I had a dubious flirtation with the Highlander movie and TV show back in the '90s when I was babysitting late and the only other option on TV was Star Trek. I found the idea interesting and the show promising, but hadn't really thought about it much in the ensuing years, except that infamously cool sounding quote, but found the first season and the original movie on a streaming service so gave it a try. Strangely I'm having similar qualms about it as I did with Harry Potter and Wheel of Time. I'm an avid story nut, I used to stay up way too late trying to finish the next chapter if a book or series really captivated me, I went to a random movie I knew nothing about to watch a trailer for 'Return of the King,' I read and reread my favorite books impatiently awaiting the next installment, if something hooks me, I'm determined to finish it out, except in the aforementioned cases.
In all three cases I was hooked by a promising story, interesting characters, intriguing setting, big ideas, humor, wit, fun, adventure, a little romance, a promising exploration of what it means to be human (which is what a story is at bottom!). But even as I devoured the material, gradually it seemed to grow less wholesome, less nutritious, less tasty and satisfying, I really wasn't savoring it as once I had, but why? I read through five and a half Harry Potter books and ten twelfths of Wheel of Time before I couldn't stomach any more of these cult classic and beloved tales, but why? The story began to lag, things grew ever darker, characters and plot began to languish, but most of all the worldview was driving me crazy and all hope seemed dead. I hate modern lit and dystopian tales like 'Brave New World' and 'Animal Farm' (not that I don't appreciate the moral of the tale, and the role of cautionary tales, but they leave me feeling personally depressed which is probably the point!) for just those reasons (fuzzy worldview and lack of hope). What little time I have to read, I want to read something that can cultivate hope and kindle virtue in a world that is dark enough at times, and before you accuse me of only liking sunshiny tales wherein the roses never fail to flower, take a look at my favorite book list, Les Mis and A Tale of Two Cities and Lord of the Rings aren't exactly replete with daisies!
Highlander struggles with this as well, everything is dark and drear, death and destruction, without a coherent reason for why things are as they are or a set of rules to which they must adhere or why we don't all just commit suicide and get it over with if this is all life has to offer? Sort of like liberal visions of utopia: eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die, except we should probably die today so we don't further desecrate the earth?! Why are we living? That's why we love stories: they tell us how and why life is worth living. I don't love those books because they are happy, happy, happy all the time, rather I slog with Frodo through Mordor because it is the only way to secure hope, if not for himself, then for the world he leaves behind. We dodge the law with Jean Val Jean in hopes of a brighter dawn for a wretched little girl. We rot in jail in revolutionary France because there is such a thing as love. This sort of sacrifice, determination, endurance, strength, patience, courage I can understand, it makes sense, it is within the realm of our understanding, it is coherent within the stated worldview of the work.
Wheel of Time had a coherent worldview within itself, but it just got so bogged down in minor details and subplots that I lost interest. Highlander and Harry Potter drove me batty as they never explained how or why things happened, they just were that way? All three were rather melancholy, at least to me, what is there to hope in or long for or sacrifice for or pursue virtue to attain? Why bother? Much like this tale we call life, if you have yet to discover the Author and delve into the backstory, the characters, the rules and laws that govern the world, and have peeked ahead at the denouement. I suppose tales like Highlander and Harry Potter appeal to the vast array of folk that don't have any other tale to explain existence, to give them a reason and a hope, so they cling to whatever they can, such as it is. What are you clinging to? Why do you live? Are there any rules or coherence in your existence? Have you any hope? It may be time to find yourself a new favorite Author, to delve into your own fairy story, for therein is Hope indeed!
