So I wrote this...

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  • So I wrote this...

    ... deep Indy character driven drama and the first couple readers have it pegged as a comedy... until the graphic suicide, overdose and ass rape scenes.

    Question: should I keep it comedic or throw some twisted nightmares into act one to prepare the reader (and ultimately the audience) that this is gonna get dark-- fast?

    Best,

    Markerstone
    "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely." ~Jung

  • #2
    Re: So I wrote this...

    Go with the tone you think is best but be consistent. If you're trying to do a dark Drama and it's reading as comedy then you're doing something wrong.

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    • #3
      Re: So I wrote this...

      Originally posted by TheConnorNoden View Post
      Go with the tone you think is best but be consistent. If you're trying to do a dark Drama and it's reading as comedy then you're doing something wrong.
      It's also an unlikely buddy road film... so far that would be 4 distinct genres...

      What I was really trying to do was keep the protag ironically humorous in the face of all this drama... his coping mechanism.

      OK - back to the drafting table.

      Big Fish meets Thelma and Louise
      Last edited by markerstone; 07-12-2013, 09:49 AM.
      "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely." ~Jung

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      • #4
        Re: So I wrote this...

        Suicide is the word that really sticks out to me there because it seems above all else this is the one most readers/audiences can't get around. There's just No way to make it funny.

        Mixing genres like you are doing is really difficult, it's one of the reasons why the Coens are so special. Furthermore it sounds like you are introducing some of your darker elements late in the story, which is also difficult. But there's only one way to tell...have someone read it.
        Write, rite, wright... until you get it RIGHT.

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        • #5
          Re: So I wrote this...

          Originally posted by asteven50 View Post
          Furthermore it sounds like you are introducing some of your darker elements late in the story, which is also difficult.
          If you've read or seen Everything Must Go this protag follows a similar journey. Working on taking it much, much farther... a progression - downward spiral.

          I have a good 15 years of developing the back story on this guy, but I'm no Coen!
          "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely." ~Jung

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          • #6
            Re: So I wrote this...

            Originally posted by asteven50 View Post
            Suicide is the word that really sticks out to me there because it seems above all else this is the one most readers/audiences can't get around. There's just No way to make it funny.
            Wrong.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRui-HVow_c

            Come to think of it South Park has a lot of funny suicides.

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            • #7
              Re: So I wrote this...

              It's a huge stretch to make ass rape scenes funny as well.
              If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base.
              Dave Barry

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              • #8
                Re: So I wrote this...

                Originally posted by Centurio View Post
                It's a huge stretch to make ass rape scenes funny as well.
                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pZekhEWCHg

                markerstone is Matt Stone right?

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                • #9
                  Re: So I wrote this...

                  Originally posted by markerstone View Post
                  ... deep Indy character driven drama and the first couple readers have it pegged as a comedy... until the graphic suicide, overdose and ass rape scenes.

                  Question: should I keep it comedic or throw some twisted nightmares into act one to prepare the reader (and ultimately the audience) that this is gonna get dark-- fast?
                  Perhaps a study of this movie's structure and timing can offer you an idea for a solution:

                  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180093/...96508896690462

                  "This wild gem gets laughs 'til it comes to terms,
                  See it and try saying you did not squirm."
                  Last edited by Clint Hill; 07-15-2013, 03:47 AM.
                  “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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                  • #10
                    Re: So I wrote this...

                    No, you need to figure out why readers start under the impression that it is a comedy. Then fix the causes of the misinterpretation so the tone you wish your story to give is the same one communicated to the reader.
                    scribbler screenwriting blog-o-zine - Celebrating its fifth year of bloggerdom!

                    Download a copy of Screenwriting Down to the Atoms : The Absolute Essentials Edition completely FREE!

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                    • #11
                      Re: So I wrote this...

                      Originally posted by asteven50 View Post
                      Suicide is the word that really sticks out to me there because it seems above all else this is the one most readers/audiences can't get around. There's just No way to make it funny.
                      I thought 'Four Lions' was so funny I almost suffocated laughing and that's not just about suicide but suicide bombers.

                      Anyway, I agree that there's something wrong if people think this is comedy and it's not. Can't you distribute the funny bits among the dark stuff? Shakespeare had a knack for that. But see how Romeo and Juliet has a soothsayer (or news reader in the Baz Lurhman version) forewarning of the darkness to come despite the light-hearted start... and obviously that ends in a double suicide which is petty dark indeed.

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