Why "Unbroken" Had a Fantastic Message

Last night I sat down with my family and cats and laptop and watched a rented copy of the recent movie Unbroken. It was a three-time Oscar nominee, was directed by Angelina Jolie, wasn't rated R (ugh, everything is rated R), and we'd also heard that it had a Christian message, but we had no clue how. So we gave it a shot.

Here's the IMDB blurb:

After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

That isn't too much to go on, is it? If any of you know much about WWII, you know that the Japanese prisoner-of-war camps were extremely cruel places to be.  This is portrayed in several heart-wrenching scenes of Unbroken. The officer in charge of the camp, known to the prisoners as "the bird," was particularly awful. He'd call Louis his friend, then have the other prisoners beat him up. I think he was a bit psycho.
Anyhow. I loved this movie for everything! We could all connect with Louis just about right from the start of the movie, it showed the war camps in horrifying clarity, and I could feel the tension of waiting for a rescue with the men on the life rafts. The whole thing was wonderfully put together and it made me tear up (which is quite the accomplishment, even if I don't actually shed a tear).
The movie ended with a few sentences about what Louis Zamperini did in the rest of his life, after WWII. And let me tell you - that was the most incredible part of the entire story.
Think about this: you spend two hours watching a guy you really do care about getting beaten up and beaten up on top of the last beating up, then standing up and carrying on, getting to know other prisoners, getting hope waved in his face, staying strong despite horrible treatment, getting taunted and hit again by a psychotic officer. And he just keeps getting back up and keeping on going. Finally, the movie ends, and sentences come onto the screen complete with pictures of the real Louis Zamperini about how he has PTSD, but finally fulfilled his dream of running in the Olympics at some 80 years old as a torch bearer - in Japan. About how he went and met with all his Japanese captors, except the Bird, who was the only one who refused to see him. About how he got married. About how he decided that forgiveness was the way forward after the war, and not revenge.

Louis Zamperini, at age 80, ran a leg in the torch run for the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, not far from the POW camp where he'd been found

Forgiveness. Can you imagine forgiving people who'd done nothing but beat you down for years? And not only you, but your countrymen, your allies, your friends? Can you imagine forgiving the people who'd killed plenty of other prisoners? I can't. But Louis Zamperini did. And you know why? Because he was motivated by his faith. Seriously, it even said that in the end of the movie (which is miraculous in and of itself that secular movie-makers even mention Christianity in a neutral light). He told God, when stranded in a life raft, that if He saved Louis Louis would dedicate the rest of his life to God. So Louis Zamperini did, and because of that he was able to do what most people would consider impossible. Forgive. It's one of the main messages of Christianity, and I am so pleased that that message was mentioned in even one small sentence in a movie targeted to a secular audience.

Have you seen Unbroken? What did you think? Did it move you too? What was your favorite scene? Tell me in the comments!

Book Review: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

I took a little trip into a new subgenre a week or so ago and read Incarceron, a steampunk novel. At first it was slow going because I could only read the copy at the bookstore, but then I got it from the library and I flew through it.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ... 

I don't even know where to begin. Hmmm . . . which part did I like the most?

Claudia

Claudia is the female main character, the daughter of Incarceron's stony warden and betrothed to the prince heir. Her world is sculpted to look like (from what I could gather) Edwardian era England (think Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Jane Eyre, etc.) but in reality it is a very advanced society. She lives in a world that is literally not what it seems. But she is awesome because she's strong - not in a macho way, either. Just strong in resolve, courage, intelligence, will, and moral character. She is a character you can really root for, because even though she's adopted the stony expression of her father and doesn't really have any friends. she has a good heart. She doesn't like the idea of court conspiracies but resolves to deal with them. She hates the idea of being part of a plan to assassinate *ehem* certain members of the court. She saves her father despite their icy relationship. She uncovers intrigues and handles all the dirty people around her firmly and decisively. 

So yes. I like her. She is a girl after my own heart.

Finn

Finn is . . . interesting. I'm not really quite sure how to describe him. He came across to other characters as silent and severe, but the book revealed that he felt a little unstable mentally because of his visions and wasn't very confident in himself. It was a good contrast. One that created a lot of character depth. And contrary to the tough confident exterior he presented to everyone, he really cared about people - the Maestra, Keiro, Attia - even if he hadn't been given a reason to. And that made him really likable as a protagonist. The selflessness and fear of mental instability combined with the uncaring exterior was so lovable. *squeezes Finn in hugs*

Incarceron

The prison was basically a character in and of itself (which is fantastic set design). It was diverse, forbidding, dangerous, and mysterious. SO MANY SECRETS. We didn't know where it was, we didn't know how to get in, we didn't know how to get out, we didn't know how large it was, we didn't know how many people were in it, WE DIDN'T KNOW MUCH OF ANYTHING, REALLY. But that was fine because it made the setting alive.

Secrets

There were secrets everywhere. We didn't know who the characters really were until well into the novel, we didn't know what Incarceron really was, we didn't know the details of Saphiqque, we didn't know what had happened to Giles, we didn't know what Finn's past really was, we didn't know if we could trust Keiro, we didn't know if Evian was telling the truth, we didn't know we didn't know we didn't know. And it was glorious because despite that the world building and character development and setting and plot were all perfectly done.

Other Random Things to Love

Jared was wonderful and kind and smart. The warden was surprisingly mutli-dimensional. The queen was creepy. I loved to hate the prince. The world was awesome because it was like Star Wars tech was being hidden under Pride and Prejudice. Plus the very name of the novel and the prison is just the coolest.

It's good and cool and you'll like it. So go read it!

Why Character Chats are Awesome

If you've never done a character chat, then you're missing out.
What is a character chat? It is when you and any number of other authors choose a character (or two, or three) each, throw them all into an imaginary place/situation, and watch how they all interact with characters written by other people in worlds not their own.
So for instance, if I was character chatting with one other person and we agreed to use only one character each, we'd each choose one of our own characters and hold a conversation as our characters. I'd speak as say, Nitri, and the other author would speak as her character. It's like a role-playing game.
Usually these things are done online via messaging systems such as Google+ Hangouts or Facebook Messaging, but I've also participated in a character chat done over Google Docs. Some chats are just conversations taking place in featureless rooms, some are set up in a specific location with a setting that the characters can interact with, some are life-and-death situations that the authors just dump their characters into. The possibilities are really limitless.

I got the original image from here.

Personally I think character chatting in one of the best ways to help flesh out your characters. Why?

You have to think about what speech patterns set your character apart from the others in the chat. By just looking at the text, could you identify which character was your own by what he said?Also sometimes the character's speech patterns come out naturally in the chat, which is incredibly helpful. I was character chatting using Nitri the other night and realized that one of his favorite phrases was "I would have thought . . ." It was giving the other character in the chat (a very snarky charrie) way too many opportunities to make fun of Nitri's potential for intelligent thought.

Basically, this is how Nitri got a smack-down. He wasn't very happy.

You see how your character reacts to insults. Maybe it is just my characters but they often start off the chats by arguing with the others. If this happens, you get to see how your character uses insults, how much he can take before snapping, how he snaps, etc. This is also important because it forces us to think, "is this my character talking? Or is it me?" That distinction is very important and you're forced to think about it in a character chat.
Questions you wouldn't have thought of get asked. Other people often have questions to ask your characters or about your characters that you never would have thought of. Some of these come out in character chats and get you thinking about how your character would answer. It's like a character interview, except you're forced to think fast and produce an answer.

The diversity between the characters can be staggering. Different authors, different story lines, and different worlds all collide when you throw together a few character from totally different stories. This mix-up creates very interesting conversations and very interesting conflicts. Sometimes you have to better think through something in the world you've made up in order to have your character explain it to another who has never heard of it before. Also, you may end up with a court jester trying to hold a conversation with a over-protective dad. You never know what could happen, and watching your character squirm trying to figure out how to deal with the weirdness if not only informative, but incredibly entertaining.

Just watch the drama unfold from above and feel free to laugh.

You may end up with a new OTP. This has happened. Authors stick their characters together and liking happens, totally unplanned. Sometimes this can be problematic, as they don't have their new soul mate in their world. But it can also give you an idea of how your character reacts in romantic situations, giving you more information to write with.

Basically, anything you want to know about a character, you can learn via a character chat. 

Also, it is incredibly entertaining. Especially when insults start flying. If you've never done one, or need to know one of your characters better, find a friend or someone in a writer's group or any author at all and go set one up. It'll be fun!

Have you ever done a character chat? What do you like about them? How do you start them off? Personally I like to throw my character down from the sky like comets that don't burn. They often land quite awkwardly. *cue evil author laughter* But seriously, tell me about your character chatting experiences down in the comments.

Also, I apologize for any typos in this post. I was rather rushed while writing it.