Morality in Writing

Watching Narnia right now because nothing good is on. People say that this is one of the "best fantasy stories ever told." I find it boring as paint. The morality is black-white. There are good characters and there are evil characters, and the distinction is so glaringly obvious, a child could have written it. Granted, I don't disagree with having clear heroes and villains. But the witch is the epitome of evil. She couldn't be more villainous if her name was "The Antagonist." The lion, conversely, could legitimately be called "Jesus-Allegory Lion," and it would be equally ham-fisted. The good guys live in sun-dappled meadows with flower-petal people, while the bad guys congregate in G-rated Mordor. Such clear lines of distinction make thinking about the themes unnecessary. Because the theme just struck you like a bus.

Black and white morality is the worst, in my opinion, because there's no tension. There's no thought. Frankly, it's boring. The good guys wear white hats, speak in Bible verses, and don't eat meat (not that I'm knocking that lifestyle). The bad guys laugh maniacally, stroke their Snidley Whiplash mustaches (even the women), and eat babies. I mean, the protagonist was knighted for killing one thing, and now he's riding a unicorn. It's enough to make me root for the villain, except that they're doomed by virtue of opposing the good. Because the good cannot be harmed. There are no consequences for YOU, because you're nice. Everyone will be on the right side, so the bad guys get what's coming to them.

And the reason this bugs me so much is that you don't fear for anyone. You have your favorite character or whatnot, but their peril isn't truly perilous, because you know they'll get out of it unscathed. In a world where the good aren't defended by plot armor, and the evil are not merely obstacles to be overcome, but beings with motives and purpose and brains, I think it makes your character's peril more real. They may NOT get out it. So-and-so didn't, and we liked them too. And even if they do survive, they may be broken, mentally, emotionally, or physically. That doesn't mean a writer should kill characters for the sake of killing off characters. That's trying to pull emotion out of your ass, and it generally makes me cut all emotional ties to characters. But a well-placed death or maiming can be a beautiful thing, and give the sense that your characters aren't sitting at the kids' table.