05.24.06

Obsession: Another Signpost on the Hero’s Journey

Posted in Hero's Journey, Screenplay at 8:49 pm by Administrator

I apologize for not posting anything for awhile.  I have been wrapped up in preparing for and going on a job interview.  I won’t know if I got the job for at least a month.  And I am not sure if I want it.  Maybe I will write more on this at a later date. 

One thing I did learn while I was off interviewing is that I have driving need to write a screenplay.  This is not a new idea for me.  It is an idea that keeps popping into my consciousness, usually during my morning meditations.  But going on this interview made me evaluate what my Heart desires.

The whole wanting to write a screenplay started with my becoming obsessed with the movie, “V for Vendetta.”  The first time I watched this film, I left that movie with tears streaming down my face.  I have since seen it six more times.  I even tried to go see it again last week but it was no longer showing in my area.

As I have traveled on my personal Hero’s Journey I have come to realize that when I become obsessed with something, like a movie or an actor, my subconscious is talking to me.  So when I found myself obsessing over the movie “V for Vendetta” I knew that something was going on below the surface.

I have to confess I have an embarrassing history of becoming obsessed with movies or television shows that feature actors with English accents.  Here is a short list of my obsessions: Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, Peter Donat in the 1972 version of Cyrano de Begerac, Alan Rickman in all of his movies, Anthony Head in VR5, and of course James Marsters playing the character of Spike in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

About two years ago I became obsessed with the actor Alan Rickman.  After much soul searching I discovered that the obsession I had with Rickman represented something more.  The actor symbolized for me abilities and skills that I wanted to embody, that I wanted to claim as my own.  

Again after much soul searching, I decided to honor this subconscious drive and enrolled in a month long acting course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.  Why RADA?  Because that is where Alan Rickman studied acting, of course.

What happened during my month of study at RADA is a story for another time, but I do not believe it was coincidence that my studies lead me to RADA, Glastonbury, the Goddess Conference, Starhawk, and Kathy Jones.

So now here I am obsessing over the movie “V for Vendetta” and especially over the character of V played by Hugo Weaving.  I was mesmerized by V’s voice and the character’s use of language.  And though he wore a mask throughout the whole movie, V’s body language was so expressive and exquisite that it spoke volumes.  These characteristics were created first through the work of the writer and then refined upon by the work of the director and the actor.

I found myself going to see the movie over and over again so that I could deconstruct the film.  I went to watch “V for Vendetta” just to record all of the different symbols and themes that appeared throughout it.  I went to watch it to follow the color red through the movie, to observe how time is used, to study and compare the colors worn in Evey’s and V’s costumes, to see how many “mirrors” (both literal and figurative) there were in the movie, to follow the emotional through line of the character V throughout the movie, and to figure out what was the symbolic meaning of the standing domino.

As I studied the film I realized I was engaging in the type of detailed work I would have done as a director becoming familiar with a play or as an actor preparing for a role.  I wanted to know what made this film “tick”.  I wanted to get inside of the movie and inside the heads of the characters.  I wanted to understand the subtext of film because this movie spoke to me at such a deep symbolic level.  I thought if I could understand this movie than I would understand myself.

On the surface it appears to be the story about a man who is either a terrorist or a freedom fighter or maybe he is both.  But if you read the movie symbolically there is much more going on.  On a symbolic level this is story about the power of hate and the power of love.  And more importantly it is the story about spiritual initiation and transformation.

During the course of the movie, the character of Evey shares some wisdom her father has passed on to her, that “artists use lies to tell the truth.”  Like the character of V,  Wachowski Brothers use the fiction of this film to convey a deeper message, that love is stronger than hate, and that one must die to be reborn.

Over twenty years ago I went to college and studied to be a theater director.  As a young idealistic woman I wanted to use my art to change the world.  My most important work as young director was staging a play adaptation of the novel “1984″ in the year 1985.  I thought my production would influence people to wake up and take political action against the atrocities of the Reagan administration.  But that did not happen. 

When I realized that theater was not going to change the world I gave up my artistic dreams and set off to follow a practical path.  I turned my back on being an artist because I feared being penniless and out-of-work.  Instead I chose the path of safety and went back to school to become a librarian.

Now twenty years later I find myself moved to tears by film that is speaking deep truths.  Is this a coincidence?  To quote V, “there are no coincidences.” 

In my daily meditations I realized that I want to speak in a voice that is as eloquent and as inspirational as the character of V.  That I want to speak truth through art.  And like V and Evey I want to live by the courage of my convictions.  

So the spiral path has lead me back to where I began over twenty years ago, the path of the artist.  But this time instead of following the director’s path I am embracing the writer’s journey.  I know I can write a screenplay if I just keep at it.  I now have a track record as a writer.  As I mentioned in my previous post, in 2005 I wrote a 50,000 word novel in a month. If I can do that I can write a screenplay. 

So I invite you to follow me on this new endeavor.  As I begin to write I will keep you posted on my creative process.  Currently I am taking notes and writing the back stories for my main characters. 

Best wishes to you all.  May you too discover your Heart’s Desire.

Swan

 

 

 

 

 

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