Of course you've heard this one. Anybody who's worked on a tricky job or found themselves stuck in a rut on a school project knows it by heart. It's just a quick, easy, maybe even trite way to say "Use your imagination and find a way this hasn't been done before."
No problem, right? It's just a stupid box, and I can imagine myself jumping out of it pretty easily. Sounds simple, Hell, it even rings TRUE. The human imagination is so vast we can't even define its boundaries. Of COURSE the solution lies in my imagination.
So why, after applying this conventional wisdom, would we still run into roadblocks?
The trouble with the expression, dear reader, is one of scope. The Box, which simply stated refers to "the way things have been done before," covers an incredible amount of experience. Over 5000 years of recorded history. So many human beings, all armed with a boundless imagination, trying to find ways of doing things that have never been done before. The number of combinations within this "box" is staggering, so much so that we shouldn't think of it as a box at all.
The box is really a yawning chasm, stretching far beyond what my mind's eye can see.
This is why, contrary to thinking in new directions, people like to lean into the tried and true. In the end, the old ideas worked the best, so why stretch our brains fruitlessly when somebody already found the answer before us?
In sales and marketing, they use ages old pitch techniques, used to build rapport and generate interest within potential clients. People are still being told to fear halitosis, the old bugbear just has new names and faces to fit the times. Give people an urgent need to fix right away, present them with a solution in a bottle, and if they believe you they'll move heaven and earth to get that product in their hands.
In our Kingdom of Comics and Superheroes, the tried and true goes with familiar stories and characters. Endless story tropes on parade for us to pick up off the shelves and remember the glory days of our childhood. Why not, right? People are just seeking comfort snacks for their brain, and any really worthy story ideas and concepts have been thoroughly covered by Shakespeare and Dylan. There's nothing new under the sun, right? Instead of getting lost in the endless chasm trying to find something different, let's just rehash the stuff that people already paid big bucks for so we can make them happy, make our money, and go home. Hell, we can even promote our fresh takes as "Bold, outside the box thinking!"
I don't know about you, but this lack of courage in creation is absolutely killing me.
On the podcast over the past several weeks, we've talked at length over how stories are getting infinitely rehashed. The "New" Fantastic Four movie looks like it's bringing back the old gang with a "new" Silver Surfer and a comics accurate Galactus. As I said on the show, I hope we're getting a completely new tale rather than a redo of a story we've seen replayed countless times within the pages of Marvel Comics and once before on the silver screen. I don't know about you, but my hopes rest comfortably on the floor in the fetal position. The studio needs to make money, so who would dare take a true risk with true consequences?
My friends, I believe with all my heart that there has never been a better opportunity or climate for daring creators to dig deep and make their voices heard!
It all starts with throwing away the notion of "The Box." Stop looking at yourself trapped in a bottomless pit.
The idea of experiences residing in a giant space from which we need to escape from is fallacious thinking. Without those experiences, we would have foundations to build from. We'd have no science, we'd have no history, no shared experience to connect us to our past, or to give relevance to present accomplishments, or to give perspective to bold goals of the future. The sum of the hum story lies neither in constrctive cube nor yawning chasm, but in a radiant tapestry stretching as far as the eye can see. Before us stands the infinite canvas, the ultimate playground where we can build our own creations or continue to work hand in hand with those who gave life to our greatest legends.
My joyous paradox: the most exciting time to be a creator has been, and will always be, RIGHT NOW.
With that in mind, my plea to current creators is simply to embrace a "yes, and" mentality. The characters you script have rich adventures, and those adventures revealed elements of their character which must not be changed or abandoned. Seek out new journeys for them to embark upon. Find ways to test their character, and find challenges which will force them to grow in believable ways.
Above all else, embrace FUN! That's the whole point of nerdcraft, after all.
Until next we meet, keep your eyes to the skies.
Paul Andrea
Comments
Post a Comment