Ben Okri and the Imperfections of Storytelling

5 02 2008

In an earlier post I lamented the fact that within the computer and net space that things are meant to work properly. We don’t like it when our computer doesn’t work as expected or that a link is broken, however it is these flaws that make art so interesting. The same goes for storytelling. It is the imperfections in life that are so interesting to share through story. Can you imagine a world where everything worked? What a boring life we’d live.

Ben Okri puts it so much better than me:

“The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell.”

I’m worried that as a society we are focusing way too much energy on perfection without sharing our imperfections.