- The Productive Disruptive
- Posts
- Can a Story Make You Feel Too Much?
Can a Story Make You Feel Too Much?
Every Tuesday, The Productive Disruptive delivers storytelling science, message makeovers, cultural commentary, and a little rebellious hope for anyone still stubborn enough to believe communication can change the world.
Dorian Johnson
June 09, 2026
Did a wise PHriend forward this to you? [Subscribe here.]
Oh, wait til you hear how this issue was born.
A TikTok “hear me out”.
If you are unfamiliar with the trend, a “hear me out” is when someone defends finding an unconventional character attractive. Usually, the character is so unusual that the person knows they will need to explain themselves.
The character that brought me here, and inspired today’s issue…
Thrax.
An anthropomorphic cartoon virus.
The main antagonist from the 2001 box office bust, Osmosis Jones
Voiced by Laurence Fishburne.
And suddenly…
Without permission.
A memory resurfaced.
This TikTok forced me to recover a deeply suppressed childhood memory:
Osmosis Jones is one of the most revolting movies I have ever encountered, and I never even finished it(and I sure don’t have plans to).
Even as a child, just reprehensible🤢
If you’ve never heard of it, I envy you.
If you have, you’d probably forgotten about it because it came out so long ago and did poorly.
So if I re-reminded you and brought something up, I truly am so sorry😭
All ick aside, this movie has the bones of smart edutainment.
Chris Rock voices a white-blood-cell cop; the plot is literally a buddy-cop race to stop an infection inside Bill Murray’s body, and it uses that format to make biology feel concrete.
Except Thrax is a virus, while anthrax is caused by bacteria. So like, just avoid that, I suppose.
Okay, enough building. The relevance…
Behind this deeply unpleasant and disturbing cinematic experience lies a strong storytelling lesson.
Can an emotion become too overpowering for the story?
Story advice often emphasizes emotion as though more is automatically better.
But a strong story does not simply make people feel something.
It uses emotion to move people toward something.
Disgust is especially interesting because distance is part of its job. It helps us avoid things that may be contaminated, dangerous, or harmful.
A little disgust can make a message vivid. It can help people understand the stakes of hygiene, sanitation, illness, and prevention.
Too much disgust can make the audience want to leave the story entirely.
Exhibit A: me, approximately 25 years later, still refusing to finish Osmosis Jones.
Even reading the plot summary before writing this was too much.
But this is bigger than disgust.
Fear can create urgency. Too much fear can create paralysis.
Anger can move people toward action. Too much anger can leave people fired up but unclear about what to do next.
Sadness can deepen empathy. Too much sadness can leave people emotionally exhausted.
The lesson is to use emotion intentionally.
🧠 Story Science Side Note: Disgust is sometimes described as a disease-avoidance emotion.
It helps us create distance from things that may be contaminated or harmful. Which, great for survival.
Perhaps less great for storytelling.
Because if an emotion is designed to make people recoil, too much of it may make them recoil from the message too.
📝 Message Makeover:
Before:
Make your audience feel something.
After:
Give the emotion a job.
Emotion is an ingredient, so the question is not whether to use it. The question is how much the story can hold before diminishing returns.
🛠️ The PHacilitator’s Corner:
Think about one message you are currently developing.
It could be a social media post, a presentation, a campaign, a lesson, or a story.
Now ask:
What do I want people to feel?
What do I want that feeling to help them do?
Could the emotion become so overpowering that it distances them from the message?
If the emotion is doing more work than the point, adjust the dosage.
You may need to add a clearer action step.
You may need to create a little more breathing room.
You may need to show people what is possible, not only what is frightening, frustrating, or heartbreaking.
When it comes to emotions for stories, Goldilocks.
There’s a too little, there’s a too much.
But there’s also a just right, and it takes some intention.
Catch ya l8r. I need hand sanitizer or something.