One thing keeps coming up, whether you are one of those people who watch The Today Show or Good Morning America to start your day or end your day with the nightly news: people want a story. I just finished Michael Lewis's Flash Boys, which is near the top of bestseller lists. This guy knows just when to leave the reader hanging, after making his point and we get to know the characters enough, and to shift gears and introduce a new plotline, as they are. Sometimes one reflects on what one has seen in theaters: Captain America: Winter Soldier, now almost two months old in theaters, actually resonates with its backstory, the middle sequence where the two main protagonists visit the World War II machine and the story's roots. Godzilla, on the other hand, doesn't contain one line of memorable dialogue, and didn't have ageing stars such as Robert Redford and Samuel L. Jackson to round out the cast. Still, it's the story that sticks, which is all the more amazing, if you think about it, that several hours of TV programming can unfold over hours, leave one hanging and anxious for the next installment, and have us invested in its characters throughout. Storytelling indeed.
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