The Making of Drama Queens (and Kings) and How to Respond to Them

What makes a good drama?  What elements and components must be in place to mesmerize and capture the attention of a particular audience?  Well, if you think about it, most dramas have specific items in common:

A good drama has to have an embellished storyline.  Most movies that are “based upon a true story” are just that, “based upon.”  Directors and writers realize that most people want more than the truth, they want a particular interpretation of the truth.  And so, a drama typically has parts and parcels of reality, but is otherwise intertwined with overhyped and exaggerated views and agendas.

A good drama also needs good acting.  Specifically, it needs a good actor to assume a particular character or role.  Think about all the Oscar-winning movies (Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, Les Miserables); you immediately relate those titles to specific actors who caused us to connect with their nuanced personality.

Finally, a good drama needs a sense of justice.  It needs a hero or heroine to vindicate or be vindicated.  As onlookers, when we watch justice played out on a screen, or in real life for that matter, we rejoice in morality; we relish in the truth that good can triumph over evil.  Most dramas have the same basic storyline because people, by in large, want to live in a world where justice prevails.  In most dramas, we already know how it will end, and for the most part, we are fine with it.

Did you know that most drama queens and kings thrive on these same components?

For the most part, people who cannot escape drama have a tendency to see reality through skewed eyes.  They interpret truth through exaggeration and embellishment.  They love the hype; they love the controversy. If it were up to them they would have big, swelling, orchestrated music playing in the background for every conversation, every post, every discussion, and every word spoken. I remind you, dramas are not action films; they are reaction films. And reaction is what drama queens and kings long for.  They love to stir the pot and get a rise out of their audience.  This is the nature of drama: it creates an emotion in the onlooker with the intent to keep the onlooker looking for more, even if he doesn’t like what he sees.

Drama queens and kings also assume a particular character, most often the victim. They like to play the part because, for them, reality is too hard to deal with.  It is easier to put on the makeup, wear the façade, and hide behind what everybody expects them to be.  If they play it right, there awaits accolades, applause, and even awards.  The red carpet rolls out, the lights shine brightly, and their name is concreted in a star for all to see.  Sadly, this image, this character only suppresses their true sense of self, and they get lost in a world of mistaken identity.  Drama queens and kings like to say things like, “You don’t even know me” or “You have no idea who I am.”  Miserably, they have no idea either.

And so, like a dramatic film, they seek justice.  “You have done me wrong” or “you have done others wrong” or “you and others have done me wrong.”  Such mantras beat to the music of misplaced passions. Instead of working on themselves, they like to work on everyone else.  Justice, for them, is having others sympathize with their skewed take on life.  And for those who fail to see how they see, well, those people are viewed as ignorant, uninformed, legalistic, liberals, not privy to their privileged vantage point.  And so the drama is unleashed. The music begins, the lights are adjusted, the stage is set, and the plot unfolds.  We’ve seen this same old story a thousand times….

Closing Credits

Before we walk out on the production however, allow me to offer a quick, sobering observation.  Behind the words, the looks, the attitudes, and the over-embellished ways of a drama queen or king, is typically someone who is dealing with hurt and pain.  The drama, for them, is just a means of relief. The drama played out before our eyes is really a commentary on their internal struggle.  Obnoxious to watch? Perhaps, but for those longing for justice, acceptance, peace, retribution, joy, friendship and love, well, they might do just about anything it takes to find it.

God commands us to love all men, even those steeped in drama.  I am not saying such a feat is simple or without complexities, but I am assuming it is possible since God ordered us to do it.  Perhaps we find it difficult because, we too, deal with our own drama from time to time.  You never know, being a friend to a drama queen or king, in their time of pain, in their vulnerability, could very well change the story of their life, and bring the credits to a happy close.