Recently I saw "Rain Man" with Tom and Dustin. I hadn't seen it in a few years so I really enjoyed it. Both Cruise and Hoffman are absolutely outstanding in this depiction of brothers who are reunited in adulthood after having been separated in their youths.
As I watched Charlie Babbit's (Cruise) outlook regarding his brother change, I couldn't help but think what a rotten SOB the father in this story was.
His arbitrary decision to isolate his sons from each other robbed these boys of a great love they could have experienced throughout their lives.
And it really ticked me off!
Whether we're watching a movie or reading a book, stories of lost love affect us deeply. All of us have a need to be loved--by our parents, our friends, our children, our siblings. A great love like the one which grew between Charlie Babbit and his brother Raymond (Hoffman) is precious, more valuable than gold, as Charlie realized before the end of the film.
We writers need to keep in mind these powerful emotions which readers seek. As we craft our stories we are guaranteed to hitch up a reader's interest whenever we include strong feelings and actions like greed, hate, sacrifice, lying, telling the truth at all costs, sadness, depression and, most importantly, love. The more in touch with emotions a reader is while she's reading the more completely entertained she'll be.
And providing fine entertainment is the goal of every fiction writer.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
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