Outtakes 61

I Believe

I love television and the movies. I’m a big fan of drama, but sometimes I just can’t believe some of the scenarios. For example, many veteran police officers state they’ve never drawn their weapons. Yet nearly every cop show has the lead characters drawing their guns before they identify themselves. How about the doctor and nurse who make goo-goo eyes at each other across the gurney as they rush a critical patient into the emergency room? As soon as the patient is stable, they dash off to the nearest empty exam room for a little R&R.

Then there’s the court room. I loved the way Jack McCoy (Law and Order) would badger a witness until the poor fool fell apart. He’d twist words, made inspired observations and judgments in an effort to trip up the witness. Now I’ve served on civil juries, criminal trials, and municipal procedures and never witnessed such actions. In fact if we were to follow policemen, doctors, and court proceedings, we would describe their normal activities as Boring. There’s a lot of hurry up and wait in these professions. It’s no wonder writers jazz it up a bit. If we were true to the jobs, no one would tune in to the television show, buy the movie ticket, or buy the book.

Getting the reader to suspend disbelief is a challenge. It requires the writer to first convince himself that it could happen. Then he must make the viewer or reader believe it. Careful crafting of the characters goes a long way to making the never happen believable. If we identify with the sheriff, if we can feel his concern for the victim, then we will buy the drawn weapon. A sleazy defense attorney makes us root for the victim and the victim’s family. A tired, overburdened ER doctor just might seek some comfort after trying to save a child injured in an auto accident, only to lose the battle. By focusing on the character’s motivation and both the sterling qualities and the less than admiral characteristics, the writer creates dramatic scenes that allow us to overlook the unrealistic and become involved in the story and the action. Every writer must develop this skill.

As for me, I’ll tune in to CSI New York and watch Mac’s team solve the crime in an hour even though I know it really takes weeks to get test results back. Then I’ll catch a rerun of Law and Order just to hear Lenny Briscoe’s wise cracks and watch his violations of civil rights. After that, I’ll put my feet up and accept the courtroom performances of the gangster’s lawyers as they lie, steal, bribe, and murder their way to an acquittal. I’ll enjoy every minute of it because, maybe, just maybe, it could happen that way.

Cait Collins