From Idea to Script to Sale
Summer Romance – Teenage Angst
After talking about frustration for a month, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a change. It’s summer and the sun’s out and the days are long… and even if a summer romance isn’t in the cards for you, why not write about one? And to write effectively about romance, I think it’s a good idea to look at iconic romantic movies.
Romance is something everyone can relate to. Whether it’s teenage angst [“Will I ever find someone who will love me?”] to adult angst [“All my friends are married and I can’t even get a date!”] to marriage angst [“I’m stuck in this marriage with someone who doesn’t really love me.”] to golden-years depression [“I’m old and alone and who could ever love me again?”], the desire for romance, the desire to be wooed, if you will, is a constant for most of us. And over the next few blogs, let’s talk about romantic stories.
What’s the most iconic love story you can think of? If you look at a lot of polls and discussions of iconic romances, one that often pops out at the top is Titanic [1997], written by James Cameron. If you haven’t seen it, spoiler alert, I’m going to talk about the ending.
On one level, I don’t get it—why is this the great movie romance? It didn’t hit me the way it did others, but there’s no denying that people relate to this film. In addition, it won 11 Oscars. ELEVEN. That’s an amazing accomplishment. So what’s the appeal? Why is it so popular?
I think the main reason is the spectacle of the film—the special effects knock you out and the fact that this is a story about a ship that really sank makes it all the more appealing. And the innocence of the two teenage leads is appealing as well. Jack is a full-of-life, poor-as-dirt artist who wins a 3rd class ticket onto the Titanic and Rose is a depressed aristocrat traveling in 1st class who’s contemplating suicide rather than going through with an arranged marriage. Add a stolen necklace and you’ve got a few twists and turns going for you as well.
So what makes this a grand summer romance? I think it’s three things:
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The leads are opposites in many ways, and we love the idea that love can cross all boundaries to bring two people together.
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There’s a secondary story that both are involved in—a mystery involving a stolen pendant.
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It doesn’t end well—one of them dies—so we have a chance to feel sad for them that they didn’t get the chance to love each other, which makes the time they had together all the more special/heartbreaking.
It’s interesting, isn’t it? That the most iconic romantic movie was one where the romance hardly had a chance to take off. But ask yourself what the alternative would have been—Jack and Rose get together and have a chance to live long and happy lives. That doesn’t tug at your heartstrings like the sadness of a great love cut short…
Next week we’ll look at ‘adult angst’ and see if this pattern of short-lived romance holds up once we’re not talking about teenagers. Hmmm…. I wonder…
Copyright © Diane Lake
08Jul18
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Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com