Everything is Derivative of Something

We’ve all heard the phrase “everything is derivative of something” well if that’s true then how does a struggling artist present something new? As writers and directors we strive to find new ways to tell the same stories, we analyze and study patterns, tropes, character archetypes and we try and find ways to subvert expectations, that said, we continue to tell the same stories because they are comfortable and people find meaning and safety in familiarity.

So as an artist how do we come up with something relatable while also keeping it interesting and not so predictable? Well the answer comes in several waves, the first of which being that we consume and absorb lots of media. Whatever form we work in, whether it be print, tv or movies we have to consume as much of it as possible in order to understand the basic structure of storytelling. And to understand the regularities in the genre we want to write in. That way we can better understand how to subvert the expectations of the genre. The second thing that creatives have to consider is, what is reasonably possible within this genre and setting? As a writer you can’t just do something entirely out of left field and expect it to fit into your story. You also can’t just write down every random idea that pops into your head. For example the entirety of season 8 of Game of Thrones. Also the 5th season of Lost. Both shows suffered from a desperate attempt to subvert expectations but just ended up being a chaotic mess that wasn’t consistent with the universe that was previously set up. The third wave is simply, does this subversion of expectations help my story or would it be better to do something predictable? A film that doesn’t do this very well leading to a slightly less bad ending was Passengers, it ended up just being really creepy and lackluster when it could have been really sinister and well written. When that happens it simply feels like the writers didn’t put enough thought or effort into the story or how to tell it. It simply wasn't considered that predictability might be better then a mediocre ending.

Some examples of great projects that subverted expectations include; Scream, which basically collected horror movie tropes and satirized them therefore subverting their normal use and elevating the genre. Another film that classically subverts expectations is The Sixth Sense, it's the movie that cemented twists as M. Night Shyamalan’s thing. It took a normal thriller/horror setting and it gave it a psychological element not something super popular in 1999. Perhaps my favorite film that subverts expectations (stay tuned for a more in depth analysis of this movie) and that would be The Prestige. Kind of a drama kind of a psychological thriller, The Prestige does the end of movie twist very well in the sense that the first twist that is revealed is not the only twist that exists and the second one is far darker. I suppose I'll avoid spoilers even though the movie came out in 2006…

Overall writers want to create something memorable, we want to take the love that we have for this medium and find a different way to present our favorite stories. This job isn’t always an easy one and can sometimes lead to some truly terrible or simply lackluster endings. But even so the effort was made, it just didn’t play out very well. As a writer I find this cause very taxing, it's difficult coming up with something that feels original while still creating something that is relatable and touches someone.