I know I promised everyone a chapter dedicated to good Red Herrings for this week, but I am wayyyy behind the 8 ball and can't get it prepared in time. Ironically, had I prepared it I would've probably not used it anyway. The reason for that is because of a movie I watched today, a movie that got me thinking about plagiarism.
Having been given the day off, my Wife and I decided to take the kids to the Theater to see a film my daughter has been wanting to watch. It's called Legends Of The Guardians, perhaps you've heard of it. So after watching this movie it got me thinking about ways to take stories that have already been told, and use their familiarity for your own purposes.
I know last week I busted out some spoilers, but this week you can read easy. LotG has only been out in theaters for two weeks and I don't want to give away anything. So this is going to be a spoiler-free chapter.
Before we delve too deeply, I do want to encourage you to go see this movie. It is not doing so well at the box office, and that's a shame. I think it's a gem of a flick, and the CGI was marvelous. In fact I would be so bold as to say the CGI/3D blend was one of the best I have ever seen, at times it was shoulder-to-shoulder with Avatar. But we aren't hear to talk about the pretty graphics now are we?
I wanted to talk about the storyline, because even with the smashing effects, that is what caught my eye. The story is about a young owl, full of natural ability, but still held down by self-doubt, he is basically tasked with saving the kingdom from a unstoppable weapon, and simultaneously helping fight off an army of masked owls led by a evil dark lord that (go figure) also wears a mask. Other interesting points in the story are the wise old owl he meets, that is ironically part of the legends he heard as a youngster. This owl gives him the advice to “follow your gizzard”, which he does, and well because of that, pretty much saves the day. Now I'm curious, is this ringing any bells with anyone?? Anyone at all? Lets see some hands...
It's pretty much Star Wars, there, I said it. Some may disagree, but I'm just saying. You can't watch this movie without superimposing Obi-Wan's voice saying “use the gizzard Luke.”
Sorry, about that. I can't help myself... I'm glad I got the joking out of my system. Honestly, the fact that this story had already been told to me didn't even bother me, and that is what surprised me the most.
This movie captured the essence of correct plagiarism in that it took an old story line, and made it into something new. I was quite impressed by how well it was done. And as someone who nitpicks every little nuance of pretty much every movie/book I ingest, I was caught off-guard and pleasantly surprised by the fact I didn't trash this movie, and simply because of the gizzard thing.
In my opinion I think the Star Wars model is a good one. It shows a character arc that we all wish to travel (from normalcy to greatness), and is full of suspense, action and danger. And at the core it's a good, old-fashioned, good triumphing over evil story. And that is enough for me, because it allowed me to escape into the world of Owls with helmets, and root for the good guys.
Now my question is, how can we as writers walk this tightrope effectively? How do we take the parts of stories that have already been told, and use them in new and exciting ways? And more importantly, how do we do it without looking like rip-offs, and complete hacks?
I would love to see some reader feedback on this. If you don't feel the urge to post a comment, email me at overshadowedipod@yahoo.com, I think this is a healthy topic, and one worth discussing. I for one have my own idea that has been stuck in my head for half a decade and I need to finish it, so I'm gonna keep this chapter short. I don't think I ripped off anyone in my writing, but I do hope I captured at least a couple of the aspects of story-telling that turn a regular story into something great.
I will let you be the judge.
'Til next time.
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