Mr. Happy Pants and I talked tomato plants most of the day. It was extremely enjoyable… until…. Kidding, that was it. Nothing but friggin’ joy. It was weird not looking for chaos. Hard turning that off!!
But when the happy guy mask gets broken or falls off, all hell breaks loose. In my experience when the nice person snaps, it's a 10 on the Richter scale and everybody, including the jerks, are stunned by the eruption. The fun part is finding out what trigger / event breaks Mr. Happy Pants.
My wife is Mrs Happy Dress. ( She's doesn't wear pants, doesn't even own a pair.) She wakes up happy, the eternal optimist and always looks on the bright side.
Her positivity is infectious, everyone who meets her loves her immediately. She literally makes a friend everytime we leave the house. I admit I am doing a poor imitation of her most of the time.
There have been a 1000 times over the years when her outlook on life makes me feel like I'm an asshole, because I just don't see the brightside, let alone forgive and forget. But aim working on it . After 15 years of marriage, I am very comfortable saying if I disagree with my wife, It's because I'm wrong.
I read an interview with Michael Lewis where he claimed to be smiling ear-to-ear the entirety of his writing sessions. His material is mostly non-fiction and rarely dark, but I liked the idea of that, and try to adopt it myself. And it works! By remembering to smile, and by remembering that writing is a privilege, and super fun, I'm more productive, and my work is better. Plus, as Chuck alluded, it's extra diabolical to torture your characters with a grin on your face.
Mister “I’d find it hard to like him.” Maybe even kill him off and follow his happy ghost as he follows around his murderer forgiving him and telling him he can do better.
Guess that’s why the show Ted Lasso is so popular. A Mr. Happy type guy that everyone underestimates. And who is his nemesis? There were obvious ones in Season One.
Then, in the latest season, the heartbreak and fury of a seemingly benign character, Nate, in the final minutes, showcases his building contempt for Ted. We see a different Nate. We thought we knew him as the Menschy sidekick (someone easily dismissed) and, lo and behold, we realize that he’s full of rage. It’s the most masterful character trajectory I’ve seen in television.
I think if you can marry heartbreak with rage, and surprise, it’s very satisfying for an audience.
When I write, I try to imagine myself there and submerge myself in it. Much like Kevin Costner's character in "For the Love of the Game" shuts out the world when he pitches. I hyperfocus and bearly notice the passage of time.
I remember one of your Joe Rogan interviews vividly. It kinda changed the way I look at conversations/story telling in general. You said to Rogan "You want me to crucify myself? I'm going to crucify myself now. Here we go..." and you proceeded to tell story after amazing story. I realized that if I really want a great conversation or to tell a great story, I have to go off the rails and really go way off and into the deep end and even then I'm still probably playing it safe...
I’m already dubious of “Mr. enlightened”. Me thinks something traumatic happened to him or, at his core, he’s deeply heartbroken and that’s why he’s so happy go lucky. Me thinks it’s either façade or a desperate attempt at being happy through acting happy.
Or maybe he’s just a genuinely happy guy and the suspicion, dislike and contempt it more a reflection of somebody else. Go figure.
P.S. The character’s description puts me in mind of Myshkin from Dostoevsky’s ‘The Idiot’. Why would anybody want to hurt Myshkin?
But Mr. Happy Pants is annoying.
Mr. Happy Pants and I talked tomato plants most of the day. It was extremely enjoyable… until…. Kidding, that was it. Nothing but friggin’ joy. It was weird not looking for chaos. Hard turning that off!!
But when the happy guy mask gets broken or falls off, all hell breaks loose. In my experience when the nice person snaps, it's a 10 on the Richter scale and everybody, including the jerks, are stunned by the eruption. The fun part is finding out what trigger / event breaks Mr. Happy Pants.
My wife is Mrs Happy Dress. ( She's doesn't wear pants, doesn't even own a pair.) She wakes up happy, the eternal optimist and always looks on the bright side.
Her positivity is infectious, everyone who meets her loves her immediately. She literally makes a friend everytime we leave the house. I admit I am doing a poor imitation of her most of the time.
There have been a 1000 times over the years when her outlook on life makes me feel like I'm an asshole, because I just don't see the brightside, let alone forgive and forget. But aim working on it . After 15 years of marriage, I am very comfortable saying if I disagree with my wife, It's because I'm wrong.
Were there times before Mr. Happy Pants where you almost cracked the happy character? Where you came close but something just didn’t work?
I am ever the optimist - and this made me smile... And then laugh. 😆
Wow. You've read my mind. The piece I'm bringing on Thursday is my attempt at writing the hardest genre I know - comedy.
I read an interview with Michael Lewis where he claimed to be smiling ear-to-ear the entirety of his writing sessions. His material is mostly non-fiction and rarely dark, but I liked the idea of that, and try to adopt it myself. And it works! By remembering to smile, and by remembering that writing is a privilege, and super fun, I'm more productive, and my work is better. Plus, as Chuck alluded, it's extra diabolical to torture your characters with a grin on your face.
Mister “I’d find it hard to like him.” Maybe even kill him off and follow his happy ghost as he follows around his murderer forgiving him and telling him he can do better.
Guess that’s why the show Ted Lasso is so popular. A Mr. Happy type guy that everyone underestimates. And who is his nemesis? There were obvious ones in Season One.
Then, in the latest season, the heartbreak and fury of a seemingly benign character, Nate, in the final minutes, showcases his building contempt for Ted. We see a different Nate. We thought we knew him as the Menschy sidekick (someone easily dismissed) and, lo and behold, we realize that he’s full of rage. It’s the most masterful character trajectory I’ve seen in television.
I think if you can marry heartbreak with rage, and surprise, it’s very satisfying for an audience.
Off with the fingernails, the sooner the better!
When I write, I try to imagine myself there and submerge myself in it. Much like Kevin Costner's character in "For the Love of the Game" shuts out the world when he pitches. I hyperfocus and bearly notice the passage of time.
I remember one of your Joe Rogan interviews vividly. It kinda changed the way I look at conversations/story telling in general. You said to Rogan "You want me to crucify myself? I'm going to crucify myself now. Here we go..." and you proceeded to tell story after amazing story. I realized that if I really want a great conversation or to tell a great story, I have to go off the rails and really go way off and into the deep end and even then I'm still probably playing it safe...
"I can't wait to pull off his fingernails."
Just had half a glass a milk shoot outta my nose: glass free.
I’m already dubious of “Mr. enlightened”. Me thinks something traumatic happened to him or, at his core, he’s deeply heartbroken and that’s why he’s so happy go lucky. Me thinks it’s either façade or a desperate attempt at being happy through acting happy.
Or maybe he’s just a genuinely happy guy and the suspicion, dislike and contempt it more a reflection of somebody else. Go figure.
P.S. The character’s description puts me in mind of Myshkin from Dostoevsky’s ‘The Idiot’. Why would anybody want to hurt Myshkin?