Life vs. fiction

A character wants something they can’t have, and they do everything within and even beyond their capacity to get it. That’s the core of dramatic narrative, and we’ve all read it and seen it countless times. In life, though, the “can’t have” often wins. You can dream of traveling the world chasing love or food or surf or supervillains, but most of us choose to stay home and handle our business. In fiction, if characters like that are seen at all, they’re side players, operating as plot devices or cautionary tales for the protagonist, because they’re not sacrificing everything to chase their dream. So who cares about them. A main character is the main character because we’re supposed to be invested in their journey. Maybe relate to it, aspire to it. Plenty of good memes about the horrific social implications when protagonists protagonize with no regard to their surroundings. The everyday heroism of deprioritizing selfish wishes and declining the call to adventure doesn’t translate well…