Heroic Hollywood: The Moral of the Story

Big Hollywood ^ | 4/7/2009 | Russ Dvonch

[Harpo Speaks]

If you’re a writer struggling to put together a screenplay, but it’s a big mess and you don’t know where to begin, this is the post for you. I’m going to explain the easiest way I know how to bring structure to your screenplay and solve the problems you’re having.

In my last post, I suggested that “doing the right thing is worth the struggle” is a common inspirational message found in many of the most stirring Hollywood movies. However, each individual film has it’s own particular moral theme that it wants to get across to the audience. And it’s this moral theme that will be your guide to figuring out how to solve the problems in your screenplay.

A moral theme is a unifying, ethical idea that both shapes and brings meaning to the story. For the Wizard of Oz the moral theme is: happiness can be found in your own backyard. For Spider-Man the moral theme is: with great power comes great responsibility. For Plan 9 From Outer Space the moral theme is: how many times can I run fake footage of Béla Lugosi and still claim it’s a Béla Lugosi movie?

Now, talk of ethics and morality may have you feeling a bit jittery. Most screenwriters are cautioned early on to avoid grand themes of “good versus evil” in their work because it smacks of pretentiousness. And in a postmodern age where all forms of art seem to favor ironic detachment and ethical ambivalence, nobody wants to be accused of old-school, sentimental moralizing. If nothing else, morals and ethics sound like worthless, airy theorizing and of no practical use in getting words on paper.

[Tijeras_Slim]

For Plan 9 From Outer Space the moral theme is: how many times can I run fake footage of Béla Lugosi and still claim it’s a Béla Lugosi movie?

Say it ain't so!

[Seruzawa]

Regardless of what he may say in derision of “Plan 9” it still holds up as one of the most endlessly entertaining movies in history. Certainly it packs more real entertainment value than all of the Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich movies combined. That the actual entertainment value of “Plan 9” was unintended by Ed Wood is entirely irrelevant.

Though, I may have to take back what I just said about Roland Emmerich’s “The Day After Tomorrow.” That movie too is reaching for true Bad Movie Greatness. Future generations may enshrine it in a place of honor alongside past greats like “Plan 9” and “Hideous Sun Demon”.