In a new blog post, Kristen Lamb examines how contrasting cultures can be a great source of conflict. “Put more than two humans together and somewhere, somehow they will find something to fight about,” she says. “Age, sex, race, religion, socioeconomic status, education, hobbies, political views, on and on and on invariably impact our perspective.”
Sitcoms and rom-coms rely on culture conflict to create tension between their main characters. “Why do we love these stories? Because they are fun,” Lamb says. “One world trying to understand and work around the other, butting heads, but then finally coming together at the end and being better for knowing one another.” In fact, humans are often drawn to people who are our opposite in some way or who make us crazy. We see something that we lack in the other person, and are thus drawn to them. In this way, a strong culture clash can both create conflict and connection between your characters.
This dynamic works, whether you have a clash of personalities (The Odd Couple) or a clash of cultures (Green Acres), regardless of genre. It works in mystery fiction (Holmes and Watson), science fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars), fantasy (Lord of the Rings), and horror (Beetlejuice). Every mentor/mentee story and those with main characters from different generations features a culture clash. History is filled with culture conflict, from the American Civil War to the French Revolution.
“Culture…can be as broad or narrow as we want or need it to be,” Lamb writes. “If you are trying to create a story that is ‘same’ enough to resonate, but ‘different’ enough to spark interest…try starting with a culture clash.”
