Roles and Voices

In his final year of high school, Jonah appeared in “Puffs.” He was cast as two very different characters. He first portrayed Cedric Diggory. In the original canon, J.K. Rowling describes Cedric as someone who is exceptionally handsome, modest, fair-minded and brave. I admit that my view could be skewed, but it would seem that Jonah checked all of these boxes. In addition, Jonah exceeds six feet and most consider him tall. With the exception of sporting blond, rather than dark, hair, it was a part that did not appear much of a stretch. 

In the second half, Jonah took on the role of Voldy. This snake-like character embodies evil, and his
for power threatens what should be a peaceful and orderly school of magic. Jonah developed a particularly cold and high-pitched voice to match the nature of Voldy, a voice he said was based on the tone and phrasing  his mother would use when reading the original Harry Potter series at bedtime and on road trips. Jonah’s capacity to adopt a role to the degree that he seemed to become different characters made it easy for me to often forget that I was watching my own son. 

Our voices can reveal so much about who we are and what we are feeling. Often, we can identify someone's birthplace or hometown by the accent they use. A voice’s tone, volume and tempo provide enormous clues about the speaker’s emotional state and their  mood.  When spoken to an understanding ear, even the harshest words can lead to a laugh while the kindest phrase can cut like a knife. 

In this age of digital dialogue, we can lose the important context that voice provides, and misunderstandings and arguments can follow when an in-person conversation would have prevented ill will. Reports suggest that Stephen Douglas would use examples of potentially hypocritical behavior by Abraham Lincoln and accuse him of being “two-faced.” Because he could respond verbally, Lincoln replied, “If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?” This disarming and self-deprecating response allowed Lincoln to deescalate any tensions that might otherwise have arisen had he raised the temperature with ad hominem attacks on Douglas. 

While the spoken word does provide more context than the written word, our written voice, if we take care, can provide necessary clues and direction for meaningful discourse. Social media, with its tendency toward short clips, brief comments, and click-bait commercialism, differs substantially from the Federalist Papers. Time and thought are necessary ingredients for a civil exchange, especially if our purpose is to dialogue rather than merely declare. 

Jonah practiced diligently for weeks and months to find the right voice to convey the meaning of words already written, so he could deliver them with sincerity and authenticity. Let us avoid two-faced impressions and reject any public persona that seeks nothing more than to be right, and instead reflect who we really are: people who are unsure of many things, but hoping for all that is right.