The meaning of words.
The ninth wonder of the world is not a pyramid, or a wall, it's not a tower in some desert or an ancient temple palace in the middle of the world. No siree, the ninth wonder of the world is the ability to understand what you mean to say, even if you never say it directly. Ok fine, maybe it’s not the ninth wonder of the world, but it should be.
Today on The Writers Take we tackle the simple yet immense topic of: meaning.
What do I mean? (ok ok that was a bad pun, but also, it was a layup). So everything you write, everything you create has an underlying meaning to it and most people (sorry) screw up their story by nailing that meaning on the head in the cringiest of ways. Some examples are America’s rant or Will Ferrell’s Board Room speech in Barbie. While I personally absolutely loved the film, and thought it was a beacon of hope for many reasons, I thought that these speeches in the film were a bit too on the head. And let me just note, that this statement does not mean the film did not serve an incredible subliminal message, because it did, and no it’s not because of the content, I think we need to serve more aspirational moments to young girls and boys alike. No, I thought it was cringy because it said what it meant instead of showing what it meant and I think that weakens the message.
And don’t worry you will get my Barbie take soon, I just am waiting until I see Oppenheimer so I can Barbenheimer the review.
Most films have this issue (of message) and a lot of stories in various mediums fall into this trap. It’s simply because the meaning and the ways in which the meaning is demonstrated are not clearly defined ahead of time. Let alone, once it is, designing a structure to illustrate said message is rarely achieved. Let’s discuss.
When I create, I like to know what I am trying to say from the start. For example, my graphic novel, Stable, is about the issues surrounding class greed. I co-wrote Stable with Morgan Rosenblum and co-created with my incredible team at Herø Projects (Voodoo Bownz, Jonny Handler, Morgan and more)...
