What Are You Trying To Say?

You know how in “The Matrix” Keanu Reeves couldn’t see the Matrix, but by the end of the film (spoiler

alert) he could see everyone in code?  I’m starting to feel that way with story structure.  The more I learn about and internalize narrative, the more I can’t help but seeing it everywhere I go.  Last week I wrote about a recent experience with a film that lost steam at the end.  Yesterday I went to the movies with my family and I was struck again by story structure issues.  The movie itself was good, but I found myself noticing how a certain aspect of the story was confusing.  Towards the end of the film, the story switched focus and picked up a new narrator briefly before returning to the original narrator and storyline.  It was an interesting part of the film, but felt out of place.  It was compelling, but it felt so separate from the main storyline and to be perfectly honest, really didn’t add to the message I think was trying to be told overall.

Yet, I think this “B” story* could have been integrated.  Instead of shifting narrators once at the end of the film, the director could have begun to follow this character’s story earlier on and brought in the second narrators voice throughout the film.  Or this part of the story could have kept the same narrator as before for continuity sake.  And there’s always the (horrifying) option of shortening the sequence.  Gasp!  Sometimes as a storyteller we have to be ready and willing to edit.  That has been some of the best writing advice I’ve ever received.  I tend to have lots of ideas when writing and am ready to approach a topic from a myriad of directions.  However, too many angels can take away from the main point.  Last spring when I wrote about modesty I ended up having to cut out close to 50% of the original piece.  The day before I posted it, I read it to a friend and she gave the honest feedback that the first half really didn’t connect with the second half.  Then she came back to me with the question: what are you trying to say? 

I think story tellers can forget the main narrative they are trying to communicate.  Sometimes we get so swept up into the details that we lose the plot.  Now, I’m all for complex storylines, but when the film fades to black, we the audience should be able to say what the story was about.  Unless the film is “Inception”, but let’s face it, most of us are not as skilled storytellers as Christopher Nolan.  Yet, we all still know what was motivating Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in that film, even if we disagree with the state in which he finds himself.  If we lose the story, whether it be in film, writing, or even the narrative of our lives, then we lose the message we are trying to communicate.    

So, what are you trying to say?

*“B” Story means a sub-plot to the main storyline.  A great example of this is found in “The Shawshank Redemption” when Andy teaches the young inmate how to read. 

End it Well

One of my biggest pet peeves with films the last few years is the inability for the filmmaker to end it well. Now, I don't mean tack on a happy ending. Rather, I mean, a good ending that fits with the film as a whole. I saw a movie yesterday with my family and was really enjoying it. That is until we got to the end. The writers had painted themselves into a corner and I suspect didn't know what to do with that. It was disappointing, especially since I really liked the first 75% of the movie. 

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon in films today? The director who so clearly represents this trend in my eyes is Tim Burton. I have a few Burton films that I really enjoy (Edward Scissor Hands, Nightmare Before Christmas, Big Fish), but I have seen way too many films that have started with really fun concepts, but fizzled out in the end. It's gotten so bad, that I almost as a rule will not see Burton films anymore, no matter how trippy and quirky it appears to be.

Is this trend a result of laziness on the part of Hollywood? Do they focus all their energy on the basic plot points, making them interesting enough to hook people into the theaters, and then just abandon the story's end? "Who cares how it ends - we have their money." This frustrates and angers me.  I think a story's ending is the most important aspect, because this is the ultimate point that a storyteller is trying to make. The hero's journey is ending at a significant moment and there should be something worth saying at that point in the story.

I've been fascinated by narrative this year (I may have mentioned that once or twice or multiple times on the blog). I attended a story workshop at a conference last April and fell even deeper into the rabbit's hole. I learned there that story structure is what gives clarity and structure to a story. It is what enables us to communicate a story so that others can receive it. At the end of the story there's supposed to be a payoff for our emotional investment. So, when an ending is done poorly, it is extremely frustrating (especially when the story was engaging enough to make you care about its main players).

The instructor at my workshop spoke about the dynamics that help create a good ending. One of the main devices used is a bait and switch, where circumstances seem either perfect or absolutely disastrous, but suddenly switch to the opposite. So, in a tragedy, it would seem as though the hero will succeed only to be struck at the last minute with utter loss and devastation (think Hamlet). In a comedy, it seems as though all hope is lost but then there is surprising success (think Return of the King).  It’s amazing how this aspect can add so much tension and shock to an ending.  (Note: I'm using the terms "tragedy" and "comedy" in the classical sense, meaning either a sad ending or a happy ending, a sad ending typically involving death and a happy ending typically involving a marriage).

Story structure can be seen as a formula, but I like to see it rather as scaffolding, which allows for a story to be clearly communicated. The scaffolding leaves plenty of space for creativity and uniqueness, but each part of the scaffolding is important. A film's ending is vital to good storytelling.  I mean, what’s the point if we sacrifice our ending?  

When Two Don’t Become One

Warning: The blog gives away plot points to the film “Roman Holiday” and “Once”.  I realize the former has been out for decades.  Still, if you don’t want to be spoiled, then don’t read this piece.

One of my favorite moments of the film!

Yesterday, I had the gift of a day off – my first full day off in two weeks.  I enjoyed my time, getting my hair cut, reading and watching a movie at home, before spending the evening with friends.  I was searching through Netflix, deciding what film to watch when I came across the classic, “Roman Holiday.”  I had seen the film a couple of times back when I first started college, and thought it would be fun to watch again. 

Of course, the film has such gorgeous settings and can’t help but stir up a desire to spend a warm, sunny day on vacation in Rome.  Mostly, I find myself coveting Audrey Hepburn’s amazing haircut.  I realize that it would not be a good look on me, but oh how I’d love that hairstyle.  Maybe in heaven. 

I first watched the film around the time that I went on choir tour to Italy.  Upon returning, my friends and I had a movie night and watched “Roman Holiday.”  When it came to the end, we were split on our responses to the film.  Half of us loved the film and the other half didn’t. And the dividing point came via the film’s ending.  While discovering their love for each other, Hepburn and Gregory Peck decide to go their separate ways.  I was one of the ones who appreciated the film and its ending. 

Now, I do appreciate a happy ending, but I also value an ending that is true.  The reality is, sometimes our stories do not turn out as we anticipate.  Sometimes the obstacles are too great.  Or the most loving response is to stay true to what we’ve been called to.  I similarly like the film “Once” for these same reasons.  The male and female had a special connection, but their purpose in meeting was to help each other get “un-stuck,” not to be each other’s life companions.

In early theater, plays tended to end with either a marriage or a death.  Although, our story endings take more twists and turns today, there still is a continuing tradition of ending with death or marriage scene.  Even as I look down my list of DVD’s, this becomes oddly apparent.  Marriage, marriage, marriage, death, marriage.  As a side note, I’m fascinated the stories that contain both marriage and death (Romeo and Juliet, Shadowlands, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Waking Ned Devine, etc).    

Sometimes I want a film that just is happy, but more often, I desire a film that tells a true, honest story.  There are times when the obstacles are too great, and no amount of hoping can take away that truth.  One cannot just wave a magic wand around and transform the situations that the characters find themselves in (unless this is Harry Potter, yet notice that Rowling does not tend to use magic as a quick fix in the narrative).  Ultimately, I have a greater degree of respect when a storyteller takes the necessary steps to end the story in an honest way (which could be joyful or sorrowful), rather than tacking on a “happy ending.”   

Sometimes the more interesting story is the one where two do not become one.  

This is Not the End

This… is NOT… the end!  This bride, you and I will rise, come alive like third day morning first breaths of Christ!

These words broke open my heart this morning.  I felt disconnected today and couldn’t quite get at what I was feeling.  My very absence of feelings was telling.  I sat down to respond to an email and began to listen to the song, “This is not the end” by Gungor.  In the live recording, spoken word artist Amena Brown proclaims the truth that opened my heart.  I began to cry.  To be honest, it was a relief. 

A phrase that has been a comfort to me in the past few years is “the story is not over yet.” When I’ve found myself in moments of despair, the deep belief is that this circumstance will be the end of me.  Nothing will change.  I am doomed to a life fraught with pain and loneliness.  It is in those moments that I need to be reminded that this is not the end.  Even though everything in my wants to believe the opposite. 

Last Sunday at church, my pastor spoke similarly, that when we’re in grief, we feel as though this is the end of the story.  This is the lie that I continue to believe.  I am convinced at times that the story I live is a tragedy.  Yet, that is not what my God says:

Those who sow in tears

    shall reap with shouts of joy!

-        Ps.126:5 ESV

As I see it, we can hold onto the truth that this is not the end for two reasons.  First, unless I die right now, this is not the literal end.  Second, and this is the lasting piece, the end of our story, the big metanarrative, ends with us with God in heaven.  My time on the earth may end happily or tragically, but my time on this earth is not the ultimate end. 

Yet, here I am on this earth, in the midst of a story.  And the hope of being with God in heaven, if I’m honest, can feel intangible at times.  Recently, I read a book by Jerry Sittser, A Grace Revealed, (a sort of follow-up to his beautifully tender book on grief, A Grace Disguised) that explores the idea of narrative and redemption.  While considering the nature of the story we are all in, Sittser recounts his own experience of redemption.  At the same time, he holds and acknowledges the pieces of the story that are yet to be fulfilled, completed or answered.  There is a tension that exists between the now and the not yet.   

I grew up in a church that taught and lived out a kingdom theology.  The kingdom of God has begun on earth (this is what makes redemption possible now), but it has not been fully actualized.  There is tension as we wait for the fullness of this kingdom life.  I may experience shades of God redeeming parts of my story today, but there may be aspects of my story that remain unresolved on this side of life.  There is a deeper, more complete redemption of my story that is to come. 

What will it look like, when we experience the fullness of God’s kingdom?  It’s told best here:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

-          Rev. 21:1-4, ESV