Post by sturgeon on Jun 7, 2021 17:29:18 GMT
What makes someone important? Role in society? Wisdom? Social media influence? Just being interesting? In this capital, Dominic finds a nonagenarian hermit in a forgotten cave and tries to weave a story around him that will make both of them Someone Important.
Except, that's the first confusing thing about Dominic. Being Someone Important doesn't seem to be front and centre in his mind. Instead, he claims more than once to be seeking a standard for masculinity, but masculinity seems to be a total red herring - his behaviour and attitude seem far more oriented to a fairly despicable brand of social media propaganda for the sake of attracting attention. (He calls it "hot sauce".)
He is accompanied by Nicola, a beautician whom he apparently brings along on his quests to document the extremes of homelessness and hermitude, because he believes his social media followers would not tolerate an ugly Someone Important. It is not clear whether Nicola is effectively a contractor, or someone with whom Dominic has a romantic past (or future).
Nicola's mission seems to be to promote health, which Dominic defines as "looking good". Yeah, he's a charmer, ain't he?
Indeed, both Nicola and Dominic himself display disdain towards Dominic's shallowness and exploitation of this poor dirt-encrusted hermit, who gives only tacit consent to be cleaned up by Nicola for the sake of Dominic's camera lens.
All of this slightly mixed up background and character development builds up to one key point in the story. The hermit has just had someone care for him and clean him up for the first time in many decades instead of running away at the sight of him. Dominic rocks up and waits expectantly for the "sage" to make a profound pronunciation of hermitical wisdom that he can share with his social media followers.
And the poor old guy says, "I never knew people would grow so kind."
This one line floored me. I was livid that Dominic's cynical exploitation of this man had been validated. But, even more, I was crushed that this traumatised and neglected old man had been so distanced from kindness for so many years that some straightforward TLC was enough to change his outlook on humanity.
If this capital had been more focussed about its character development, that one line and the brutal dichotomies contained within it would have been enough for me to recommend. But what with the confusion about Dominic and Nicola's role and relationship and motivation, I am held back.
So, it's a no from me, but I do hope the author will work on this piece and turn it into Something Important.
Except, that's the first confusing thing about Dominic. Being Someone Important doesn't seem to be front and centre in his mind. Instead, he claims more than once to be seeking a standard for masculinity, but masculinity seems to be a total red herring - his behaviour and attitude seem far more oriented to a fairly despicable brand of social media propaganda for the sake of attracting attention. (He calls it "hot sauce".)
He is accompanied by Nicola, a beautician whom he apparently brings along on his quests to document the extremes of homelessness and hermitude, because he believes his social media followers would not tolerate an ugly Someone Important. It is not clear whether Nicola is effectively a contractor, or someone with whom Dominic has a romantic past (or future).
Nicola's mission seems to be to promote health, which Dominic defines as "looking good". Yeah, he's a charmer, ain't he?
Indeed, both Nicola and Dominic himself display disdain towards Dominic's shallowness and exploitation of this poor dirt-encrusted hermit, who gives only tacit consent to be cleaned up by Nicola for the sake of Dominic's camera lens.
All of this slightly mixed up background and character development builds up to one key point in the story. The hermit has just had someone care for him and clean him up for the first time in many decades instead of running away at the sight of him. Dominic rocks up and waits expectantly for the "sage" to make a profound pronunciation of hermitical wisdom that he can share with his social media followers.
And the poor old guy says, "I never knew people would grow so kind."
This one line floored me. I was livid that Dominic's cynical exploitation of this man had been validated. But, even more, I was crushed that this traumatised and neglected old man had been so distanced from kindness for so many years that some straightforward TLC was enough to change his outlook on humanity.
If this capital had been more focussed about its character development, that one line and the brutal dichotomies contained within it would have been enough for me to recommend. But what with the confusion about Dominic and Nicola's role and relationship and motivation, I am held back.
So, it's a no from me, but I do hope the author will work on this piece and turn it into Something Important.
