Conflict - How important it really is?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Conflict - How important it really is?

    Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
    with the bad decisions underscored and personified by Jenny's character, as compared to the staid and unwavering values of the supposedly foolish main character, who then by comparison becomes wise.
    yes, in addition to being reactionary historical b.s. it was also misogynistic historical b.s. -- Jenny the "slut" gets AIDS because she dared to have more than one sexual partner during the '70s and did drugs (which millions of men also did but none of whom seem to suffer the same fate in the film). also, heterosexual AIDS outside of the IV drug using community was and continues to be extremely rare. but sure, Jenny didn't choose to love a mentally deficient man so ergo she deserves to die

    (which she did not at all in the actually very good and funny book. she just goes off and marries someone else and lives a normal middle class existence http://articles.baltimoresun.com/199...book-and-movie)

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Conflict - How important it really is?

      Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
      yes, in addition to being reactionary historical b.s. it was also misogynistic historical b.s. -- Jenny the "slut" gets AIDS because she dared to have more than one sexual partner during the '70s and did drugs (which millions of men also did but none of whom seem to suffer the same fate in the film). also, heterosexual AIDS outside of the IV drug using community was and continues to be extremely rare. but sure, Jenny didn't choose to love a mentally deficient man so ergo she deserves to die.
      Good grief. Overreact much? I don't know how old you are, but I remember when AIDS first hit the news. From the 60s up until that point it had pretty much been a "sexual revolution" "free-for-all" for many. I think Jenny getting AIDS in this movie has more to do with how unusual it still was at the time. I didn't see it as a judgment of any kind, I saw it as a tragedy.
      STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I'm a wannabe, take whatever I write with a huge grain of salt.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Conflict - How important it really is?

        Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
        ...The conflict in Forrest Gump seems to be between the unchanging conscientious main character and the ever-changing national consciousness...
        I have one script where the character's arc is in fact that she has no arc; she holds steady. She had plenty of reason to "bust out" of her consistency throughout the first 90 pages, and never does. Then, she has one big chance to do a "Ripley vs. Aliens" against a new tormentor, at the end, but at the last second her better/normal nature wins out (again) and she resisted -- and finally reaps the reward for being "nice" and patient and diplomatic, etc.

        It turns out to be the best thing she could have done, because this time her tormentor quickly turns out to be a great ally -- it's not out-of-the-blue, as there is a certain logic that this would happen under the right circumstances, and would not have happened if the first encounter had been an argument. (It's a new boss, a person whom she'd encountered anonymously on the phone under quite unpleasant circumstances)

        No matter, no doubt some people esp. some women who've read my script probably think that my female character chickens out, and that I as a writer am just being a typical male, given the near-misogyny she puts up with throughout the story -- it's a dark comedy, and she's in a very low economic/low power situation.

        But as I often do, my female characters are typically the moral/intelligent compasses, in comparison to the male characters, and in this particular story she ends up winning (obtaining her goals) by remaining true to herself.

        The conflict in this story? Well, I'd say that it's the extreme discomfort that we readers/audience feel in every darn scene that she faces, till she's proven right in the end.

        (I've still to convince any readers/audience that this is true, of course, who are probably locked into evaluating it via some checkbox matrix for "hero's journey" that doesn't allow for anything but the straight-forward.)

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Conflict - How important it really is?

          Originally posted by ComicBent View Post
          Crayon, I do not ordinarily quote entire posts, but I did in this case. I think that this is the most profound thing that you have ever said.
          ComicBent - Thank you. That's kind of you to say. I do often worry that I'm full of crap.

          Although, knowing your appreciation for precision language, "this is the most profound thing that you have ever said" is not necessarily a compliment.

          Now, if only I could distil such profundity into snappy dialogue, it might at least help to pay the rent.
          Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
          "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Conflict - How important it really is?

            Without conflict there can be no cartharsis. Whilst illusory, movies satisfy our desire to see conflicts and problems resolved, or at least ended. We may not be able to fix things in our world, but stuff gets sorted and justice is done on screen - like a proxy placebo for our own troubles - a vicarious cure - or at least an empathetic relief that some suffering is not ours alone.
            Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
            "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Conflict - How important it really is?

              Originally posted by Crayon View Post
              Although, knowing your appreciation for precision language, "this is the most profound thing that you have ever said" is not necessarily a compliment...
              Indeed.

              It reminds me of a comment I received from a noted producer to one of my early scripts, one that I took very positively till I realized exactly what he might be saying:

              I thought the writing was pretty good, I have read many worse scripts from agented writers.

              Comment

              Working...
              X