In a world where big feelings aren’t always welcome, perhaps it’s time to embrace the OTT

Whether it’s writing novels or making films, take the brakes off your inner artist and let the joy, colour and diversity of Earth shine through

Are you ever melodramatic? If you are, do you own up to it? Exaggerated, histrionic, over the top – amelodramatic person creates life in vibrant colours, for there is no incident too tiny to be symbolic of Great Things. Emotions are heartfelt and opinions expressed in extreme ways. And while this can be entertaining from a distance, up close, such behaviour often carries a poor reputation. It’s seen as laughable and selfindulgent. In a world facing political upheavals and climate crisis, it can be irritating to see someone loudly lamenting a broken pencil as if it were a broken heart.

Life in the extreme

Likewise, melodramatic art – packed with extremes and exaggeration, supercharging its emotional themes – is never treated with the same respect as the merely dramatic kind. Whether it’s music, fiction, art or film, on its release, it’s sneered at by critics (while loved by the public). Yet, with the passage of decades, it’s often seen in a kinder light, possibly by the same critic who derides the current melodramatic output as trash.

Perhaps it’s time to praise – rather than reappraise – melodrama, not only in art, but in behaviour as well. For if you delve deep, you, too, may admit that you’ve felt its lure, with a yearning to express hard-felt sensations. But, because society sees moderation as the height of civilisation, you’ve hidden your bright light under a beige bushel.