Screenwriting : Social-issues-based passion projects: out of favor? by Michelle J Kenoyer

I feel my script deals with a variety of social issues while remaining a war drama. It's on my profile if you want to take a look at it. As a movie watcher, I really have little patience of a "social issues" flick that wants to preach a message to me.

Michelle, every story has characters, and every character MUST take action to propel the story... Regardless of your genre, it seems that idiosyncrasy’s / or character defects might be the best vehicle for your message to be displayed...?

The rule is that above all a movie must entertain. If it be so loaded down with obvious preachy messages, or the dialog be drowned out by the sound of sociopolitical axe-grinding, even if it make it into release the reviews and word of mouth would ensure its financial failure. One of the reasons that the Chronicles of Narnia adaptations have been so wildly $uccessful (especially outside the USA) is due to author C.S. Lewis and then the four(!) screenwriters all taking care to couch Narnia's obvious Christian themes in broadly appealing, well-structure allegory. Thus even rabid atheists and followers of notoriously Christophobic faiths can enjoy Narnia without being offended-- all to the benefit of the box office total.

Steve - I'm geared toward the direction of character defects/idiosynchrocies (especially with my latest completed script)--and I definitely don't want to come across as preachy or axe-grinder-ish--but I do have something to say and I want to say it via good storytelling. I am just not sure if generic "drama" is the right way to do it, or if there even IS a "right way." Oy. :p

I found that Tyler Durden in 'Fight Club' was not only an asset for someone's (message), he showed us through his actions, and more importantly, kept my interest as I was entertained with HOW he expressed himself in the story... That was to me, an exceptional form of putting a message on the SCREEN.

Dude, you came very close to breaking the first and second rule.

Ha!

Michelle, I struggle with the same thing every day! One of the lessons I learned -- people (i.e. audiences) connect with people, not issues. Keep the issues in the background and in the subtext. And keep the characters 3D and intriguing, and their flaws universally accessible. Three of my favorite examples...Fargo, Birdman and American Beauty. They each had A LOT to say.

American Beauty was a rather preachy movie with characters that I did not find all that engaging.

On first (and only) viewing I thought American Beauty was too busy making savage commentary on the supposed vapidity and shallowness of American culture to be entertaining-- to me.

Sacrilege. It received 8 Academy Award nominations!

All the great movies have a message in the theme, so no, not out of favor.

Find a way to explore the social issue in a popular genre.

I didn't detect any preaching in Savages. So maybe Oliver is learning.

If you can get a message in and be subtle about it, it usually works out, as the story plays itself out through characters and actions, rather than being puppets to a message. Check out Atlas Shrugged to see what I mean about puppets. World full of evil, liberal straw men, operatically spouting ridiculous opinions while the only 'people' in the film are those who view the world as the author did. Even your villains should be well rounded characters with a meaningful life to them.

@ Peter: Glad you debated the point, rather than take something I said in another thread and spin it into a personal attack. I'm fine with anyone's opinion, but I like to save time. If I write a superhero film, I probably wouldn't want to give it to someone who hates superhero films. If I write a faith flick, most atheists won't particularly adore it (found that out the hard way). If I write a story where a transgender person is the protagonist, I think people who hate transgendered people are pretty low on the totem pole of whose opinion I might ask for.

You took a subject here, and dragged a discussion from another thread in, quoting me in full, because you wanted to start an argument. You could've done that in the original thread, rather than waste time in this one and drag it off topic. What I said, I standby, as I said, there are hateful and ignorant people with prejudices, who wouldn't like the movie, and I don't really care to hear those opinions. That in no ways precludes OTHER PEOPLE from not liking the movie as well. Your assumption is that I would have problems with people not liking the subject matter for any reason whatsoever. That's simply not true, wasn't what I wrote, and a knee jerk logical fallacy.

Steven - that screenplay sounds great. That's the kind of movie I'd be interested in seeing; on a smaller scale, my city is facing a battle to preserve historic housing from the wrecking ball and highway expansion as well, so I could really identify with a story like that. I wish you the best of luck with your script coverage; I hope you get some great feedback!

Thanks much! Glad you won the battle! :)

This may be of interest to you, Michelle... There is a webinar today related to this topic: https://www.stage32.com/webinars/Developing-and-Financing-Faith-and-Fami...

Well, somewhat related.... :)

Now that the surge of acrimonious bile seems to have receded, and trying to wrench this thread back on-topic, it might be worth reexamining message movies from a screenwriter's perspective. There are plenty of fads right now. If a writer wants to cash in on those trends, knock yerself out. It becomes a market consideration of the craft: can the writer make good money? Will Hollywood risk huge investments on trends for which there is an unproven audience? A huge potential audience for such themes have no interest therein, and will consciously avoid being lectured about or exposed to them. When the mass media are already saturated with such, the movies offer no respite, so why spend money going to theaters or buying digital versions? And if a project get into the pipeline now, when it pops out many months or even several years later, will there still be a market? BTW the recent Atlas Shrugged disappointment was due to many factors: recasting from pretty okay actors in the first movie to those just not up to the job in the second installment; being quite a low-budget affair; laboring under a script that passed the Ayn Rand ideological-purity test but was ponderous and hectoring throughout— the writers should have studied the 1950's The Fountainhead with Cooper and Neal cast as the principals. Worst of all was the feeling that the producers were just preaching to the choir. As bit of a Rand fan, I perceived that the abbreviated screen version of Atlas Shrugged caught all the high points, but then I knew them all anyway. I doubt there were many "converts".

Thanks, Beth. :) I actually have to work at that time, but perhaps a related Webinar will come down the pike somehow. Faith and Family doesn't really fit what I write, as well. :) Thanks, though!

So - in the end it all comes back to be able to tell a cracking story. If there is to be a social or political agenda - then if it's to be successful, it's going to be all about smoke and mirrors. As for Oliver Stone, well Olly is a man of his time and amongst the lemons - there are some movies that will pass the test of time.