Narration

Narration is a device used in literature and film all the time. Sometimes it's done in the first person. Your protagonist or a supporting character may be telling the story as they see it and they'll throw in their personal quips. More often narration, particularly in the books, comes in the third person. This is where an outside voice is telling us what's going on.

In the movie Stranger Than Fiction Will Ferrell, a seemingly real person, discovers that he is actually a character in an author's work of fiction. And he suddenly begins hearing the voice of that author narrating his life. His narrator is Emma Thompson, the actress playing the author that's writing his story.

Hollywood has given us a lot of voices over the years. And there are many voices that may be thought of when one thinks of a narrator in film. But I pose this question: who would you want to narrate your life's story?

What if you woke up tomorrow and heard your life being narrated as you lived it? What voice would be soothing? What voice would be exciting? What would you want them to say?

"Aaron woke up and slapped his feet onto the cold hardwood floor of his bedroom. Willing himself out of bed, his mind went over the list of things he needed to do throughout the day. It wasn't an exciting life, but it was what he knew. It was how he was comfortable. He looked around, feeling as if he weren't alone, wondering where this voice was coming from. Why did the internal monologue in his head suddenly sound like Morgan Freeman?"

How cool would it be to have Morgan Freeman narrate your daily activities? Or James Earl Jones? No... too spooky. How about Sam Elliot? I don't feel like I live far enough south... or maybe far enough into the old west to be narrated by Sam Elliot. Maybe Mike Rowe. But I don't think my job is dirty enough to meet his criteria.

So how about it? Who's your narrator?