Underlying Hope – A Key to Lasting Commercial Success
As an observer of entertainment, I’m always interested in
why some books or shows become classics and some do not – particularly if they
started out with a similar initial playing field (hype or marketing.) For
example, (recently) why did “The Avengers” do so much better than “John Carter?”
Why did the first “Matrix” movie do so well and the others not so well? In
fact, why do most sequels stink? For a long time I thought it was because the
original movie told a wonderful or interesting story and the sequel didn’t –
the first Matrix told a great story and the second Matrix was all about the
special effects. This happens all the time – I think the powers pick up on the
wrong reason for the original movie’s/books success.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think a key to success is the
creation of an engaging story, but not for the reasons I previously believed.
For example, consider the Star War or Raiders movies – they are often used to
illustrate the kinds of story components elaborated in the book “The Hero’s
Journey.” Using these components help a story make sense and “speak to the audience.”
I agree to some extent, but this blog is
going to add another element to those components that I think is not usually in
the list – underlying hope. When you look at many examples of entertainment
that have stood the test of time –The
Lord of The Rings (Hobbit), C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in
Time, Gone with the Wind, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Casablanca, To Kill a
Mockingbird (all that are in the 50 best selling fiction stories or movies
of all time – they have stood the test of time and are top commercial
successes. Is there something about them that makes the so special? I think it
is that they all contain an underlying component of hope. That is, they are set
in a world where there is an understanding with the audience that there is an ultimate
good – that there are some values, people, God, or morality that is solid and
dependable. And even though times may be tough and unfair for some, there is
still an ultimate good that will overcome the bad. Often there are good people
who, although flawed, we can count on to come through for us in the end. They
are the heroes. Compare that to many other stories where the good guy (the
preacher, the policeman, the judge, the congressman, the trusted friend, turn
out to be the bad guys and the bad guys turn out to be the good guys. These shape
shifter characters are good for drama. They give a story surprise and
unpredictability. Using such characters works well in some stories. But what if
there is no ultimate good person? What if there are no constant morals? What if
there is no hope of salvation/redemption? What if all of life is flawed? In
this case the story eats away at our innate human desire for this world to make
some sense. And without that, the story (although it may bring temporal entertainment)
does not satisfy and we don’t care to visit that world again and again. It
stands no chance at long life. I will not become a classic.
So there you have it – an untested and partially thought out
observation about story-telling. Stories with an underlying hope of a world
that is ultimately good and fair speak to the human audience at a deeper and
longer lasting level than those whose world is an ambiguous quagmire.
May your day be full of good words.
For
information on my latest story "Takeover" please go to www.alanelliott.com.
This short story, Takeover: A Writer’s Nightmare, is a romp through the
messed-up brain of a creative writer that takes you on a bumpy joy ride with a
twisted ending.
