I have a script all but complete. The story involves three old war horses (veterans) . They are old school, masculine, they are cast with strong women. In this current social environment, is it enough to include strong women? Or is the project sunk before it is in the water because it contains masculine characters, traits, and themes?
It is set in a South Pacific country, at no point is race mentioned.
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Great characters are multidimensional. It's great that they're all masculine - the question is are they all dynamic, flawed, have something people can empathize with (whether or not they're 'likable'), etc.
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Murphy Ernst You've probably poured your heart and soul into this. Have you considered international markets? I can think of a number of A-list male actors who still want to work!
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If you're that close to the finish line, then cross the finish line first. Give yourself a moment to bask in your finish. Then deal with those questions in the rewrite. FINISH FIRST.
There is no turning back now.
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@Murphy The “Usual” tropes does not mean “Wrong.” If characters are multi dimensional & plot well structured don’t fret. The woke brigade often has writers on their toes but why should anyone fit thought police trends simply cos they think certain words unfashionable. Slander is another separate topic as is racism or any other prejudice here I’m adhering to freedom of speech. In script reading we now may have “sensitivity readers” if a character belongs to a certain group to check for misrepresentation aka portray them as a toxic trope. But what is a toxic trope? Definition is not an exact science & one persons view can differ from all the other zillions of people on the planet. Characters have encyclopaedic possibilities and should not be rubbed out nor should art be “censored.” Story is king.
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I realized that last week, Debbie. I had a third draft that I was tentatively curious about in terms of the hallowed blacklist rating — I received a one in dialogue. I might not be Tarantino, but that felt like an insult. See, we don't know what kind of prejudices the readers have. Isn't that ironic?
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Write specs to show people u can handle concept, storyline, dialogue, character arc, etc..don't sweat if the story ain't "current" or following trends. You do this right, you'll be given most "trendy" ideas backed by studio millions to work on so you won't have to worry about that...
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I'll take some of that, please. Thanks Kiril.
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It depends on the time period/era in which your story occurs. Then you have to worry that the reviewer doesn't suffer from "presentism". I have a Vietnam era script that recently was included in a fellowship competition. The reviewer commented that while he/she viewed the male/female relations as being totally male oriented the reviewer added that "considering it's the mid-1960s" the relationships seemed appropriate for that era. However, when reviewing my Romantic Drama script, the reviewer was bothered by the scene where the male/female leads meet because it involved smoking. He/she totally overlooked and/or dismissed that the scene took place in 1967 at a popular off-campus bar. Really??
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Honestly, this entire thing bamboozles me. There has to be a vast section of the population uninterested in seeing all of this unrealistic nonsense, and yet they still continue to make bomb after bomb, which screams, "This is not working." The cinemas are dead, and bombs are being made on Netflix, and Amazon, current movies share the same message, over and over, YAWN -- woke turnouts like Cleopatra, Sleeping Beauty, and, and, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, bombs, surely the worm must turn... I am writing what I want to see, but try and tread carefully about it, unfortunately.
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Murphy....don't tread. Kick Ass!! If you have conviction about your story, don't let anyone else derail you. For two years, my script "Nobody's Heroes" couldn't get any traction. It was dismissed for reasons that are too many to catalogue. The two biggest were: Act One is too long and Too Many characters. I ignored both. Not because I think I'm smarter than those critics (although truth be told, I can be a smug prick) but because to do so would literally destroy the story. Now, there was plenty criticism/advice that I used to make the story stronger. I'd say close to 70%. And Voila!! Finally it's getting recognition. Made the second round at AFF, has taken top prize in multiple contests and is in the running for several fellowships. So hang tough, believe in your story and carry on.
Another one of these guys here...