is reporting fiction?

I first encourage you to watch this clip of Trevor Noah reacting to the Larry Nassar verdict before reading this entry, as it will be more helpful/make more sense.

In the end of this clip, Trevor asks what would happen if the enablers in certain situations were to receive up to 10% of the consequences of the perpetrators. He suggests that people would be a lot more forthcoming with helpful information and that abuse would stop a lot quicker than it currently is.

To a certain extent, it already is a law for many, supposedly all, adults to report instances of abuse. It is called Mandatory Reporting. By law, social workers, nurses/doctors, police, and teachers are some of the top persons who are bound by their duty to report to appropriate authorities that abuse is happening so that something can be done about it. The punishments for knowing about and failing to report instances of abuse can range from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on the state. That is, if it is implemented. So, technically, there is supposed to be some sort of punishment- but alas, we don’t typically live in that world.

In another opinion piece, I am reading the book “tiny beautiful things” by Cheryl Strayed where she had served as an advice columnist of sorts to anonymous persons who would write her out of a desperation of position and in need of some sort of answer/human empathy/contact. In the second response to a “how do I get unstuck” question, Cheryl talks about a year spent as a youth advocate for teenage girls who were at risk. She talks of how once she gained their trust, they told her all about what was going on in their lives. It was horrible to hear about. Cheryl gives examples of some of their stories. She told the girls in the beginning that it was awful and horrible, these things should not be happening to them, she would report it, something would be done/it would be STOPPED. So she did. She called the police, she called child welfare services, etc. And in many/all of the cases- nothing happened. At one point she asked social services why, and they explained that there is no funding/people are overworked/there is nowhere for these girls to go, etc. (Which, I can tell you is veryyyyy fucked up and yet verrrrry true. I know, because I am a social worker.) So then, she decides to tell the girls that it was awful and horrible, that these things should not be happening to them, she would report it, but that it probably WON’T stop, and probably nothing will be done, and the only way they are truly going to get out of it is to make it happen for themselves. They have to be strong, they have to survive. They need to join support groups, find people in like-minded situations, have friends they can confide in, get therapy- yes!- but no one will do it for them. They have to get themselves out. Because this is the society we live in.

On the one hand we have a person who is saying enablers have to be held accountable (I completely agree- KEEP REPORTING) and then on the other we have someone who does report, all the time, everything- and sees that to a large extent nothing is being done.

What we need to see in this situation is that both people are right. Trevor is using his voice and his influence to raise awareness to an issue and encourage people to not be enablers, while Cheryl was engaging in one on one relationship with girls being abused and telling them directly, out of a place of relationship, that they can make it-they just have to fight for themselves.

A friend recently said that she doesn’t like fiction because much of it feels like an attempt to force or contrive a feeling or sense of sadness to engage with readers. I understand and respect this opinion and desire to not want to feel sad/or strangely manipulated in a sense to arrive at a feeling or conclusion of sadness- but a part of me also wonders if fiction is commonly just a way for each individual person to express an element of their reality that they do not feel is appreciated or safe to address directly in real life. Are fiction writers writers who feel compelled to tell their personal stories of sadness or grief or distress but do not feel it is safe to do so in a real way in our society? Because to say someone hurt us directly, in writing, could cause that person to feel awful or even worst- unexpectedly confronted with their ability to wound those they love? Or because they know no other way to express their sadness than creating a fantasy world where something horrible happens to a fairy or a bear? Is fiction not an attempt to contrive sadness, but an attempt by the writer to feel heard even if it isn’t true, because we as a society are SO BAD at recognizing/respecting/confronting actual feelings of sadness, grief or loss?

I am not saying that this friend is wrong in her opinion. She can not like fiction all she wants, and is perfectly entitled to do so- I just wonder if the authors aren’t making an attempt to force or contrive anything, but are only fumbling, perhaps sometimes even unconsciously, into trying to explain an emotion that as a society- we SUCK at addressing in the only form they feel is acceptable?