At the time of this post, I will be back on the road again heading back to New York. For those of you who know me, this will be trip number 6??? I think???? The first time I took the trip was the year Covid hit and I had to extract my oldest from college. Seattle to Oneonta, NY in 50 hours. Ugh. In any case, I am off again, this time to get his car back to him in Rochester, NY and then to fly home.
And now you ask, "But Scott, what do you dislike about the road-trip trope?"
In simple terms, it is repetitive. It becomes boring and, in the end, we could have learned all about the characters, their hang-ups, their romances, their emotional melt-downs and everything else the writer wanted to discuss, and do so in the comfort of our own home, instead of packing it up and traveling along Route 66 to end up in random locations.
Oh, I get it? The INTENT, and I bold that for a reason, is that the author believes that the location is giving the characters the inspiration to "learn" something new about themselves. The dive bar with the mechanical bull taught them freedom. Getting lost but finding a vista gave them the courage to explore new paths (see, that is my BA in Literature coming through there). The problem, however, is that the authors NEVER make those connections.
Why? They will often tell you it is "so clear"...but it isn't. It is only clear to them and to literature majors who can make connections out of anything (I once made a red wheelbarrow in Grapes of Wrath mean freedom, although to this day, I am not sure how I pulled that one off). They may also say they don't want to just tell us, but they are showing up. However, if you don't get those links and you don't make it clear enough, the metaphor is lost in translation.
Road trip stories, especially women's fiction stories, also often turn into knock-offs of Thelma and Louise. Been there, done it.
Finally, authors will often use the road trip storyline to get the characters to "meet new people" or to "explore those sexual feelings", get tattoos and eat sushi that they normally would not eat at home. Sorry, they can easily do this at home. Instead of hopping in the car and traveling down Route 66, just drive one town over where no one knows who you are, get that tattoo of Dory from Finding Nemo on your butt and then go to a bar, meet a guy and hook up. Guess what? You can still be back in your own bed (maybe with someone new) by easily midnight, and it saves you gas and hotel expenses.
Look, will I reject every road trip story out there? The answer is yes if you duplicate everything I just talked about. If you somehow show me it is different, then we might have something, but it will be an uphill drive.
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