So, Wes, What Is The Fey?

I thought I'd never ask. It is an interesting question which only I can answer, since only I know what I mean by The Fey.

First, The Fey is a class label. In that, it is like The Working Class, or The American Sports Hero, or The Rock & Roll Album. Whether something is an instance of a class label is often subject of argument. Often, the whole reason to introduce a class label is to incite argument. Argument excuses speech and long-windedness and detailed storied justifications. All of which are good things, some of us think.

What defining characteristics do instances of The Fey have?

There are several.

First, an instance of the Fey must be an event that either has happened, or maybe hasn't.

Every instance of The Fey, whether or not it has actually happened, must elicit surprise. It shouldn't elicit so much surprise as would cause heart failure or an unwillingness to stay for the end of the movie. The best sort of surprise is the sort that prompts remarks like but not limited to, "That was odd," or, "Huh," or, "Who would have thought that would happen."

There must, nevertheless, be a sense of inevitability to each instance of The Fey when it is closely examined. If the event in question hasn't happened, it must, upon reflection, be recognized as sorely wanting to happen, or asking for a happening in a most insistent or annoying way. If it has happened, it must be possible to realize that it was a Thing Waiting to Happen.

I can illustrate. Years ago, David Letterman put on a velcro suit, jogged toward a small trampoline, and jumped on it and bounced onto a velcro wall, where he stuck. My first reaction, when I saw this was to think, "That was odd." My second reaction, after reflecting upon it, was "How could it not have happened? I mean, there's velcro. There's trampolines. There's Letterman. So it had to be."

I hope that adequately explains what The Fey is to me, Dr. Wes Browning. Some other time I may explain why I am obsessed with it.