On Monday Drew Harris (VP of development at rts) told me about the movie “Wildcat” (a film about Flannery O’ Connor). I got excited about this movie. Prior to watching this motion picture I determined to re-listen to a dozen of Flannery’s short stories. In the course of contemplating Flannery’s stories I came across an essay by Lauren Groff, and she made the following observation…

It is well to realize that the maximum amount of seriousness admits the maximum amount of comedy. Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe (one reason a great deal of our contemporary fiction is humorless is because so many contemporary writers are relativists, and they have to be continually justifying the actions of their characters on a sliding scale of values). Only when you are as immovable in your beliefs as bedrock can you then become a subversive. And one of the most subversive aspects of Flannery’s writing is her deep and roiling humor. If you don’t have an appreciation of the humor embedded deep in the bones of her stories, you certainly will not be able to handle the violence.

– Lauren Groff