One of my Facebook friends recently posted something about Hollywood. She said, “All I’m asking is that you give me good characters, not tokens, and good stories, not lectures.”
Such is the sorry state of today’s entertainment industry. It’s no longer about entertaining. It’s about using entertainment to push a political agenda, and it’s not going over well with the general public. I think this is why television ratings are down, and why, prior to Covid, there were fewer butts in seats at movie theaters. People watch scripted TV shows, and go to the movies, because they want to be entertained. However, when you use entertainment as a means to lecture people, they’ll walk away.
In my earlier post, No Politics, Just Entertainment, I talked about why I keep politics out of my contemporary romance novels. I write solely to entertain my readers, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If I wanted to lecture people I would write nonfiction. However, I made the choice to write contemporary romance. It’s my favorite genre, and, like my readers, I simply want to be entertained. I stick to the outcomes readers want and expect. The hero gets the girl. Good overcomes evil. The villain suffers the consequences of his or her actions. I’m a storyteller. My job is to entertain readers. Period. I’m neither a teacher nor a preacher, nor do I want to be, and I leave the politics to the politicians.
Marina Martindale
My latest contemporary romance novel, The Scandal, is now available on Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com and other online book sellers.
Marina Martindale writes and edits all of her blog posts herself. She does not use AI software or images of any kind. No part of this blog may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any form, or used in any matter by AI, without the express written consent Good Oak Press, LLC. Requests for permission must be addressed to Good Oak Press, LLC, P.O. Box 51244, Denton, TX 76206-1244