Appeal v. Disappeal of Narratives

The appeal of global narratives lies entirely in their narratability. For a story to spread and be a master narrative, it needs to have a streamlined reading; a universally understood core text is crucial to the narrative. The need for cultural alignment is crucial so that the narrative is not so different that it runs ignorant or judgemental potential receivers away and instead presents something they can connect with as their 'own story.' For a foreign narrative to be embraced in a westernized country it must be something that is black and white, a right and wrong, a clear opposition easily understood. The narrative must also be relative to the times and what people are interested (or what the media allows people to be interested in by what they choose to publish based on corporate agendas*). Aside from this, there must be some pull at emotion- tragedy, shock, empathy, thrill, excitement.
An appealing narrative that is culturally aligned so that readers aren't turned off the narrative being misunderstood or different. The global spread and communication of the Neda narrative was being helped by her being "western" and understood by the outside world. Within Iran, the culture is far different from the jeans, lack of head covering and overall core text that Neda represents for the Iran movement. Had she been portrayed in the traditional sense of women in Iran, the appeal of the narrative may have been lost. Her appearance and story is relevant to many people's lives and they can understand her struggle. There is also a black and white, right and wrong aspect in the narrative. An innocent, 'helpless', beautiful woman is shot down by a powerful, armed, government enforcer.
The same characteristics can create a disappeal towards a "counternarrative." Without a culturally accepted core text that creates a visual to communicate the main message of the narrative on a global scale, the appeal is lost. An example would be the crisis in Darfur. There is no main image that comes to mind when thinking of the horrible civil conflict in the area even though so much information is available. Without a way to present the information in a black/white, right/wrong way (which is impossible to define in a civil conflict situation) it is hard to create a large following pushing for 'saving' the innocent side. The relevance could be there and the empathy is, but we are losing the generation that lived through similar tragedies such as the Holocaust. Unfortunately, not many people are getting the story or being able to relate to living under such conditions. The geographical remoteness also makes the narrative difficult because there are no foreseeable, instant, hand on solutions for those far away from the situation. Out of sight, out of mind.