Film Courage: Why is it hard for writers to talk about theme?
Jeffrey Alan Schechter, Author/Screenwriter/Founder of Writers
Room Pro: It's hard for everybody to talk about theme. Nobody understands theme. I mean that's
a horrible thing to say that nobody understands theme like Oh as if I understand. It's just theme
is so complex and so it's like ethereal it's like it's the proverbial trying to nail Jello to a wall
trying to understand theme. It's like the you can get all intellectual about it and I already regret
saying like nobody understands things because I'm sure there are people out there who teach in
college level courses and deal heavily with theme and they can talk very intelligently about theme
I don't care because I don't know that this super intellectual understanding of
theme helps you write one damn word. Again I want people to have careers. I want people to
put money on their table, your money in their pockets and food on their table and you get all
highfalutin and ethereal talking about themes and how they interrelate with the and it's like
okay well you talk about that for a while but why don't you write something for me I just
try to figure out okay I'm not that smart I just want to figure out what's the simplest
understanding of theme possible that will help me write
a a story and that's kind of where I stumbled across the this idea of
you know it's defining theme very simply as heroes ask questions and villains make arguments and
that was kind of it I know it seems a little bit strange and simplistic to do it but that's kind of
the the way to approach it where it's like there's sort of it and I guess is a classic basis for it
where it's like thesis antithesis and synthesis right so so you go to let's see what's a good
one trying to think this idea of trying to think like a really good example for theme where where
okay let's we'll use Star Wars again okay so this theme from a big view is science versus technology
what's more powerful science versus technology right it's just a theme you can have all sorts
of themes is love love for family better stronger than love for the Universe I don't know so you can
come up with anything you want whatever helps you tell the story go with it right don't don't think
there's got to be one absolute so for me I want the theme the the accessible thing that I could
hang my hat on to tell a story in Star Wars for theme is it's science versus technology right
and then you go okay heroes make ask questions what's stronger science versus technology faith
the force versus versus Jedis versus the Empire right you know with Empire representing technology
right the Death Star is a big ball of Technology as compared to the the Jedis which is little a
vanishingly small group of people who are involved in faith right so so Luke asks not verbally but
this is Luke's thematic journey is what's more powerful he goes I don't know what's more powerful
science versus or technology I don't know so he's going to spend the whole story pondering that
the if you ask the the Emperor or Darth Vader or general you know governor of Tarkin on a
death star like Technologies Vader has an appreciation for for faith but he himself
is a product of Technology Luke is asking the question what's more powerful faith or technology
and he grapples with that throughout the entire story right everything is about is about that
the all the bad guys have no such questions they make the argument technology is strong
like Darth Vader is a result of Technology he had faith and it didn't save him back when he had his
fight with Obi-Wan so faith let him down he's now surviving based on technology the Death Star
is a giant ball of flashy blinky technology right it's like the faith is gone from the
universe right you my friend are all that's left of your faith or whatever whatever is said to him
so the bad guys have no such questions they are convinced they make the argument that
that technology is stronger than faith Luke is uncertain and what does he learn finally at the
end is that faith and Technology can work together right and that's where you get the ultimate
strength right because he uses he uses when he destroys the Death Star he shuts off the targeting
computer which is him rejecting technology use the force Luke right he's embracing faith but
it's like it's not like he does one of the Obi-Wan two finger air move and the death star explodes
he still uses technology to destroy the Death Star he might use the Torpedoes so he's using
technology in in concert with faith and that's the strongest of all so it's a really interesting
lesson right that you don't have to you don't have to reject you don't have to be Amish right
where you're rejecting technology right and you don't have to be sort of a scientific atheist
where you're completely rejecting faith you can be somebody who's embracing everything that the
world has to offer in terms of both spirituality and technology and that's where you get sort of a
complete person so so for me that's how you tell a story thematically that's that's what you need
so anything more complicated than that if if you feel like it's like it they they talk about like
what was the Brilliance of of Trader Joe's over Ralphs right so you go to Ralph's and you want
to buy ketchup right so you go to you look at the ketchup aisle and you've got 45 types
of ketchup right and you just don't know which one to buy so you probably go back to the Neil
Hines or whatever it is you're used to buying Trader Joe's has like one you got two types of
ketchup right so they realize that that that it seems like giving people a lot of choices
is the right thing to do it feels kind of magnanimous in some weird way but it leads to
the proverbial analysis paralysis so the same thing with thinking about seeing that people
have all these great and I'm not saying they're invalid they're just not helpful theories about
about theme and how theme Works in in a story so to me it's like they all might be right and
it all might be fine and everybody who's taking a college level course and theme I wish you the best
of luck and I'd love to talk to you about it over over Tito's one day however if it doesn't Empower
you to write your story fast then it's useless absolutely useless again I'm strict I'm like
if it if it's if it delays you getting a check by two weeks that's two weeks wasted so yeah
so I like to go with like what's the minimum amount of theme you need to tell a story and
the minimum amount I found over and over again is heroes ask questions and villains make arguments.