Drama has its place. Filmmakers stuff their stock with it; novelists pour it on like gravy; Shakespeare's got it in spades.
Dramatic conflict is the driving force behind the world's most meaningful entertainment, and when it's done right, there's an emotional hook that's concrete, contextual and powerful.
It taps into some semblance of what it feels like to be hopeful, heartbroken and human. It has a resonance that feels familiar.
It might not be real life, but it's close.
Cinema accomplishes true drama through its almost limitless, free-form potential and instant accessibility. And there's a lot to be said for good cinematography.
Theater was founded on drama, the simplicity of humans acting and reacting in reality. Viewers are personally and profoundly involved just by being there.
Novels are the best. No other media engages the you in such a raw, clean fashion. Drama and conflict are felt through a sort of psychic transportation - a fusion of two individual imaginations.
That's why I hate "E.R." That's why "Touched by an Angel" is biblical diarrhea. That's why Jerry Bruckheimer should be tied to the Hollywood sign and burned alive, his limbs shipped to Peter Engel and Jonathan Murray as a warning.
Trying to capture true drama in a half-hour or even an hourlong television show is like trying to catch a butterfly with a tennis racket.
