Enjoyed the show today. Roberto is a great guest, and easy to listen to.
Would love to drive down to N.Y. to see the show in the spring. Do you
know what I mean?

Fausto, you said you don’t quite get the idea that people have feelings for fictional characters. I think when you spend a lot of time and invest your feelings in a story and the characters you feel that you somehow know them. I always think of a story as a window into the world that those characters inhabit and that world is much more vast than the peek we get to see.

I was a huge fan of I Dream of Jeannie when I was a kid and I remember this reunion movie they did back in the 80’s where in order to get Hadji to save her husband Tony Nelson’s life, Jeannie had to agree to a spell that would cause him to forget that her and their son ever existed. At the end she strategically bumps into him and makes a joke about making a new start. I was mortified. After having been such a fan of the show for so many years to have the characters meet such a horrible ending like that, I just thought it was mean and uncalled for. If that happened in real life it would be really tragic. I was really angry about that for a long time.

I also do some writing, have had some short stories published and am working on a novel. It’s based on a screenplay I started years ago and never finished. When I was working on the script I had fleshed out the characters so well that now, years later, I have memories of these people who never existed. They exist in my mind as stories that people had told me, like I had really known them at one time. So yes, even though they are fictional characters, they are real to me. And that’s why I need to write this book, because I have a responsibility to these characters to tell their story. I think a lot of writers feel this way and a lot of readers and tv/movie watchers pick up on that. If you really love a story then you can make those characters a part of you.

I remember seeing Dancer in the Dark and being depressed for a week afterwards. I had actually met Bjork and talked to her and I knew that character was fictional, but in those 90 minutes that character became real to me. She wasn’t Bjork, she was Selma. And after the movie was over her very powerful story stuck with me. Again, good writing and good film making goes way beyond the individuals involved.

I love that you you were upset at I Dream of Jeannie reunion show. I didn’t like it either but the end did give me some hope that Jeannie would get her way again and all would be like it was before. I was sad we didn’t get it to see unfold with hilarious results though. Maybe they planned a sequel but Barbara Eden’s face lift didn’t hold. We just gave Fausto’s niece a blow up Jeannie Bottle.

Remember Barbara in “The Stranger Within?”

An expectant mother begins acting strangely and doesn’t know why. Gradually she starts to realize that her bizarre behavior is being controlled by her unborn baby.

Someone at IMBD describes it as

Being impregnated by an alien being could never be this much fun! Unless of course you are Barbara Eden in this fun flick made back in the early days of the Roe v. Wade decision. Babs has lots of weird symptoms and amusing cravings, leaving her hapless husband bewildered. It is slightly melodramic, but seeing as it is 25 years old, it still holds up well and keeps you interested all the way through, with very few special effects! It keeps its weirdness using only acting, setting, and music. If you can catch it on video or t.v. don’t miss it!

Now I know what to ask Fausto for my birthday.

WOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!! I loved all the Comic book stuff with today’s show. Wonderful guest with a cool perspective.
One thing i would like to point out about Comic books. It seems like most people assume that all comic books are of the superhero spandex sort. There is so much more out there that is full of wonderful contemporary stories that are moving and mature. Thanks for a great show!!!!

I really enjoyed this interview as I put together my Ikea dresser, thanks for the lovely saturday morning with FOF.