

What do you think?