Theme is tough to understand and tough to teach. I hope today's video helped, and if you want me to do future videos on the topic of Theme, let me know.
I think Yellowstone is an exemplary example of weak theme, because the Dutton family frequently steamrolls over every other character when they try to introduce a perspective that challenges their beliefs.
Yes, please. That would be very helpful to many of us. I personally am eager to better understand the differences between theme, genre/motif/trope, and atmosphere - how they differ and how they overlap for more cohesive, immersive storytelling.
Definitely a tricky and abstract concept, but you handle it well. I sometimes recall a definition of theme as 'what the story can be said to be ABOUT in the abstract' -- revenge, honor, infidelity, ambition, courage, risk-taking, etc. It's not the plot of the story -- it's the abstractions the movie seems to wrestle with or investigate.
I'm actually really struggling with what my theme is, I think it is somewhere between forgiveness and closure and the link between the two. I wanted my book to be about the contrast of hopelessness and hope but it seems I took my story a bit more personal. I would have to say my fave film for theme is The Last Samurai for the way it questions the aspects of change and while Avatar has the same theme it just seems done in a much less sophisticated way I think. Appreciated video
@@ConserpovWould it count if the narrator addresses the audience early on because the story is told in paste tense as if the narrator is telling us what they experienced? I had a sentence like this, but some readers pointed that out which surprised me.
True. Like, I don't mind if characters are catching each other up on events we already know. But, if they're calling each other by their names and jobs, it's too obvious.
I believe it! Although it helps to lean in on one or two to really give your story that laser focus But it isn't actually 100% necessary for every genre. I am a theme lover, but I also love sometimes deviating
I do like how found family has been a thing that's been in more media that Iv noticed. Whether it's in a video game like Red Dead Redemption II and more recently Godzilla Minus One
My favorite movie on the point of showing a counter-argument to the movie's own theme (or lesson, if you want to look at it that way) is Princess Mononoke. The movie has a strong conservation theme, but there is a large chunk of the movie showing how the industrialization of the town is giving purpose and meaning to the lives of many people who would be dead, discarded, or abused otherwise. It made it very clear there is no easy answer and things will turn very ugly no matter which side "wins".
I love the theme in "The Hobbit" & "The Lord of the Rings." The idea that greatness and heroism can come from anywhere, and doesn't only belong to the strong warriors.
And another great point is that it does this without diminishing the strong characters either, which is very admirable. A bad writer makes their strong characters weak to make their weak characters strong, but LotR didn't need to do that. It wasn't afraid to make the Hobbits weak, helpless, and scared, so when they do find their strength and courage they earn every last drop of it. A bad writer makes their 'strong' characters overpowered, but when you do that they lose their strength because they have no challenges to overcome. LotR didn't hand over victory on a silver platter, they had to sacrifice everything for it.
I completely agree, though I'd like to add that another very prominent theme I love in the Legendarium is that, time and time again, evil is a foil to itself. Saruman betrays his friends to join with Sauron, while also plotting to surpass him, and in doing so, he ends up not only ruining Sauron's plans, but losing all of his status and power, causing him to attempt to ruin the Shire just to spite Gandalf and the Hobbits, and is ultimately backstabbed by Grima, who had been the victim of his abuse for months. Sauron's own pride and arrogance is what allows Frodo and Sam to sneak up to Mount Doom, and ultimately, the Ring destroys itself, with its own corrupting influence on Gollum being what causes it to fall into Mount Doom. There are many other smaller examples of this, such as Gorbag's greed causing a fight that allows Sam to sneak into the tower and rescue Frodo. This isn't to show that evil is incompetent or harmless, or that the heroes' actions are pointless, but rather why good triumphs over evil. While good succeeds when it is united, evil will never succeed because it is never fully united.
I am often hesitant to call a movie a masterpiece or damn near perfect but Jurassic Park is that. Not just the dinner scene everything leading up the point in which they go through the gates sets up the theme and stakes. It sets up parental nurturing and the playing god with both sides getting an opportunity to issue their point; then the second the group goes through the gates we the viewer are being taken on a ride to see which position is proven to be true through action. Is playing God a bad idea? Does Grant truly hate children?
@@alsoniagaming I say the same thing about --- believe it or not --- "Tremors". I consider that to be one of the most well-crafted action movies of all time. It's a case study on how to make literally every shot, every line of dialogue count: you couldn't find a single second of its run time to shave off.
Ian Malcolm’s “whether or not they should” speech at the table in Jurassic Park will forever be my favorite character dialogue in a movie. Still gives me chills to hear it.
I read that the movies changed a good bit about the characters from the book. Granted it still turned out great. Hammond wasn't a good person. Malcolm died pretty sure. The hunter guy lived and the lawyer was very heroic.
They changed some characters for sure. The lawyer in the book was heroic for instance. There are also more characters. This is a great example of how to get an adaptation right. They changed some details and events but kept the theme clear. So if you read the book and watch the movie they are both great. Many adaptations these days lose the theme and it comes off with that “it doesn’t feel right” vibe.
A massive theme that I really enjoyed in godzilla minus one was the theme of forgiveness. Not just forgiving other people (like when the protagonist is forgiven by the mechanic at the end because he shows him how to eject) but also forgiving yourself. It's something I know can be very difficult to do, and showing how difficult it is through your protagonist, I think, is a great idea
A theme that permeated in my head throughout this entire video was the perspective on one's past depicted in Pixar's "UP." At the start, the protagonist, Carl Frederickson is bitter, unhappy, and an overall loose nail in his community due to his unwillingness to let go of the life he used to have; the missed opportunities that haunt him throughout the entire movie. A character who starts in a similar place is the antagonist, Charles Muntz, who similarly refuses to let go of his old life; how he's willing to sacrifice anything to achieve a shadow of his former glory. Both characters end up choosing two different paths by the end of the movie. They never have a scene where they outright argue that their viewpoint is better. Rather, they clash until one falls. Frederickson chooses to live for the future, while Muntz ends up dying for the past.
4:43, for instance, in the Emperor’s New Groove, Emperor Kuzco is a Narcissist and his ego creates several problems for him that he can only solve by learning humility
I think one theme I find a lot of writers get so easily wrong and so often very preachy is the Power of Friendship. Don't get me wrong: I love that theme, but so many stories boil it down to 'person has friends and is therefore better/stronger than someone who doesn't', which is not only bizarre but also vague and arguably harmful in certain scenarios. It's one that's easily failed on any level, but especially in stories aimed at a younger audience. Which is why I was surprised when I played the first Mega Man Star Force game, where I went into it not expecting a well-written plot of any kind, but this had also become my favourite example of the theme. And I think it does this by subverting a general expectation on the theme of friendship -- by showing, instead, how relationships can HARM people. Geo is an angsty teenager who doesn't go to school because of the trauma of his father's disappearance, who later is forced into working with a criminal alien who may know what happened to his father. Both of these protagonists are loners who have a hard time trusting others because of their respective pasts, but are forced to work together because they each need something from the other. In the story's case, they need each other to combine into the titular Mega Man to survive against the other invading aliens come to their world to reek havoc -- and those aliens can only do so by possessing other humans, like what his alien partner did with him. Throughout the story, Geo encounters other characters who are hurt by their relationships: a scientist whose invention was stolen by his most trusted friend, a teacher whose peers alienated him, a student who only felt they were worth something until they stopped being useful to their friends, a person who was abandoned by their family. All of these people had something in common: they were hurt because they had relationships, because they opened themselves to others. It's always making a counter-argument as to why Geo staying a loner is not a bad thing, and it's saying that just by the simple fact of HAVING connections with others, you are always open to being hurt and betrayed. I found that pretty bold for a game aimed at children to be saying.
Another cool thing about Jurassic Park is that when it's clear that Malcom has won the debate and Hammond has lost, Hammond has that line about only the lawyer being on his side, which reminds us that he's not the bad guy and doesn't see himself as the bad guy! It's a good idea to see the nemesis of your side of the theme in the story as still being the hero of his or her OWN story!
Exactly. Nobody ever sees themselves as a villain. They all think they're doing the right thing. That's where a lot of fiction goes wrong with simplistic black/white characters.
There are many themes in Star Wars, but my favorite is: You always have the choice of being good or bad. It depends on what actions you decide to do. Which means if you're stuck in a vicious circle (ex: addiction), you can choose to get out of it. And if you've always been the good guy around, sometimes it's ok to stay strong and stand up for yourself and/or loved ones, even when your choices will have a negative impact on others.
But these writers are doing it for a cause, that if they're "crucified" they think they are martyred.. then there's the smugness with the thought that this is the new normal, and we should get used to it.
Thanks to your videos, when I watched Godzilla Minus One last month (I don’t often watch movies), I was totally nerding out, analyzing everything part of the movie. Haha I can’t look at stories to same anymore and I love it! I have a new appreciation for the mechanics behind a good story
In the book I've been working on I think the theme I've come to is Empathy. It has a post apocalyptic setting and empathy comes into play with a characters wanting to educate others on historical info, thinking about what it's like to be in other people's shoes, learning to come to terms and move past one's prejudice, being willing to forgive those who have wrong you etc. All tied to issues that transpire relating to survival, authoritarianism, classism, racism, and sexism
Empathy is a weak theme on it's own, seems like your story is preaching that empathy good, apathy bad. You need to explore how lack of empathy negatively impacts the individual as well as their community but also need to explore how wallowing in empathy makes you easily exploitable, it can cloud judgment, and can create a weak social structure that collapses on itself. Focus your story on how lack of empathy but also abundance of empathy can be issues and how a good balance in the middle and how personal accountability is important. You should also explore how apathy is self destructive long term but also a useful tool for short term survival.
My favorite theme in any story is redemption/second chances. I love seeing a character who messes up royally become genuinely repentant and figure out how to obtain that forgiveness their soul craves. Whenever I do anything with this theme, I tend to show one who does redeem themselves, and another who has that chance, but forsakes it through pride or some other reason.
I've also seen lots of horribly botched redemption stories, especially from writers with religious background, like Evangelical or Mormon. It usually involves lots of weeping.
@@Conserpov My personal gripe with forgiveness is when someone who by absolutely no means earned forgiveness still gets forgiven - usually by the protagonist(s) - and then as the cherry on top the vile character proceeds to do even more terrible things.
Great example is Beelzemon in Digimon Tamers. Just look up his Fist of the Beast King scene and even without full context you can feel the genuine wish to redeem himself for everything he did before.
As I’ve gotten older that dinner scene in Jurassic park stands out to me more now more, especially the “ you were so busy trying to figure out if you could, you didn’t stop to think if you should”
Im like... 15 but want to write better and I havent even written any actual book yet, but obviously I have way too many ideas and complicated themes and i dont even have the experience so these vids are helpful lol
Glad to hear the videos are helping! Keep writing and you'll master storytelling over time. Don't worry about getting things perfect right now. Just write and write.
I was 14 when I started trying to write a book for real. I promise mine were worse than yours. But I kept at it and got my first book published at 30! You can probably do it sooner. The key is to keep learning always and never give up.
The lunch scene in Jurassic park was my most hated scene when i was a kid. When i watched JP again after becoming an adult i realized how wise that scene was.
Regarding showing both sides of an argument, it is important that the "bad" side of the argument is presented with some actually legitimacy. If you show the opposing side of a complex theme as "cartoon villainy" as possible, that is also preachy.
The legend returns with another banger video. And what a perfect topic for the drama going on nowadays. So many films just feel like they wrote the preach sermon first and never had a solid idea before hitting record. This was a great demonstration of how actual thematic storytelling is done. Thanks for sharing this one.
My favourite story is probably A Clockwork Orange, so the theme is of course freedom, if I have to pinpoint to a single one. I also love Amadeus, I guess the theme would be talent and accomplishment. Personally, in my own writing I found out that themes might be a secondary concern: I wrote a story that held well together and was compelling (I think), then my editor identified what she considered its central theme. So that's my approach to themes: write the story first, at least a first draft, then let others find the themes and after they give you feedback then develop them.
Your writing channel is amazing. Clear, concise, useful. It makes me think hard about my own writing. This one particularly made me think about themes from my favourite book that I wrote : two themes, - one is love at first sight versus love for someone you actually get to know and choose for deeper reasons. - the other is the balance between honour and doing good (the means and the end), It also made me think about the themes from my favourite stories - especially from my favourite book, - how romantic love grows (through many years and several relationships), - finding one's identity beyond the events and the quest for success, - the true meaning of love and freindship - ethics... Thank you.
One of my favourite stories is Coco (by Pixar, 2017), a story about a boy who travels to the land of the dead hoping to meet his hero and become a famous musician. The theme is "Nothing is more important than family." Each character has a different take on it, but only those who embrace the theme succeed.
that movie just felt weird from the perspective of someone with estranged family. there wasnt exactly any moment that Imelda apologized for smashing the guitar, it was just... "watch this kid get beaten down by life and ultimately come crawling back to his family who made him run off to begin with" and like.. oof on that front lol while i can see, like, that ideally they probably wanted to try to portray that the family is acting differently by the finale, they still didnt explicitly acknowledge it so it almost painted that very familiar "just act like it never happened to spare my feelings so it can happen again" scene from my upbringing lol
Theme is the Truth that your protagonist's arc leads them to understand, the opposite of their Lie that they start out believing. A story with a strong theme will have most of the important characters taking different perspectives revolving around that theme.
Well said. The problem is, if you're a writer who gets his 'truths' from ideology rather than reality, you'll still fail even if you're sincere. (By ideology, I mean any system of thought that falsifies reality for political purposes.)
I think the theme of vengeance vs justice was done very well in Batman Mask of the Phantasm. Andrea and Batman both experienced tragedies that ruined their bright futures. To get over his tragedy Batman saves people from criminals, his methods aren't perfect but they let him keep his humanity. Andrea on the other hand uses the tragedy as an excuse to murder people and in the end it leaves her empty.
@waverlyking6045 While I love Begins as the best of the Nolan Trilogy, I do like how Pattinson's version changes when he sees what could happen to him if he stayed the course of vengeance (ala Riddler and his gang of supporters). It's a lot less preachy than Begins and in the end, Pattinson's Batman isn't a hypocrite like Bale's (letting Ra`s die rather than saving him)
thanks for this video. my fav story is attack on titan, and its delivery of its theme, that war is an inevitable cycle caused by various human vice, but that there is hope and meaning in it all, is perfect. Throughout the story, the characters actually say stuff that approximates the theme, but you don't realize it's the theme until later. For example, Mikasa's famous line "This world is cruel but also beautiful." One character, a hunter who lived in a forest, says that he thought he was "sending [his loved one] out of the forest," but "It turns out, the world was a colossal forest, where it was about killing or being killed. We've gotta at least get the kids out of this forest, or else we'll just keep circling around the same place."
The core for not being preachy for me is to show how the moral you want to tell is improving the character's life. Or alternatively, how not adhering to that moral is worsening the character's life. If you can't do that, you might not have a leg to stand on with your idea.
Reminds me of breaking bad. Shows how Walt’s life gets ruined but doesn’t have a moment where Hank turns to the audience and says “hey kids, don’t do drugs”
I’m not sure that’s always true, at least not on a surface level. I friggin’ love Trigun, which has blatant themes about the value of human life and using nonviolence to end the cycle of violence-even when doing so is difficult or painful or unjust, or the human lives in question are deeply flawed or even actively harmful to others. And the main character suffers constantly for not taking the easier road of violence. His foil character makes lots of great points about how violence can protect people. But in the end, no matter how hard it is, you can only end the cycle of violence by one of the parties deciding to stop dealing in violence, even though that can be hard, unfair, or even harmful to the person choosing not to respond to violence with more violence. But the main character isn’t shown to be fully right about his pacifism until the end. But maybe Trigun is preachy and annoying for some people, because the different moral perspectives of the characters comes up a lot as they argue about how to handle problems, because the various characters attempting to achieve their own version of what is good and right drives a good chunk of the story.
Really great points about balancing themes, showing counter arguments, and especially being careful not to go overboard with expressing it through dialogue; which is something I think happens a lot today for some reason.
I never thought I'd see the day where a Godzilla movie is in a video about writing advice that's positive... Godzilla Minus One is truly a great movie.
Love your videos. As an absolute beginner attempting to write a book, your videos have been a huge, huge help. By the way, Secret Life of Walter Mitty had some great themes. Don’t know what others thought, but I love that movie.
Thanks for the video and comment section! Becaouse of you I finally found theme for MC. For a long time I feel like he was a little bit flat, but now something click and all the puzzles start to fit together. I finally understand my mistakes and for the first time - I love every single one of my characters. It is such a huge relief... Just need to change some details. Thank you:)
It used to be common for a film to be criticized for being "preachy". That's a good word to resurrect and a good word for a writer to remember. As soon as you start to feel that you are preaching at an audience rather than trying to lure them in with an engaging story you are going off the rails.
Thanks, love the videos. I’m just beginning screenwriting and wanting to create scripts that have a lasting impact on the audience, this helps a lot Brandon
One important thing is that this is •help• I hardly consider theme when writing, yet I’m told my short stories and such are pretty good. It comes down to who you are. To some writers, theme, character development, plot, etc, are all best done unwritten (you know what I mean), whereas others prefer to map it all out. If things are getting complicated and writing starts losing its appeal, drop some elements and just write!
Great job at explaining themes. I learned a lot about themes over the years, and I couldn't explain it better. This will certainly help a lot of new writers, and some seasoned writers too. Well done.
I absolutely love Neverwinter nights 2 Mask of Betrayer. It's all about "Parents and Children", each time differently for each of the game characters. And even main character's curse of endless life plus endless hunger is one of the theme's reflections
Good video! Entry wounds is such a good book, so hard to put down. I’m halfway through bad parts and I’m really enjoying it too, thanks for everything you do :)
Super late reply, but just wanted to say thank you so much for checking out Entry Wounds! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. Also, if you don't mind, please consider leaving a brief Amazon review--those help a ton
Thank you so much for this video. You made me realise this is exactly what i was missing from one story I'm writing. I'll work on it and have it improved. Thanks!
Nightmare Before Christmas has a few: -It's fine to learn about a new culture, but don't put it into practice without understanding it. -Trying something new can be a way to get yourself out of a creative rut. It's also okay to fail at the new thing and go back to what you're good at. -Respect, and how it can have a long-reaching impact. This is one most people might miss, but this theme is actually explored with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. They're devious little monsters always looking for a trick, but look at how they interact with/talk about Jack and Oogie. With Jack, they play up their innocence and plan to double-cross him from the beginning, but Jack talks to them like adults and trusts their professional capabilities, despite them being children. Even when he gets angry with them, he's firm, but still kind. He gets clarification on their mistakes, tells them how to fix it, and when they fight, he breaks it up peacefully. Jack NEVER raises his voice or threatens violence with them. The closest he gets is (literally) scaring them straight in that one scene. Now look at their interactions with Oogie. While they don't directly interact with him in the film, they do discuss their relationship during their song. "Because Mr. Oogie Boogie is the meanest guy around. If I were on his Oogie list, I'd get out of town." Also, this: "We might lose some pieces, and then Jack will beat us black and green!" Does Jack seem like the type to do this? No. So where did they get *that* idea...? Yeah. A fun song about kidnapping Sandy Claws, while already dark and crossing lines, has some even darker implications when you look at it a bit more closely. Lock, Shock, and Barrel work for Oogie *out of fear* (and this was a lot more clear in the original script, where there's a scene where they taunt Santa, hear Oogie coming, and GTFO before he sees them). A deleted animated scene in the movie also shows Jack scaring them off before he saves Sally and Santa, which shows how they knew he was still alive. What do they do? They don't help or even try to warn Oogie that Jack's still alive. They go get the Mayor. Now, some people might say that Lock, Shock, and Barrel are out for themselves, and they're right. In other extended NMBC media, they'll go to whichever side is more fun to them (and other media also makes it more clear how much they fear Oogie, like the Pumpkin King prequel game). But what makes them fit the respect theme is they have *true* respect for Jack, and *fearful* respect for Oogie. Lock, Shock, and Barrel might oppose Jack half the time, but they will also help him when he needs it. Getting the Mayor was their way of repaying the respect Jack showed them prior. So yeah. When the most rotten brats in town know you're a safe person to be around, and respect you enough to offer their aid, that says a LOT.
You helped me see the theme of the favourite book I wrote, and why my readers loved it. Though it's heroic fantasy, high magic & high stakes, it's all about feelings and specially romantic love. - plus, values. It explores different forms of romantic love, and the outcome from each. One person falls for beauty, and their first love turns out evil, then they fail to understand their second love... One person falls for someone and idealises the image of that someone,, refuses to see facts, clings to their ideals despite everything, and ends up damned Another goes insane for similar reasons - clinging to a lost idea of someone Two people begin shut down from any attachment altogether, for duty, but they learn friendship, and both discover how to build relationship based on shared values, and each of them ends up in unexpected romantic bonds The wisest one makes the others grow, by being faithful until the relationship falls apart, and then, chosing someone and making them grow. The source of wisdom for characters is unexpected : a lowly peasant, friendship with someone making them see that romanticism is possible with someone else, the horror of someone falling for evil because of their refusal to see past their vision of honour... So, yeah, different views, and no preaching, just showing. I'm actually surprised with myself !
It's not finished yet, but I love how the theme of determinism has been explored in Deltarune so far, showing how differently the main characters react to it (Ralsei following the prophecy, Susie doing whatever she wants, Noelle being complacent with everyone, etc.).
i cant get into deltarune for the life of me. if it has anything to do with theme, that might be why. cuz, from the sounds of it, it doesnt seem like the theme of determinism is actually being challenged unless youre meant to interpret the silent Kris as "the person taking fate into their own hands", but it's not overt enough in the storytelling to get that across to me in a way that ties it all together idk ?
@@colorblockpoprocks6973 There are 2 chapters out of at least 7, of course determinism hasn't been challenged yet lol. The whole "your choices don't matter" thing sounds a lot like Flowey's "it's kill or be killed", which ends up being challenged eventually.
The "sea bass" lunch scene in Jurassic Park is one of the best scenes in that movie for me. Hammond's line, "You three are meant to defend me and all I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer" sums it up. We see three characters flip their initial perspectives. Grant and Ellie, who are essentially on a paid vacation to greenlight a dream come true end up advising caution. And the skeptical lawyer is converted to a believer by all the dollar signs. Meanwhile, the slideshow in the background shows the future of the park, helping us remember visually that the fate of this huge endeavor is at stake.
Never giving up and learning from loss is my favorite, in the Hot Wheels Acceleracers series. The main character, Vert, believed he was the greatest racer in the world after he "won" the World Race in an earlier film (World Race/Highway 35), as he was just lucky enough to be the only one to reach the last area in an attempt to stop sabotage. In the Acceleracers series, he takes loss after loss, giving up and going home in the second film. In the third he comes back towards the end because he knows he has a duty to stop a villainous group. Yet he continues to lose and is ready to give up again after being injured. This leads him into a 1 on 1 showdown against the series main villain, where he uses the skills he learned to defeat her in a race learning from all of his losses to beat someone who basically has cheat codes on.
Jurassic Park is the perfect one to discuss when talking about how to present theme. Many people even to this day are still having that same argument that was explored in Jurassic Park.
It is very important to be able to know your side well enough to criticize it. It is only when your criticize your own ideas in a way everyone can understand that they'll see your integrity
Good video! I appreciated that he explained this idea without going the "calling out the woke" route that I've seen other UA-camrs go when explaining why they think a movie was poorly written.
Awesome video Brandon! I was working on a story that has a message but I was worried I was going to make it a little too preachy but this helped thank you! I was wondering if you could do a video of how to do a twist villain? Thanks a lot happy holidays
I love the themes in the book The Ishbane Conspiracy! It follows four characters, and there’s a lot of story threads, but they’re woven together in a way I haven’t seen many books like that do! And every time I read it, it’s like I’m relearning the old lessons that have been collecting too much dust in the back of my head and needed to be revisted😅 10/10 recommend!
Largely agree, with the caveat that I actually found Jurassic Park, as much as I liked it, at times eye-rollingly preachy. Spoiler alert: Chaos theory does not actually work the way they describe it; nature does not, in fact, always "find a way". An especially ironic argument especially given a story about artificially reviving a vast number of extinct species.
Super late reply, but just wanted to say thank you so much for checking out Entry Wounds! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. Also, if you don't mind, please consider leaving a brief Amazon review--those help a ton
Brandon: "Here's how not to preach to the audience" Disney Marvel: "YoU GoT tO dO bEtTeR sEnaToR!" Jokes aside, I was NOT prepared for the story that came with the new Godzilla movie. I went to watch my mans stomp through Tokyo, not catch feelings. It was great though.
This is the biggest problem with 95% of movies today. They just preach and preach at you with no nuance or story context to the point where you feel like you’re watching an indoctrination movie.
@@messinalyle4030 Barbie's second half, and a lot of The Last Jedi where it feels like entire subplots are just there for anti-capitalist or listen to women messages.
One movie that I love because of its theme is love and monsters. At first glance it looks like your average teen romance movie with B movie monster and post-apocalyptic elements sprinkled in, but by the end it turned out to be an amazing coming of age story where the theme circles around the idea of growing to realize your true potential by breaking out of the safety of your comfort zone and facing the unknown world. The main character has a great flaw that he needs to overcome and every challenge and character he meets along the way compliments this theme, resulting in the conclusion that the world is indeed full of terrifying and dangerous things but also equally filled with beauty and wonder that make it worth facing for the sake of finding fufillment and a better life.
Agreed, love that movie. Only thing I didn’t like is that he ends up getting the girl anyway. I thought it was brilliant when he gets to her and realises he never even asked if she wanted to see him, he was just imagining that their relationship would be the same after so long, which it wasn’t. This was a great, real twist that you don’t really see in many stories, but then it cops out in the end and cheapens it
One of my all-time favorite video games, Eternal Sonata, is the poster child for preachiness somewhat ruining a great story. Without spoiling anything in the main story, after the end of the game, we get literally one character after another preaching to the player about what we should and should not be doing as humans. And while I AGREE with a lot of what the characters say, it was so out of place and at odds with the general excitement and adventure of the overarching story. I still recommend it as a great RPG for younger gamers just wanting to find a way to get into the RPG genre in video games. And the music is just...amazing.
I've come so close to buying Eternal Sonata on many occasions but never actually pulled the trigger. This reminds me of another preachy JRPG from that era called Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. That game repeated the phrase "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality" over and over and over. It didn't ruin the story (the story was a letdown to begin with) but it certainly didn't help.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I still highly recommend playing Eternal Sonata. The end credits notwithstanding, the story is fantastic and the characters are wonderful. And the orchestral soundtrack...my goodness, one of the best in video game history. Plus, they intersperse Frederic Chopin's actual compositions before every chapter of the game. Can't go wrong there.
Brandon, I believe the theme of Rocky is not quite "self-respect." That is part of it, to be sure, but the main theme of Rocky is redemption. Because the selection of Rocky to fight Apollo is totally independent of any of Rocky's choices, it is less so about him earning self-respect, more than Rocky being given a gift (given grace) which reveals that he is already worthy of respect. Love your channel, keep up the good work.
I like the theme "random act of kindness resulting in a change of events dramatically". You can see that in "Great Expectations" or "Tintin and Incas".
Happy new year Brandon. Great video, with food for thought. New year challenge to you, use Star Wars as an example less, although I know, the original trilogy is near on text book writing perfection! 😅
What you say here seems so simple, yet Hollywood today, full of paid “professional” writers who are supposed to know this, no longer seem to be able to grasp it.
I’m currently writing a fanfic and I started it without actually planning it through-a mistake I eventually regretted because I had a hard time thinking about what should happen next. At this point, I’m literally just going with the flow but I occasionally have these doubts saying stuff like: “Why is this even relevant to the plot?” even though I haven’t even sat down and thought about a plot at all. So I guess my question is: What should someone do if they have already finished three chapters and haven’t come up with a theme or a plot for their story? How do you work around the events that you’ve already implemented into the story and make it all tie into a theme? Sorry if this is hard to answer, I don’t know how else to ask it. Love your vids btw 💙
Hi I'm not an expert nor am I the youtuber ofc, but I suggest that you look at the plot events so far and look for patterns. Look for patterns as well as character development, and what the characters are grappling with to make them change. See if you can find several examples of the same ideas about life appearing in multiple scenes, and hone in on those Make a list of theme ideas and keep chipping it down until you find one or two you really like and use that as a roadmap to give you ideas on what kind of scenes you may want to continue with. Just a suggestion, take my words with a grain of salt but hope it helps
You don't need to set a theme from the beginning and stick to it. I randomly drop down a scenes I like, some link up and became a story, and from the story I find my theme.
@@tomarnold7284wait, are you saying that you brainstorm scenes and choose from those? Or do you just roll with the flow and write to your hearts content?
My thought would be: abandon the fanfic. Sorry. I know you've put a lot of work into it, but the basic structure isn't there, and you probably can't fix that retroactively. Which doesn't mean you can't use much of the material you've already developed in a new project; you just need to build it differently. First establish a skeleton: the protagonist's flaw(s), where the story needs to go, all the basic structure stuff. Once you've got the skeleton well-established, that's when you can attach muscles and organs and skin -- which sounds like the material you've already developed. I am a nobody when it comes to writing, so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong and you should ignore me.
The reoccurring theme of my favorite show, Steven Universe, is self-acceptance. Coincidentally (or maybe not), self-acceptance is what the protagonist of my novel learns over the course of the story. I did not consciously decide for this to happen; rather, I realized it as I was writing the climax. I am also trying to learn self-acceptance, so I guess I did some subconscious processing.
that and trauma are themes that i can never escape since theyre so prevalent to my life personally and i do that "write what you know" thing to a fault lol i can definitely blame SU for some of my themes, im sure xP
“The world is cruel, but it is also beautiful.” I think this quote perfectly encapsulates the theme of Attack on Titan: you have to fight to live because the world is cruel, but there is beauty in it that makes it worth fighting to live in. Armin sees the beauty in the little moments, Eren misguidedly sees it in desolation: an empty world to roam with his friends. Zeke fails to see the beauty altogether until the end. This talk of theme really made me think about that, and it’s one of the reasons AoT will continue to be relavent in my mind for years to come.
Thanks for another great video. The idea that theme is an argument (tip #4) and that writers need to show both sides of that argument may be the best advice on theme that I've seen and kinda blew my mind.
@DreamersOfReality definitely. The idea of theme as an argument (versus a statement) is the critical insight for me. Saying "both sides" was more about showing the complexity of a given issue, not a literal limit on that complexity. You're absolutely right, as Brandon says in the video around the 7:45 mark, that theme is intricate and personal, and good writing explores that. Thanks.
One of my recent memories on Facebook had compared the themes of the novel The Chocolate War--my favorite novel--and of the TV series Game of Thrones: *****January 2, 2019: Tonight I realized that I'm drawn to Game of Thrones for the same reason that I'm drawn to The Chocolate War: the political intrigue, the mind games, the difficulty of being truly good in a world of evil.***** I've also compared The Chocolate War to To Kill a Mockingbird for theme, characters, and plot points, and also compared The Chocolate War to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. One of my teachers at Queens College/CUNY (Flushing, NY), back in 2002, asked his students to make a list of their favorite novel, movie, play, song, etc., and he said we'd discover a common theme running through them. He was right. Among my favorites: West Side Story (movie and musical play); The Chocolate War (novel); Antigone, and Equus (play); The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (poem); Tosca (opera); Sweeney Todd (runner-up for opera/musical play). What do most of these works have in common? Someone is Standing Up to the System, being a nonconformist or a rebel within an oppressive society or a conformist crowd. I've also notices that these stories have tragic or bittersweet endings, and most feature people of faith or people who question religion. Many of these stories also involve political intrigue or a facsimile thereof.
So basically use the same ideas from an argumentative paper: hook, basis, thematic statement, counter view, a few paragraphs on your pov, then review and conclusion. Btw i really liked the themes in Halo Reach (not a film but might as well be a mini series), Last of Us, Pinochio disney*, and my absolute fav is Remeber the titans themes of self love, loving thy beighbor, forgiveness, pardons, and going against the grain.
Can't decide what my favorite story is right now, but I'm currently watching the One Piece anime and loving the themes of adventure, friendship, freedom and being unapologetic about who you are.
One of my favorite movies with a great running theme is "Tombstone." There is an underlying theme of friendship throughout. Friendship between friends, brothers, wives , girlfriends, lovers, gangsters, and lawmen. Bad relationships and good relationships all explored. How some friends can use you or get you in trouble, while others can bail you out of trouble. Friends that can make you a better person, friends that make you worse.
I enjoy your videos because they give good detailed advice with examples. This video alone, convinced me to rewrite a small section of my opus, to be far less preachy. Thank you very much. That said, I think you could have added something about many authors not giving a damn about theme. I also didn’t agree with the advice that it has to be baked in. The characters dialogue isn’t offputting because it doesn’t follow a specific theme. But I see your point that if an author throws it in later, onto an incorrect character, it would be forced. I’m sorry for the negative criticism. Your videos really are great. Good luck in your writing career. A self-plug: if I don’t die first, I’ll eventually publish Endo’s Deity in a few years.
Basically, avoid what is being done in the majority of modern Hollywood movies: subtle as a brick with their agenda, stuffed with main characters whose flaw is not to be fully aware of how perfect they are, and whose dialouge too often sounds like they are reciting a pamphlet to the audience.
The best use of themes is to hide them in layers behind the story of the characters. Jurassic Park had a faceless corporation in the background that was controlling everything and likely the cause of the disaster because they didn't include the necessary safety features that would be standard in any zoo or animal reserve (what, no backup generators or manual controls on your advanced systems, or moat between the animals and the public?). Godzilla Minus One was based on family. The protagonist avoided conflict until he realized he had something worth fighting (and dying) for.
Theme is tough to understand and tough to teach. I hope today's video helped, and if you want me to do future videos on the topic of Theme, let me know.
I think Yellowstone is an exemplary example of weak theme, because the Dutton family frequently steamrolls over every other character when they try to introduce a perspective that challenges their beliefs.
Yes, please. That would be very helpful to many of us. I personally am eager to better understand the differences between theme, genre/motif/trope, and atmosphere - how they differ and how they overlap for more cohesive, immersive storytelling.
Yes absolutely! If you can are you planning on releasing a video on bad examples of how not to incorporate theme?
Definitely a tricky and abstract concept, but you handle it well. I sometimes recall a definition of theme as 'what the story can be said to be ABOUT in the abstract' -- revenge, honor, infidelity, ambition, courage, risk-taking, etc. It's not the plot of the story -- it's the abstractions the movie seems to wrestle with or investigate.
I'm actually really struggling with what my theme is, I think it is somewhere between forgiveness and closure and the link between the two. I wanted my book to be about the contrast of hopelessness and hope but it seems I took my story a bit more personal. I would have to say my fave film for theme is The Last Samurai for the way it questions the aspects of change and while Avatar has the same theme it just seems done in a much less sophisticated way I think. Appreciated video
When the characters talk to the audience and not each other, it’s preaching
Even worse when the narrator does it
@@ConserpovWould it count if the narrator addresses the audience early on because the story is told in paste tense as if the narrator is telling us what they experienced? I had a sentence like this, but some readers pointed that out which surprised me.
Yeah, Deadpool always known for being preachy.
@@Conserpov with one exception: Rod Serling.
True. Like, I don't mind if characters are catching each other up on events we already know. But, if they're calling each other by their names and jobs, it's too obvious.
Sometimes, a theme emerges organically without being planned by the writer.
I believe it! Although it helps to lean in on one or two to really give your story that laser focus
But it isn't actually 100% necessary for every genre.
I am a theme lover, but I also love sometimes deviating
I 100% agree. Found family is a theme I’ve found myself unintentionally applying to my stories.
I do like how found family has been a thing that's been in more media that Iv noticed. Whether it's in a video game like Red Dead Redemption II and more recently Godzilla Minus One
I still need to watch Godzilla Minus One
Question: if a theme emerges, is that indicative of the writer's underlying worldview/philosophy?
My favorite movie on the point of showing a counter-argument to the movie's own theme (or lesson, if you want to look at it that way) is Princess Mononoke. The movie has a strong conservation theme, but there is a large chunk of the movie showing how the industrialization of the town is giving purpose and meaning to the lives of many people who would be dead, discarded, or abused otherwise. It made it very clear there is no easy answer and things will turn very ugly no matter which side "wins".
That is an amazing example. 100% true.
Princess Mononoke's is about how man and nature coexist, not simply conservation. So I don't find it to be a counter-argument to the theme.
You mentioned Princess Mononoke and its subtext and I am now ready to die for you in battle.
I love the theme in "The Hobbit" & "The Lord of the Rings." The idea that greatness and heroism can come from anywhere, and doesn't only belong to the strong warriors.
And another great point is that it does this without diminishing the strong characters either, which is very admirable. A bad writer makes their strong characters weak to make their weak characters strong, but LotR didn't need to do that. It wasn't afraid to make the Hobbits weak, helpless, and scared, so when they do find their strength and courage they earn every last drop of it. A bad writer makes their 'strong' characters overpowered, but when you do that they lose their strength because they have no challenges to overcome. LotR didn't hand over victory on a silver platter, they had to sacrifice everything for it.
@@le_fancy_squid Good point
I completely agree, though I'd like to add that another very prominent theme I love in the Legendarium is that, time and time again, evil is a foil to itself. Saruman betrays his friends to join with Sauron, while also plotting to surpass him, and in doing so, he ends up not only ruining Sauron's plans, but losing all of his status and power, causing him to attempt to ruin the Shire just to spite Gandalf and the Hobbits, and is ultimately backstabbed by Grima, who had been the victim of his abuse for months. Sauron's own pride and arrogance is what allows Frodo and Sam to sneak up to Mount Doom, and ultimately, the Ring destroys itself, with its own corrupting influence on Gollum being what causes it to fall into Mount Doom. There are many other smaller examples of this, such as Gorbag's greed causing a fight that allows Sam to sneak into the tower and rescue Frodo. This isn't to show that evil is incompetent or harmless, or that the heroes' actions are pointless, but rather why good triumphs over evil. While good succeeds when it is united, evil will never succeed because it is never fully united.
@@HaythamKenway383 If only good always triumphed over evil in real life.
Ya we had badasscharacters of all sizes in lotr
That dinner scene in Jurassic Park really is a great example of how to explore theme through dialogue!
I am often hesitant to call a movie a masterpiece or damn near perfect but Jurassic Park is that.
Not just the dinner scene everything leading up the point in which they go through the gates sets up the theme and stakes.
It sets up parental nurturing and the playing god with both sides getting an opportunity to issue their point; then the second the group goes through the gates we the viewer are being taken on a ride to see which position is proven to be true through action.
Is playing God a bad idea? Does Grant truly hate children?
@@alsoniagaming I say the same thing about --- believe it or not --- "Tremors". I consider that to be one of the most well-crafted action movies of all time. It's a case study on how to make literally every shot, every line of dialogue count: you couldn't find a single second of its run time to shave off.
Ian Malcolm’s “whether or not they should” speech at the table in Jurassic Park will forever be my favorite character dialogue in a movie. Still gives me chills to hear it.
I read that the movies changed a good bit about the characters from the book. Granted it still turned out great. Hammond wasn't a good person. Malcolm died pretty sure. The hunter guy lived and the lawyer was very heroic.
@@gabrielcarrasco9078the book ending was darker too.
@@gabrielcarrasco9078 I read the book a long time ago and can definitely say this is one of those rare cases when the movie does everything better.
They changed some characters for sure. The lawyer in the book was heroic for instance. There are also more characters. This is a great example of how to get an adaptation right. They changed some details and events but kept the theme clear. So if you read the book and watch the movie they are both great. Many adaptations these days lose the theme and it comes off with that “it doesn’t feel right” vibe.
A massive theme that I really enjoyed in godzilla minus one was the theme of forgiveness. Not just forgiving other people (like when the protagonist is forgiven by the mechanic at the end because he shows him how to eject) but also forgiving yourself. It's something I know can be very difficult to do, and showing how difficult it is through your protagonist, I think, is a great idea
Forgiveness and putting others first. Major to Godzilla Minus One
You're the only writing advice channel I get actively excited by when I see a new upload. Thanks for all the hard work. 👍
Hahah thanks! Glad you're enjoying my videos
Yeah the best writing advice channel on here. One of only a couple of channels where advice is specific enough to actually be useful.
A theme that permeated in my head throughout this entire video was the perspective on one's past depicted in Pixar's "UP."
At the start, the protagonist, Carl Frederickson is bitter, unhappy, and an overall loose nail in his community due to his unwillingness to let go of the life he used to have; the missed opportunities that haunt him throughout the entire movie.
A character who starts in a similar place is the antagonist, Charles Muntz, who similarly refuses to let go of his old life; how he's willing to sacrifice anything to achieve a shadow of his former glory.
Both characters end up choosing two different paths by the end of the movie. They never have a scene where they outright argue that their viewpoint is better. Rather, they clash until one falls.
Frederickson chooses to live for the future, while Muntz ends up dying for the past.
This is such a great comment
4:43, for instance, in the Emperor’s New Groove, Emperor Kuzco is a Narcissist and his ego creates several problems for him that he can only solve by learning humility
I think one theme I find a lot of writers get so easily wrong and so often very preachy is the Power of Friendship. Don't get me wrong: I love that theme, but so many stories boil it down to 'person has friends and is therefore better/stronger than someone who doesn't', which is not only bizarre but also vague and arguably harmful in certain scenarios. It's one that's easily failed on any level, but especially in stories aimed at a younger audience.
Which is why I was surprised when I played the first Mega Man Star Force game, where I went into it not expecting a well-written plot of any kind, but this had also become my favourite example of the theme. And I think it does this by subverting a general expectation on the theme of friendship -- by showing, instead, how relationships can HARM people.
Geo is an angsty teenager who doesn't go to school because of the trauma of his father's disappearance, who later is forced into working with a criminal alien who may know what happened to his father. Both of these protagonists are loners who have a hard time trusting others because of their respective pasts, but are forced to work together because they each need something from the other. In the story's case, they need each other to combine into the titular Mega Man to survive against the other invading aliens come to their world to reek havoc -- and those aliens can only do so by possessing other humans, like what his alien partner did with him.
Throughout the story, Geo encounters other characters who are hurt by their relationships: a scientist whose invention was stolen by his most trusted friend, a teacher whose peers alienated him, a student who only felt they were worth something until they stopped being useful to their friends, a person who was abandoned by their family. All of these people had something in common: they were hurt because they had relationships, because they opened themselves to others. It's always making a counter-argument as to why Geo staying a loner is not a bad thing, and it's saying that just by the simple fact of HAVING connections with others, you are always open to being hurt and betrayed.
I found that pretty bold for a game aimed at children to be saying.
Another cool thing about Jurassic Park is that when it's clear that Malcom has won the debate and Hammond has lost, Hammond has that line about only the lawyer being on his side, which reminds us that he's not the bad guy and doesn't see himself as the bad guy! It's a good idea to see the nemesis of your side of the theme in the story as still being the hero of his or her OWN story!
Exactly. Nobody ever sees themselves as a villain. They all think they're doing the right thing. That's where a lot of fiction goes wrong with simplistic black/white characters.
There are many themes in Star Wars, but my favorite is: You always have the choice of being good or bad. It depends on what actions you decide to do.
Which means if you're stuck in a vicious circle (ex: addiction), you can choose to get out of it.
And if you've always been the good guy around, sometimes it's ok to stay strong and stand up for yourself and/or loved ones, even when your choices will have a negative impact on others.
Everyone in Hollywood should take a course on this from you.
Uh yeah. Like badly.
But these writers are doing it for a cause, that if they're "crucified" they think they are martyred.. then there's the smugness with the thought that this is the new normal, and we should get used to it.
@@GenJuhru What a load of nonsense.
Most of the examples given in the video are Hollywood movies. Pay attention.
@@davidhoward4715 Yeah from decades ago, pay attention.
Thanks to your videos, when I watched Godzilla Minus One last month (I don’t often watch movies), I was totally nerding out, analyzing everything part of the movie. Haha I can’t look at stories to same anymore and I love it! I have a new appreciation for the mechanics behind a good story
In the book I've been working on I think the theme I've come to is Empathy. It has a post apocalyptic setting and empathy comes into play with a characters wanting to educate others on historical info, thinking about what it's like to be in other people's shoes, learning to come to terms and move past one's prejudice, being willing to forgive those who have wrong you etc. All tied to issues that transpire relating to survival, authoritarianism, classism, racism, and sexism
Empathy is a weak theme on it's own, seems like your story is preaching that empathy good, apathy bad. You need to explore how lack of empathy negatively impacts the individual as well as their community but also need to explore how wallowing in empathy makes you easily exploitable, it can cloud judgment, and can create a weak social structure that collapses on itself. Focus your story on how lack of empathy but also abundance of empathy can be issues and how a good balance in the middle and how personal accountability is important. You should also explore how apathy is self destructive long term but also a useful tool for short term survival.
@@Eagle3302PL true that
My favorite theme in any story is redemption/second chances. I love seeing a character who messes up royally become genuinely repentant and figure out how to obtain that forgiveness their soul craves. Whenever I do anything with this theme, I tend to show one who does redeem themselves, and another who has that chance, but forsakes it through pride or some other reason.
I've also seen lots of horribly botched redemption stories, especially from writers with religious background, like Evangelical or Mormon.
It usually involves lots of weeping.
@@Conserpov My personal gripe with forgiveness is when someone who by absolutely no means earned forgiveness still gets forgiven - usually by the protagonist(s) - and then as the cherry on top the vile character proceeds to do even more terrible things.
Great example is Beelzemon in Digimon Tamers. Just look up his Fist of the Beast King scene and even without full context you can feel the genuine wish to redeem himself for everything he did before.
@@katier9725
It is even worse when the whole "terrible things" part is forced, unbelievable and out of character.
This guy taught me a lot more than what 5 years of English/reading/ and literature class in public school has ever taught me.
As I’ve gotten older that dinner scene in Jurassic park stands out to me more now more, especially the “ you were so busy trying to figure out if you could, you didn’t stop to think if you should”
Im like... 15 but want to write better and I havent even written any actual book yet, but obviously I have way too many ideas and complicated themes and i dont even have the experience so these vids are helpful lol
Glad to hear the videos are helping! Keep writing and you'll master storytelling over time. Don't worry about getting things perfect right now. Just write and write.
Good luck with your writing!
I was 14 when I started trying to write a book for real. I promise mine were worse than yours. But I kept at it and got my first book published at 30! You can probably do it sooner. The key is to keep learning always and never give up.
Get to reading more! In order to write centimeters you have to read kilometers!
The lunch scene in Jurassic park was my most hated scene when i was a kid.
When i watched JP again after becoming an adult i realized how wise that scene was.
Regarding showing both sides of an argument,
it is important that the "bad" side of the argument is presented with some actually legitimacy.
If you show the opposing side of a complex theme as "cartoon villainy" as possible, that is also preachy.
The legend returns with another banger video. And what a perfect topic for the drama going on nowadays. So many films just feel like they wrote the preach sermon first and never had a solid idea before hitting record. This was a great demonstration of how actual thematic storytelling is done. Thanks for sharing this one.
My favourite story is probably A Clockwork Orange, so the theme is of course freedom, if I have to pinpoint to a single one. I also love Amadeus, I guess the theme would be talent and accomplishment. Personally, in my own writing I found out that themes might be a secondary concern: I wrote a story that held well together and was compelling (I think), then my editor identified what she considered its central theme. So that's my approach to themes: write the story first, at least a first draft, then let others find the themes and after they give you feedback then develop them.
Your writing channel is amazing. Clear, concise, useful. It makes me think hard about my own writing.
This one particularly made me think about themes from my favourite book that I wrote : two themes,
- one is love at first sight versus love for someone you actually get to know and choose for deeper reasons.
- the other is the balance between honour and doing good (the means and the end),
It also made me think about the themes from my favourite stories - especially from my favourite book,
- how romantic love grows (through many years and several relationships),
- finding one's identity beyond the events and the quest for success,
- the true meaning of love and freindship
- ethics...
Thank you.
One of my favourite stories is Coco (by Pixar, 2017), a story about a boy who travels to the land of the dead hoping to meet his hero and become a famous musician. The theme is "Nothing is more important than family." Each character has a different take on it, but only those who embrace the theme succeed.
I watched Coco recently with my family, really good movie.
that movie just felt weird from the perspective of someone with estranged family. there wasnt exactly any moment that Imelda apologized for smashing the guitar, it was just... "watch this kid get beaten down by life and ultimately come crawling back to his family who made him run off to begin with" and like.. oof on that front lol while i can see, like, that ideally they probably wanted to try to portray that the family is acting differently by the finale, they still didnt explicitly acknowledge it so it almost painted that very familiar "just act like it never happened to spare my feelings so it can happen again" scene from my upbringing lol
Theme is the Truth that your protagonist's arc leads them to understand, the opposite of their Lie that they start out believing. A story with a strong theme will have most of the important characters taking different perspectives revolving around that theme.
Well said. The problem is, if you're a writer who gets his 'truths' from ideology rather than reality, you'll still fail even if you're sincere. (By ideology, I mean any system of thought that falsifies reality for political purposes.)
I second the recommendation for K.M. Weiland - I love all her craft books that I've read so far!
Yep, her books are excellent. Creating Character Arcs was a lifesaver for me
'There's a lot going on in that definition, so let's break it down,' Pulled those words straight from my brain, you did.
I think the theme of vengeance vs justice was done very well in Batman Mask of the Phantasm. Andrea and Batman both experienced tragedies that ruined their bright futures. To get over his tragedy Batman saves people from criminals, his methods aren't perfect but they let him keep his humanity. Andrea on the other hand uses the tragedy as an excuse to murder people and in the end it leaves her empty.
Love that movie.
@waverlyking6045 While I love Begins as the best of the Nolan Trilogy, I do like how Pattinson's version changes when he sees what could happen to him if he stayed the course of vengeance (ala Riddler and his gang of supporters). It's a lot less preachy than Begins and in the end, Pattinson's Batman isn't a hypocrite like Bale's (letting Ra`s die rather than saving him)
thanks for this video. my fav story is attack on titan, and its delivery of its theme, that war is an inevitable cycle caused by various human vice, but that there is hope and meaning in it all, is perfect. Throughout the story, the characters actually say stuff that approximates the theme, but you don't realize it's the theme until later. For example, Mikasa's famous line "This world is cruel but also beautiful." One character, a hunter who lived in a forest, says that he thought he was "sending [his loved one] out of the forest," but "It turns out, the world was a colossal forest, where it was about killing or being killed. We've gotta at least get the kids out of this forest, or else we'll just keep circling around the same place."
The core for not being preachy for me is to show how the moral you want to tell is improving the character's life. Or alternatively, how not adhering to that moral is worsening the character's life. If you can't do that, you might not have a leg to stand on with your idea.
Reminds me of breaking bad. Shows how Walt’s life gets ruined but doesn’t have a moment where Hank turns to the audience and says “hey kids, don’t do drugs”
@@adanalyst6925 or scarface. Tony Montana destroys everything around him, but they never say being a criminal is bad.
I’m not sure that’s always true, at least not on a surface level. I friggin’ love Trigun, which has blatant themes about the value of human life and using nonviolence to end the cycle of violence-even when doing so is difficult or painful or unjust, or the human lives in question are deeply flawed or even actively harmful to others. And the main character suffers constantly for not taking the easier road of violence. His foil character makes lots of great points about how violence can protect people. But in the end, no matter how hard it is, you can only end the cycle of violence by one of the parties deciding to stop dealing in violence, even though that can be hard, unfair, or even harmful to the person choosing not to respond to violence with more violence. But the main character isn’t shown to be fully right about his pacifism until the end.
But maybe Trigun is preachy and annoying for some people, because the different moral perspectives of the characters comes up a lot as they argue about how to handle problems, because the various characters attempting to achieve their own version of what is good and right drives a good chunk of the story.
Really great points about balancing themes, showing counter arguments, and especially being careful not to go overboard with expressing it through dialogue; which is something I think happens a lot today for some reason.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
I never thought I'd see the day where a Godzilla movie is in a video about writing advice that's positive... Godzilla Minus One is truly a great movie.
As always, amazing video! I honestly haven't sought out other channels for writing tips because yours are just so good.
Love your videos. As an absolute beginner attempting to write a book, your videos have been a huge, huge help. By the way, Secret Life of Walter Mitty had some great themes. Don’t know what others thought, but I love that movie.
Haven’t seen Secret Life, but I’ll add it to my list. Thanks and Happy New Year!
Thanks for the video and comment section!
Becaouse of you I finally found theme for MC. For a long time I feel like he was a little bit flat, but now something click and all the puzzles start to fit together. I finally understand my mistakes and for the first time - I love every single one of my characters. It is such a huge relief... Just need to change some details.
Thank you:)
It used to be common for a film to be criticized for being "preachy". That's a good word to resurrect and a good word for a writer to remember. As soon as you start to feel that you are preaching at an audience rather than trying to lure them in with an engaging story you are going off the rails.
Thanks, love the videos. I’m just beginning screenwriting and wanting to create scripts that have a lasting impact on the audience, this helps a lot Brandon
One important thing is that this is •help• I hardly consider theme when writing, yet I’m told my short stories and such are pretty good.
It comes down to who you are. To some writers, theme, character development, plot, etc, are all best done unwritten (you know what I mean), whereas others prefer to map it all out.
If things are getting complicated and writing starts losing its appeal, drop some elements and just write!
Great job at explaining themes. I learned a lot about themes over the years, and I couldn't explain it better. This will certainly help a lot of new writers, and some seasoned writers too. Well done.
Weiland really nailed theme in that quote. Well selected. Good video.
Thanks! Happy New Year
Morals… I think that’s a good theme. It’s something that is actually shown a lot. With characters being on opposite ends of the Hero/ Villain Scale.🧐
I absolutely love Neverwinter nights 2 Mask of Betrayer. It's all about "Parents and Children", each time differently for each of the game characters. And even main character's curse of endless life plus endless hunger is one of the theme's reflections
Good video! Entry wounds is such a good book, so hard to put down. I’m halfway through bad parts and I’m really enjoying it too, thanks for everything you do :)
Super late reply, but just wanted to say thank you so much for checking out Entry Wounds! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed it.
Also, if you don't mind, please consider leaving a brief Amazon review--those help a ton
I did leave a review, thanks for the reply :)
Thanks, a lot of times i worry about my writing being too overt and preachy.
"...and if you can't do theme, just hit them with nostalgia!"
- every film producer, ever
Thank you so much for this video. You made me realise this is exactly what i was missing from one story I'm writing. I'll work on it and have it improved. Thanks!
Awesome, best of luck with it!
What makes these good advice videos great is the excellent use of examples to illustrate each point.
What theme is at the heart of your favorite story? Let us know!
Good vs evil is always an interesting theme to work with.
Was gonna say a theme from a story I was working on, but in favorite stories, I’d say the theme of perspective
Hope in despair
Nightmare Before Christmas has a few:
-It's fine to learn about a new culture, but don't put it into practice without understanding it.
-Trying something new can be a way to get yourself out of a creative rut. It's also okay to fail at the new thing and go back to what you're good at.
-Respect, and how it can have a long-reaching impact. This is one most people might miss, but this theme is actually explored with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. They're devious little monsters always looking for a trick, but look at how they interact with/talk about Jack and Oogie. With Jack, they play up their innocence and plan to double-cross him from the beginning, but Jack talks to them like adults and trusts their professional capabilities, despite them being children. Even when he gets angry with them, he's firm, but still kind. He gets clarification on their mistakes, tells them how to fix it, and when they fight, he breaks it up peacefully. Jack NEVER raises his voice or threatens violence with them. The closest he gets is (literally) scaring them straight in that one scene.
Now look at their interactions with Oogie. While they don't directly interact with him in the film, they do discuss their relationship during their song. "Because Mr. Oogie Boogie is the meanest guy around. If I were on his Oogie list, I'd get out of town."
Also, this: "We might lose some pieces, and then Jack will beat us black and green!"
Does Jack seem like the type to do this? No. So where did they get *that* idea...?
Yeah. A fun song about kidnapping Sandy Claws, while already dark and crossing lines, has some even darker implications when you look at it a bit more closely.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel work for Oogie *out of fear* (and this was a lot more clear in the original script, where there's a scene where they taunt Santa, hear Oogie coming, and GTFO before he sees them). A deleted animated scene in the movie also shows Jack scaring them off before he saves Sally and Santa, which shows how they knew he was still alive.
What do they do?
They don't help or even try to warn Oogie that Jack's still alive. They go get the Mayor.
Now, some people might say that Lock, Shock, and Barrel are out for themselves, and they're right. In other extended NMBC media, they'll go to whichever side is more fun to them (and other media also makes it more clear how much they fear Oogie, like the Pumpkin King prequel game). But what makes them fit the respect theme is they have *true* respect for Jack, and *fearful* respect for Oogie. Lock, Shock, and Barrel might oppose Jack half the time, but they will also help him when he needs it. Getting the Mayor was their way of repaying the respect Jack showed them prior.
So yeah. When the most rotten brats in town know you're a safe person to be around, and respect you enough to offer their aid, that says a LOT.
You helped me see the theme of the favourite book I wrote, and why my readers loved it.
Though it's heroic fantasy, high magic & high stakes, it's all about feelings and specially romantic love. - plus, values.
It explores different forms of romantic love, and the outcome from each.
One person falls for beauty, and their first love turns out evil, then they fail to understand their second love...
One person falls for someone and idealises the image of that someone,, refuses to see facts, clings to their ideals despite everything, and ends up damned
Another goes insane for similar reasons - clinging to a lost idea of someone
Two people begin shut down from any attachment altogether, for duty, but they learn friendship, and both discover how to build relationship based on shared values, and each of them ends up in unexpected romantic bonds
The wisest one makes the others grow, by being faithful until the relationship falls apart, and then, chosing someone and making them grow.
The source of wisdom for characters is unexpected : a lowly peasant, friendship with someone making them see that romanticism is possible with someone else, the horror of someone falling for evil because of their refusal to see past their vision of honour...
So, yeah, different views, and no preaching, just showing.
I'm actually surprised with myself !
It's not finished yet, but I love how the theme of determinism has been explored in Deltarune so far, showing how differently the main characters react to it (Ralsei following the prophecy, Susie doing whatever she wants, Noelle being complacent with everyone, etc.).
i cant get into deltarune for the life of me. if it has anything to do with theme, that might be why. cuz, from the sounds of it, it doesnt seem like the theme of determinism is actually being challenged unless youre meant to interpret the silent Kris as "the person taking fate into their own hands", but it's not overt enough in the storytelling to get that across to me in a way that ties it all together idk ?
@@colorblockpoprocks6973 There are 2 chapters out of at least 7, of course determinism hasn't been challenged yet lol. The whole "your choices don't matter" thing sounds a lot like Flowey's "it's kill or be killed", which ends up being challenged eventually.
Seeing Godzilla Minus One on this list brought a smile to my face. Been following you for a few months now. Great video. Cheers, brother.
This needs to be shown to the writers at Disney
The "sea bass" lunch scene in Jurassic Park is one of the best scenes in that movie for me. Hammond's line, "You three are meant to defend me and all I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer" sums it up. We see three characters flip their initial perspectives. Grant and Ellie, who are essentially on a paid vacation to greenlight a dream come true end up advising caution. And the skeptical lawyer is converted to a believer by all the dollar signs.
Meanwhile, the slideshow in the background shows the future of the park, helping us remember visually that the fate of this huge endeavor is at stake.
Never giving up and learning from loss is my favorite, in the Hot Wheels Acceleracers series. The main character, Vert, believed he was the greatest racer in the world after he "won" the World Race in an earlier film (World Race/Highway 35), as he was just lucky enough to be the only one to reach the last area in an attempt to stop sabotage. In the Acceleracers series, he takes loss after loss, giving up and going home in the second film. In the third he comes back towards the end because he knows he has a duty to stop a villainous group. Yet he continues to lose and is ready to give up again after being injured. This leads him into a 1 on 1 showdown against the series main villain, where he uses the skills he learned to defeat her in a race learning from all of his losses to beat someone who basically has cheat codes on.
Jurassic Park is the perfect one to discuss when talking about how to present theme. Many people even to this day are still having that same argument that was explored in Jurassic Park.
The theme of my favorite story is Nazis should not be allowed to possess the Ark of the Covenant.
Lol. They should! When they get it, it roasts them and everyone else loves happily ever after
It is very important to be able to know your side well enough to criticize it. It is only when your criticize your own ideas in a way everyone can understand that they'll see your integrity
Good video! I appreciated that he explained this idea without going the "calling out the woke" route that I've seen other UA-camrs go when explaining why they think a movie was poorly written.
Awesome video Brandon! I was working on a story that has a message but I was worried I was going to make it a little too preachy but this helped thank you! I was wondering if you could do a video of how to do a twist villain? Thanks a lot happy holidays
So, SO happy you saw (and loved) Godzilla Minus One! My favorite theme from that movie is summarized in that one line… “Live.”
I love the themes in the book The Ishbane Conspiracy! It follows four characters, and there’s a lot of story threads, but they’re woven together in a way I haven’t seen many books like that do! And every time I read it, it’s like I’m relearning the old lessons that have been collecting too much dust in the back of my head and needed to be revisted😅 10/10 recommend!
Largely agree, with the caveat that I actually found Jurassic Park, as much as I liked it, at times eye-rollingly preachy.
Spoiler alert: Chaos theory does not actually work the way they describe it; nature does not, in fact, always "find a way". An especially ironic argument especially given a story about artificially reviving a vast number of extinct species.
I just picked up Entry Wounds, really enjoying it! Love your videos and explanations!
Super late reply, but just wanted to say thank you so much for checking out Entry Wounds! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed it.
Also, if you don't mind, please consider leaving a brief Amazon review--those help a ton
Best writing advice I think I have heard in a while. Thanks man 🤘🤘
Brandon: "Here's how not to preach to the audience"
Disney Marvel: "YoU GoT tO dO bEtTeR sEnaToR!"
Jokes aside, I was NOT prepared for the story that came with the new Godzilla movie. I went to watch my mans stomp through Tokyo, not catch feelings. It was great though.
Yep. I went in expecting a fun monster movie and was blown away by how much I loved the characters. Instant classic.
This is the biggest problem with 95% of movies today. They just preach and preach at you with no nuance or story context to the point where you feel like you’re watching an indoctrination movie.
Seems writers don't know how to write anymore. I'm holding out hope for a renaissance in the future.
Can you give some examples of what you mean?
@messinalyle4030 no they cannot
all of marvel after endgame
@@messinalyle4030 Barbie's second half, and a lot of The Last Jedi where it feels like entire subplots are just there for anti-capitalist or listen to women messages.
1 hour ago? Could not be more timely! I am literally grappling with this right now today
Wow I never thought this much stuff went into themes but I understand and thank you for the video keep it up.😉👍
One movie that I love because of its theme is love and monsters. At first glance it looks like your average teen romance movie with B movie monster and post-apocalyptic elements sprinkled in, but by the end it turned out to be an amazing coming of age story where the theme circles around the idea of growing to realize your true potential by breaking out of the safety of your comfort zone and facing the unknown world. The main character has a great flaw that he needs to overcome and every challenge and character he meets along the way compliments this theme, resulting in the conclusion that the world is indeed full of terrifying and dangerous things but also equally filled with beauty and wonder that make it worth facing for the sake of finding fufillment and a better life.
Agreed, love that movie. Only thing I didn’t like is that he ends up getting the girl anyway. I thought it was brilliant when he gets to her and realises he never even asked if she wanted to see him, he was just imagining that their relationship would be the same after so long, which it wasn’t. This was a great, real twist that you don’t really see in many stories, but then it cops out in the end and cheapens it
One of my all-time favorite video games, Eternal Sonata, is the poster child for preachiness somewhat ruining a great story. Without spoiling anything in the main story, after the end of the game, we get literally one character after another preaching to the player about what we should and should not be doing as humans. And while I AGREE with a lot of what the characters say, it was so out of place and at odds with the general excitement and adventure of the overarching story. I still recommend it as a great RPG for younger gamers just wanting to find a way to get into the RPG genre in video games. And the music is just...amazing.
I've come so close to buying Eternal Sonata on many occasions but never actually pulled the trigger. This reminds me of another preachy JRPG from that era called Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. That game repeated the phrase "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality" over and over and over. It didn't ruin the story (the story was a letdown to begin with) but it certainly didn't help.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I still highly recommend playing Eternal Sonata. The end credits notwithstanding, the story is fantastic and the characters are wonderful. And the orchestral soundtrack...my goodness, one of the best in video game history. Plus, they intersperse Frederic Chopin's actual compositions before every chapter of the game. Can't go wrong there.
Brandon, I believe the theme of Rocky is not quite "self-respect." That is part of it, to be sure, but the main theme of Rocky is redemption. Because the selection of Rocky to fight Apollo is totally independent of any of Rocky's choices, it is less so about him earning self-respect, more than Rocky being given a gift (given grace) which reveals that he is already worthy of respect.
Love your channel, keep up the good work.
to work hard, and grow over your limits, to reach your goal, is my fav^^
I like the theme "random act of kindness resulting in a change of events dramatically". You can see that in "Great Expectations" or "Tintin and Incas".
Happy new year Brandon. Great video, with food for thought.
New year challenge to you, use Star Wars as an example less, although I know, the original trilogy is near on text book writing perfection! 😅
What you say here seems so simple, yet Hollywood today, full of paid “professional” writers who are supposed to know this, no longer seem to be able to grasp it.
absolutley phenomenal vid
Thanks!
I’m currently writing a fanfic and I started it without actually planning it through-a mistake I eventually regretted because I had a hard time thinking about what should happen next. At this point, I’m literally just going with the flow but I occasionally have these doubts saying stuff like: “Why is this even relevant to the plot?” even though I haven’t even sat down and thought about a plot at all. So I guess my question is: What should someone do if they have already finished three chapters and haven’t come up with a theme or a plot for their story? How do you work around the events that you’ve already implemented into the story and make it all tie into a theme? Sorry if this is hard to answer, I don’t know how else to ask it. Love your vids btw 💙
Hi I'm not an expert nor am I the youtuber ofc, but I suggest that you look at the plot events so far and look for patterns. Look for patterns as well as character development, and what the characters are grappling with to make them change.
See if you can find several examples of the same ideas about life appearing in multiple scenes, and hone in on those
Make a list of theme ideas and keep chipping it down until you find one or two you really like and use that as a roadmap to give you ideas on what kind of scenes you may want to continue with.
Just a suggestion, take my words with a grain of salt but hope it helps
Thanks for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it 💙
You don't need to set a theme from the beginning and stick to it. I randomly drop down a scenes I like, some link up and became a story, and from the story I find my theme.
@@tomarnold7284wait, are you saying that you brainstorm scenes and choose from those? Or do you just roll with the flow and write to your hearts content?
My thought would be: abandon the fanfic. Sorry. I know you've put a lot of work into it, but the basic structure isn't there, and you probably can't fix that retroactively.
Which doesn't mean you can't use much of the material you've already developed in a new project; you just need to build it differently. First establish a skeleton: the protagonist's flaw(s), where the story needs to go, all the basic structure stuff. Once you've got the skeleton well-established, that's when you can attach muscles and organs and skin -- which sounds like the material you've already developed.
I am a nobody when it comes to writing, so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong and you should ignore me.
"And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva..."
- Clergyman (The Princess Bride)
The reoccurring theme of my favorite show, Steven Universe, is self-acceptance. Coincidentally (or maybe not), self-acceptance is what the protagonist of my novel learns over the course of the story. I did not consciously decide for this to happen; rather, I realized it as I was writing the climax. I am also trying to learn self-acceptance, so I guess I did some subconscious processing.
that and trauma are themes that i can never escape since theyre so prevalent to my life personally and i do that "write what you know" thing to a fault lol i can definitely blame SU for some of my themes, im sure xP
“The world is cruel, but it is also beautiful.” I think this quote perfectly encapsulates the theme of Attack on Titan: you have to fight to live because the world is cruel, but there is beauty in it that makes it worth fighting to live in. Armin sees the beauty in the little moments, Eren misguidedly sees it in desolation: an empty world to roam with his friends. Zeke fails to see the beauty altogether until the end. This talk of theme really made me think about that, and it’s one of the reasons AoT will continue to be relavent in my mind for years to come.
Yes I love this theme. It's what I consider to be the main theme of my favorite story of all time, Honkai Impact 3rd.
Thanks for another great video. The idea that theme is an argument (tip #4) and that writers need to show both sides of that argument may be the best advice on theme that I've seen and kinda blew my mind.
Thank you! And yes, it’s important to show both sides. That helps with both theme and conflict
Hmm. But if one thinks there are only two arguments for... anything complicated, really, then I can't imagine one could do any of it justice.
@DreamersOfReality definitely. The idea of theme as an argument (versus a statement) is the critical insight for me. Saying "both sides" was more about showing the complexity of a given issue, not a literal limit on that complexity. You're absolutely right, as Brandon says in the video around the 7:45 mark, that theme is intricate and personal, and good writing explores that. Thanks.
Sometimes the theme just comes and goes and just so good
Tacked on themes are a huge problem. It’s the difference between changing someone’s perspective for the better or saying “don’t hurt people it’s bad”
K M Weiland taught me more about writing than anyone
Her books are excellent
I always love me a good choice-interactive story where the theme is that the choices you make will have consequences.
The Last Samurai: technology can hoist us into modernity but it can also steal the beauty and soul that tradition provides a nation
My story has a lot of themes, but the main I wanted to focus on was what happens when kids suddenly inherit a world
One of my recent memories on Facebook had compared the themes of the novel The Chocolate War--my favorite novel--and of the TV series Game of Thrones:
*****January 2, 2019:
Tonight I realized that I'm drawn to Game of Thrones for the same reason that I'm drawn to The Chocolate War: the political intrigue, the mind games, the difficulty of being truly good in a world of evil.*****
I've also compared The Chocolate War to To Kill a Mockingbird for theme, characters, and plot points, and also compared The Chocolate War to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
One of my teachers at Queens College/CUNY (Flushing, NY), back in 2002, asked his students to make a list of their favorite novel, movie, play, song, etc., and he said we'd discover a common theme running through them. He was right. Among my favorites: West Side Story (movie and musical play); The Chocolate War (novel); Antigone, and Equus (play); The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (poem); Tosca (opera); Sweeney Todd (runner-up for opera/musical play). What do most of these works have in common? Someone is Standing Up to the System, being a nonconformist or a rebel within an oppressive society or a conformist crowd. I've also notices that these stories have tragic or bittersweet endings, and most feature people of faith or people who question religion. Many of these stories also involve political intrigue or a facsimile thereof.
This is awesome. Well done.
So basically use the same ideas from an argumentative paper: hook, basis, thematic statement, counter view, a few paragraphs on your pov, then review and conclusion.
Btw i really liked the themes in Halo Reach (not a film but might as well be a mini series), Last of Us, Pinochio disney*, and my absolute fav is Remeber the titans themes of self love, loving thy beighbor, forgiveness, pardons, and going against the grain.
Can't decide what my favorite story is right now, but I'm currently watching the One Piece anime and loving the themes of adventure, friendship, freedom and being unapologetic about who you are.
Protagonist with flaws. I miss that.
One of my favorite movies with a great running theme is "Tombstone." There is an underlying theme of friendship throughout. Friendship between friends, brothers, wives , girlfriends, lovers, gangsters, and lawmen. Bad relationships and good relationships all explored. How some friends can use you or get you in trouble, while others can bail you out of trouble. Friends that can make you a better person, friends that make you worse.
I enjoy your videos because they give good detailed advice with examples. This video alone, convinced me to rewrite a small section of my opus, to be far less preachy. Thank you very much.
That said, I think you could have added something about many authors not giving a damn about theme. I also didn’t agree with the advice that it has to be baked in. The characters dialogue isn’t offputting because it doesn’t follow a specific theme. But I see your point that if an author throws it in later, onto an incorrect character, it would be forced. I’m sorry for the negative criticism. Your videos really are great. Good luck in your writing career. A self-plug: if I don’t die first, I’ll eventually publish Endo’s Deity in a few years.
Basically, avoid what is being done in the majority of modern Hollywood movies: subtle as a brick with their agenda, stuffed with main characters whose flaw is not to be fully aware of how perfect they are, and whose dialouge too often sounds like they are reciting a pamphlet to the audience.
Great video. Thank you
The best use of themes is to hide them in layers behind the story of the characters. Jurassic Park had a faceless corporation in the background that was controlling everything and likely the cause of the disaster because they didn't include the necessary safety features that would be standard in any zoo or animal reserve (what, no backup generators or manual controls on your advanced systems, or moat between the animals and the public?). Godzilla Minus One was based on family. The protagonist avoided conflict until he realized he had something worth fighting (and dying) for.