By: Lucas Ngai
Illustration By: Sylvain Chain
For most of my life, I’ve never felt strongly about the media I consumed. To me, media was either good or ‘less good’ (i.e. tolerable). Tolerable ‘Netflix slop’ would be enough to keep my attention for the duration of a film or episode, and you know what? I was fine with that.
Yet when I revisit my recent experiences with stories like Arcane, Toy Story, or One Piece, I am intrigued at how each of them has unexpectedly struck me in a profound way. I came in not expecting to connect with them, feel engaged, let alone break me emotionally. But each of them did in a significant way, and I struggled to put my finger on why. Perhaps I should stop falling to the whims of ‘[x show] metacritic’ before I can even formulate my honest thoughts on a show, for a change.
What, then, constitutes a good story?
For me, I think the word ‘humanity’ is an apt term. Yes, it sounds like a cop-out answer, but it’s true: humans are fundamentally driven by stories and narrative. The stories people tell are how we situate ourselves in the present and process the tangled mess that is our inner world. Similar to how we can intuitively sense that a self-portrait is good because it feels ‘right’ and ‘proportional’, we can likewise ‘sense’ the humanity in a story, primarily through a story’s characters and core message. When you sense humanity in a character, you can then get truly invested in a story—the process that makes us go “wow, that story was really good!” Beyond that, a coherent message reflective of our life experiences is what makes a story unforgettable; it separates the great stories from the good.
To make a character human, they must first be likeable. That usually means asking one question: could I imagine myself hanging out with them? In good stories, the answer is usually yes: Aragorn, Ekko, and the Phantom Thieves quickly come to mind.
But good stories don’t have to have likeable characters. A good story is able to add humanity, and complexity to unlikeable characters, which lends itself to the story’s quality. Take Buzz: when he is first introduced to Andy’s toy box, he comes across as a self-absorbed, one-dimensional, larger-than-life personality. But when he realises the true nature of his being in the middle of the story, we are able to empathise with him as he grapples with his true identity, revealing another dimension of his personality.
Upon rewatching, I’ve also come to appreciate Woody as a well-written character. I can definitely empathise with his deep insecurity when he gets overshadowed by Buzz: he, like us, just wants to be loved. His feelings, emotions, and decisions to screw Buzz over are clearly understood in the audience’s eyes. Also like us, he is able to grow from his insecurities and accept them. As he goes through tribulations with the space ranger throughout the story, he gradually comes to terms with his insecurities and sees Buzz as a friend (when Buzz gets strapped to the rocket). As we can see, the way that characters make understandable actions based on their emotions and logic, as well as their capacity to change through the events of a story, are very human—processes that we can relate to on a deeper level. Thus one of the hallmarks of a good story is relatable, dynamic characters with human struggles.
The way a character interacts with a good story should also reflect a core message consistent with our human experience. Take One Piece: as we see Luffy come face to face with his weakness of loneliness or ‘stupidity’ (especially after Marineford), and be told even by his own friends that his efforts are futile, he still marches onwards with a smile. The power of Human Will to define what is possible, to me, is the core message of 1,100+ manga chapters.
Sure, it can be easy to write it off as “we can do it with the power of God and anime on my side!” bollocks, but even a ‘well-worn’ message has the potential to be compelling. I love One Piece because it does not hold back in describing human depravity throughout the story—racism, slavery, and sexual exploitation, to name a few. The natural response to such a world is cynicism, yet Luffy never thinks this way: this is precisely why the story left such a strong impression on me. You may get an entirely different message from One Piece, and that’s okay. What’s most important is the intention of a core message in a story that uniquely speaks to each person. To me, this is what makes good stories unforgettable.
Reflecting on what a good story is to me has not only changed the way I view media but also my study in History and even my own life. After all, History is essentially the most “human” story possible: we sense how real, dynamic historical figures and events are woven into a message, value-driven narrative that we use to characterise the world as we see it. It is why plots inspired by historical events are often compelling—because similar courses of action were made by humans at some point whose thought processes we fundamentally understand.
More concretely, as life ‘happens’ to us every day, we are constantly but subtly rewriting (or strengthening) the narrative of our lives. This has the power to influence your future actions. It could be that “I am a humanities person because of x experience that turned me off of STEM forever”, or “I am now a changed person who wants to live a fulfilling life because of y experience, therefore I will do z”. As the protag with power over your own story, what is your life’s narrative? What do you want your story to be?
