Social Media, Online Personas and Criss Angel’s BeLIEve

Last night, a friend and I went to see Criss Angel‘s BeLIEve, which was under the umbrella of Cirque du Soleil. (Side note: his site opens with pop-ups and auto-play. Erg. You’ve been warned.) Since I had received a press release through horror webzine FlamesRising.com, I thought I could review it for the site, but I can’t.

Until the show started, everything related to Criss Angel’s BeLIEve came across as dark, moody and Victorian. Steampunk rabbits adorned the stage. Strange smoke filled the air. The program book has costumes of crows, dolls and odd bunny rabbits. Criss, who normally has more of a casual persona, is dressed up more as a goth than a Californian in the press kits and on the website. So, I was expecting to attend a surreal performance that took my breath away. Instead, we were regaled with slapstick comedy and an extension of Criss’s online and television presence through video clips, audience interaction, personal stories and memorabilia. There was no mystery, other than the illusions, which forced me to focus on the beats of the show. I could “see” how the show was constructed and I felt as if I was staring backstage. Something that–as many of my fellow authors, musicians, artists and actors know–can be a death knell for any stage performance if not handled carefully.

Reviews online reflected the audience’s disappointment as well. (Note to self: always read reviews.) Words like “self-indulgent” were used and other various unpleasantries. I walked out of the theatre feeling bad for Criss, because on the surface it seemed as if his original show was too dark and too edgy. “Quite possibly,” I thought, “the stage audience might not understand something that unusual. With the economy being the way it is, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the show had to be “dumbed down” for public consumption.”

Afterward, I found myself thinking about how this show is an excellent example of what happens when an artist is constrained by his persona. Criss is very active with all the right tools; YouTube!, Facebook, etc. He’s has MINDFREAK, which is his own (for lack of a better description) syndicated magic reality TV show. All of these things add up to create a contemporary (magic) success story–especially online where it’s easy to “ooo” and “aaah” at someone walking on water or transferring scorpions into someone else’s mouth.

Take those same elements and allow people to seem them offline, and they don’t translate the same way. Those same anecdotes and videos come across as arrogant or selfish, regardless of how many platitudes we’re given. Why? Because the dynamic is different. The television and the internet are such unique, individual experiences that it’s difficult to recreate that extremely personalized touch in a room filled with hundreds of people.

Anyone who has performed on stage for an audience, speaking/singing/playing or otherwise, understands that the dynamic in a theater is no longer about the “I.” It’s about the “we.” The crowd mentality. It’s about fostering the crowd’s emotions in a natural way than holding back performances unless we cheer. It’s about drawing the audience into an experience rather than sharing the experiences of the performer.

What I just said is counter-intuitive to what many of us are taught about our online personas and writing platforms. We share online to get viewers and readers. We get personal by offering anecdotes to be able to relate to people. This doesn’t always work offline, which is why I wanted to talk about this particular show. Criss is obviously very talented and popular online, but right now I’m not sure he’ll be around for the long haul. I felt that BeLIEve was a chance for Criss to prove his versatility and recreate that Victorian-era feel with the help of Cirque du Soleil. The online thing Criss couldn’t escape, was his online persona.

The next time you’re thinking about your online persona or your writer’s platform, I hope that you consider how your online presence translates to your offline (analog) persona as well. At the end of the day, it’s a lot like dating. Give everything away, and you’ll have nothing left to give.

November 5, 2010
Permalink ∞

Faith, Writing and a Horror Author’s Intent Part III

Last week, I talked about how Maurice Broaddus and I were discussing faith in writing. Maurice picked up the thread in the second part of our series. You can read Faith, Writing and a Horror Author’s Intent Part II on his website.

In part three, I started off by asking Maurice about his writing platform.

While spirituality/religion isn’t part of my platform, it’s a part of yours. Why did you decide to go that route?

MAURICE: Because that’s a fundamental part of whom I am. I could no more shy away from faith than I could shy away from being black. So for me, it wasn’t so much a market decision as much as an artistic voice one. There are some projects where faith is explicitly explored (like Orgy of Souls co-written with Wrath James White) and some where faith plays a minimum role (like King Maker). But both works feature a nearly all black cast, which few even notice or make a point of, I’m glad to say.

Sometimes though, faith is just a part of a character. In my story Pimp My Airship, a steampunk story, I have a character who is a part of that world’s version of the nation of Islam. It was just part of who that character was (and, frt., one of my favorite characters I’ve ever written: (120 Degrees of) Knowledge Allah). So sometimes it’s a matter of which I am and other times it’s a matter of who the characters are.

Are there particular areas or religion/spirituality that you would feel uncomfortable writing?

MLV: I don’t know if its comfort level for me so much as it is interest. I have no interest in sharing my views on religion or spirituality. Not my goal as a storyteller. If I did write about religion as part of the plot, I’d still keep it in the background or make it part of the interpersonal character conflict. It would have to be customized to the setting or the characters. I guess that’s where my real comfort level lies. Typically, when I do write about religion or spirituality, it’s on an individual character level than a global part of the plot, even with the presence of religious-inspired monsters like demons. In that way, that is part of my personality, since I believe that a person’s spirituality is unique.

Also, in order for me to write about a religion I’m not familiar with, I’d treat it like any other topic and research it before I’d jump in.

Maurice, how integral to a plot is your views on faith?

If you’re interested in reading more about what Maurice and I have to say, watch for the last post in this series at MauriceBroaddus.com.

November 1, 2010
Permalink ∞

My Free Halloween Story at FlamesRising.com

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to pop in and mention I have a free flash fiction piece up at FlamesRising.com today for Halloween. Entitled A Different Kind of Treat it’s a Halloween take on an old fairy tale.

Here’s a preview of the story:

Blood-red shafts of sunlight filter through a dirty cabin window, kissing a row of colorful glass bottles. One by one the bottles shine with anticipation as they reveal their grisly contents. Three eyes spin in a green flask; a pair of wings beats urgently in another.

“What’s that, Momma?” A child’s finger points to a jar of wrinkled entrails sitting high on a kitchen shelf. The boy, who stands about three feet tall, is covered in dust and flour. His skin is marred with muddy blisters.

“Oh nothing special, Alwin,” Belinda replies airily as she pulls a frilly apron over her head. “Just something I cook with now and again. You hungry?”

“Want candy.” Alwin rubs his bloated stomach. “Chocolate, ’specially.”

She flashes him a crooked grin and picks a small book off the burnished wood counter. Has it really been a year since she last used her recipe book? Lately, it seems like all of her time has been devoted to nursing Alwin. No matter what she gives him — cinnamon, tincture of licorice or willow bark roots — nothing seems to help him get any better.

To finish reading the story, go to my free Halloween flash fiction at FlamesRising.com.

Hope you’re enjoying your holiday!

October 31, 2010
Permalink ∞

Faith, Writing and a Horror Author’s Intent

This past week I had an in-depth discussion with my friend and author Maurice Broaddus. Maurice is an interesting writer because he’s up front about his faith and infuses it into his writing. I, on the other hand, am pretty private when it comes to my beliefs; they aren’t part of my writer’s platform. Even though we have different beliefs, both of us write genre fiction and enjoy writing horror.

After we finished our discussion, we both felt that you might be interested in following our exchange and commenting on it. I thought we brought up some good points about our “selves” as authors and what we intend to put into our work.

Our conversation started with my asking him a question about Halloween. While I love the holiday, I’ve run into several people who don’t for religious reasons.

MONICA: As an author who intentionally infuses Christianity into your writing, how do you feel about the recent criticisms that Halloween is a threat to Christianity?

MAURICE: Well, I don’t know if I see myself as intentionally infusing Christianity into my work as much as that’s simply my worldview and it naturally comes out in my work (at least, that’s what I hope is happening).

Halloween is always one of those weird times of year for me. I’m not that into Halloween (which sounds counterintuitive coming from a horror writer). It’s just not my thing. On the flip side, it’s my wife’s FAVORITE (except for Christmas) time of year. The house gets decorated; the planning of costumes is like laying out a battlefield campaign. She’s all in.

But we also have to navigate a certain church culture that instinctively reacts against Halloween. This culture reacts to Halloween the same way it does horror: after a cursory glance, it’s dubbed an embrace of evil and the satanic. The rise in Halloween’s popularity is seen as a threat, but yet they still want to have it both ways. So we get things like “trunk or treat” or “hallelujah night” where we can participate in all of the trappings of Halloween, but not truly partake of Halloween. Because that’s not what everyone else is doing – just using the occasion to have dress up parties and beg for candy.

I’m curious, what role does the supernatural, or even the idea of the supernatural, play in your everyday life or is it something to be dismissed out of hand?

MONICA: I tend to look at the world through the eyes of an amateur cultural anthropologist. (I wanted to “be” Indiana Jones when I grew up.) Having said that, I have an insatiable curiosity. I’ve read a lot of books on a lot of different topics – including the arcane. So, I’m of two minds on the subject. The logic part of my brain says that there’s a rational explanation for everything. There’s a lot of psychology and sociology that can be found in the supernatural. The other side of my brain says that I shouldn’t be so sure of myself all the time. I’m only human. How could I possibly have all the answers? Sometimes, extraordinary things can happen and there’s simply no “natural” explanation for them.

So I guess the straight answer is: it depends upon the day and whether or not I’m writing. To get that creative boost, I let my imagination run away with me. Sometimes, when things are clicking, it almost feels like I’m experiencing supernatural so I visualize or get inspired by different muses. Other times, when I can’t hear the voices and the world seems flat and gray, then there’s nothing there except billions of atoms smashing into each other. That’s a place I don’t like to visit very often.

Has anyone ever accused you of being non-Christian because you write horror? How do you respond to something like that?

Maurice will be picking up the conversation on his website, too. I’ll share that thread with you in a follow-up post. Feel free to chime in!

October 28, 2010
Permalink ∞

Free Horror Movies and My Articles at Crackle.com

Crackle.com Halloween CollectionThis month, I had the pleasure of writing for free movie website Crackle.com. Not only did I get to pick whatever horror movies I wanted to write about, I got the chance to watch them for free on their new site.

Movies are available for free either online or through your PS3. If you don’t like these films, be sure to check out Crackle.com’s Halloween movie collection for some other scary movie options.

Here’s a preview of my series entitled, “A Fan’s Guide to Scary Movies.”

  • A Fan’s Guide to Scary Movies: 13 Ghosts – The opening credits for 13 Ghosts really grabbed me. There’s groaning, there’s moaning, and there were thirteen ghosts rolling right down the screen. Immediately after the credits, William Castle popped up with a message to the audience about a “ghost viewer.” At different points in this primarily black-and-white film, the audience was encouraged to use a pair of glasses to either see or avoid the ghosts by looking through red or blue lenses.
  • A Fan’s Guide to Scary Movies: The Blob (1988) – The Blob portrayed is pretty interesting to me. It’s more than just pink goo that slithers its way across town. It’s an amoeba that can ooze, twist, digest and grow. Sometimes it’s fast and other times it’s slow. Since this life-form has the properties of a thick liquid, it can get beneath you by worming its way through the sewers or drain pipes, too. The thing that I thought was pretty cool was that it can also spontaneously generate. Separate a piece of The Blob from the rest of its mass, and you have micro-blob!
  • A Fan’s Guide to Scary Movies: Mary Reilly – Mary Reilly is the type of horror movie that takes you by the hand and draws you into the bleak time period from the very beginning. Since this movie was based on a familiar story, the film’s perspective is told from a servant who lives in Dr. Jekyll’s house. This technique really worked for me. I felt like I was standing on the top of a long, winding stairwell and every minute that went by brought me closer to the bottom of a dungeon. The suspense here resonates through the oppressive lifestyle of the master-slave relationship; the wealthy doctor’s staff has a big impact on the plot. In a way, every servant in that house gives the doctor whatever he needs by handing him his desires through an invisible wall.
  • A Fan’s Guide to Scary Movies: Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters – Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters is what I would describe as a “mosaic” movie that’s driven by fast-paced, ass-kicking action. Set in seventeenth century rural China, there are several different characters and plots that keep the fight scenes fresh. The main storyline is about four, suave martial artists with over-the-top names like “Thunder.” Together, they and their wise master hunt down a king vampire. Only problem is, their trusty vampire compass leads them to an estate where nothing is as it seems. Things quickly slide downhill from there.
October 28, 2010
Permalink ∞
Previous Posts Next Posts




Looking for Monica’s books and games that are still in print? Visit Monica Valentinelli on Amazon’s Author Central or a bookstore near you.

Archives

Back to Top