Inside Joke
I'm concerned. Lately I have been listening to what I say and it seems like everything that comes out of my mouth is a bit derivative. That's to say it's a riff off something in the popular culture, or a trope from retro comedy shows. When I look around that's what pretty much everyone is doing as well. So it would seem that the more I rail against the lack of original material in "Hollywood", the less original material I myself create. Troubling. Then again there are all sorts of asides in Shakespeare that refer to the Bible and previous playwrights (some of whom were hacks on a par with the writers for your average contemporary sitcom), so maybe I am being unreasonable.
Comments
Hey, Mo.
Not too long ago, a high-school/college buddy of mine (now a writer) and I were having a similarly-themed discussion: Where are the original themes, storylines, or plots? The discussion was launched by Hollywood's recent attempt to make a buck off re-styling the action and heroics of our childhood (GI-Joe, Transformers, Spider Man, and now A-Team and Clash of the Titans?!). He shared with me that, among the schools of thought in writing, there is one that believes that all of the fundamental stories have already been written (e.g., Boy meets girl, unrequited love, betrayal, unmitigated disaster). I think that I have to agree: There truly is nothing new under the sun (In fact, I think these were King Solomon's words).
Posted by: Dr. Mike | April 1, 2010 10:37 AM
Mike, while the Joseph Campbell, Hero with a Thousand Faces thing is totally valid, I do think that's different than remaking Clash of the Titans with the exact same plot and just (arguably) better special effects (seriously! The Harryhausen stop motion stuff is so awesome!). I don't mind people coming up with the same story different names, it's when they use the same names and then ruin the whole thing that my goat gets gotten.
Posted by: Lo Fat Mo | April 1, 2010 11:38 AM