>>114839083Okay, I think I'm closer to understanding what you mean, but maybe you could clarify by giving an example of what you mean by
>carving a path you can follow and studyand how that contrasts from
>reflectionwhich I take you mean in a sense of recognizing some part of yourself or your experience in a story, rather than "reflection" in the sense of looking back and meditating on an idea.
To clarify my angle further: take any course on storytelling and they'll tell you, one of the greatest assets to a writer is writing what you know. This allows specificity and authenticity, and, almost counter-intuitively, will increase chances of connecting with an audience. Generalities are the enemy. Trying to cast a wide net will make your writing bland and fake, and no one will care. This is why I consider much of AT's later writing to be strong; the writers clearly write from personal experience on topics that are important to them, and as a result I feel connection and understanding through the medium of the characters on the screen.
I agree that, if including more grounded topics and themes only served the end of "hey I've seen/heard/felt that," and that was the end of it, it would indeed be weak writing. However, for a good writer, this is only a starting point to capitalize on, an opportunity to say to say something new or profound or personal, in a way that people will understand and appreciate. For me and many others, this is what the AT writers were able to accomplish. Connecting more explicitly to everyday life doesn't automatically make something "dumbed down" or "limited," on the contrary it's a fantastic starting point to what is essentially limitless opportunity for expression and depth.
