Play-doh Logic

Just a Movie

Today I went to see a movie with my 6yr old son and his friend. It was Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Fun enough movie. Good SFX and my adventure quota for the weekend was met. Of course it was in 3D, which is still enjoying a decent popularity here in Thailand despite its popular decline in the States already. But one thing was glaringly apparent: the suspension of disbelief was stretched to Guinness World Records levels. I don't even know where to start, mainly because the number of scenes containing implausible, illogical and downright laughably unrealistic events were numerous. It was really as if the writers had not even tried to find somewhat plausible explanations for how to string the movie together.

This is Play-doh Logic: molding the plot to fit external factors (like time and lazy writing).

Mysterious Indeed

Now no doubt the ninety minute required length (for a young adult action comedy) was cause to leave out tedious explanations for why an island would sink according to a predestined schedule and destroy everything this time around while leaving it greatly intact all the times before, or why sometimes insects were larger than life (bees, butterflies) and then not (fireflies) - yes, even my 6yr old picked up on that. There was no doubt a set of good reasons why everyone could find each other in the jungle even though you and I know we can't find people we're looking for within a small park. Or how someone can access to a power source on an ancient submarine within seconds, and keep his breath and see underwater for minutes at end as if they were above water. And don't get me started on the 'smaller' gaffs like a perfectly sliced giant piece of fruit.

The Writer's Anal(ogue)

Now, I don't know if being a writer means I make it my business to eliminate plot holes and irregularities and that this has effectively killed my ability to turn a blind eye in movies. I'd like to think that the reason I am a writer is because I believe I can weave a perfectly entertaining story, without sacrificing the laws of physics, logic and rationality along the way. Take 'Hot on the Trail' for instance. I came up with the story concept after reading Newsweek's article [20 Things That Will Benefit From Global Warming]. It listed things that would flourish from climate change while the rest of the world basically died off. I thought: 'Hm, there's a story in here somewhere.' What I did was map out the world with the various countries growing or declining due to these 30 things. Thai farmers and Russia would be the ruling economic classes, Europe would be a big swamp run over by giant garden slugs, Canada would be the energy capital to the world, etc..

Hot On The Trail
My story would follow a young boy from Russia, who has to flee his home farm after an invasion of the Dengue shock troops of the Thai Warlords. Following a path through Europe, Canada, South America and Antarctica he picks up friends and clues how to defeat the army and go back home. Mind you, the initial story outline is as fantastic as Journey 2, but I tried to find reason within the material and only use elements from those 20 things (that would flourish due to climate change) that make sense within the story. Ultimately it's the plot that needs to be solid, not the characters or the mythology (characters need to be emotionally accessible and mythology needs to be rich). Ælemental taps into all three elements of a good story and that's why I think it's stronger than Lord of the Rings (heavy on mythology, weak on others), Twilight (good characters, but little else) or even Harry Potter (decent plot, too subtle character development and mythology). It's also the reason it takes me about the same time to finish as it does the majority of new YA writers to get a trilogy published!

Bottom line is: creating a good story involves molding plot, character and mythology like clay and shaping it into something balanced and strong. Building a great story also means understanding your clay, its properties, but also feeling it and becoming one with it at the spinning table. That is my aim and it helps to see visually stunning works of art like Journey 2, but which you know will collapse upon themselves like the colorful Play-doh island it portrays.