Relatable

I don’t think that “Relatable” is as problematic a word as the author seems to think it is. I think that reliability is an important literary device that is applicable to various facets. To say that something is relatable allows you to experience the entertainment at a deeper you live. You can empathize with the characters. You can live vicariously through the film or book. You feel a connection to what you’re looking at. The author, however, did make me realize how often this word has come up when critiquing something. I never noticed that I do this. It is useful to use this word too because it is a realistic expectation to have for a piece of entertainment. Before you used to just be a person viewing what’s happening in the play or movie or back from the outside looking in. But now you look from within and feel so much if a playwright is relatable. That is a very, very potent effect that it can have on you. And that’s why I don’t think it is problematic. I actually think, on the contrary, that it is very, very significant and not problematic. The word relatable is very helpful in teaching also. A hard time that some teachers have is making their particular subject of interest relatable to their students. And the students only care about something if it is involved in their direct experience of reality. But if used properly, which I don’t is necessarily hard to do, then the word relatable is very powerful. The best way to learn is from direct experience so if teachers can incorporate their subject into the student’s life, they will be much more likely to not only learn the concept, but also appreciate on a deeper level and will be able to recall taught information via the memory of their own lives. Relatable is not problematic. We should accept the usage of the word and learn to use is it completely to our advantage. It will make an experience that much more distinct and profound.