”Without conflict it’s hard to have drama. One of the famous lines about literature [comes from] the French writer Henry de Montherlant [who] said about happiness, that it’s almost impossible to write about. He said, ’happiness writes in white ink on a white page’—it doesn’t show up. If people are happy, there’s no story.”
—Author Salman Rushdie ( Midnight’s Children )
MasterClass, Determine How to Tell Your Story
And with the Rushdie quote we’re back to one of my favorite topics related to screenwriting—conflict. Something I’ve converted many times on this blog. Here a few links over the years:
Conflict: The International Language of Drama
The Key is Conflict (movies, TV, Docs, Podcasts, Etc.)
Screenwriting’s One Unbreakable Rule
And since Rushdie touched on happiness being hard to write about, it seems a fitting point to mention a Susan Cain TED talk where she mentions that people listen to sad songs at a far higher rate than happy songs.
”Just think of how many musical genres tap into sorrow: There’s Spanish flamenco, and Portuguese fado, and the Irish lament, and American country music, and the blues.”
—Susan Cain
I’ll leave it to psychologist and cultural critics to unpack that thought. Except to say that I’m guessing the reason has to do with some kind of cathartic release. And many great movies are steeped in sorrow. I’ve always been fond of the this quote:
“Airplanes that land safely do not make the news. And nobody goes to the theater, or switches on the tube, to view a movie entitled The Village of the Happy Nice People.“
—Richard Walter
Audiences enjoy watching characters struggle with life. But they appreciate a satisfying ending where there’s at least a hint of happiness at the end of the movie. I was reminded of that this weekend when I watched the Alexander Payne film Nebraska. (A film I’ve seen multiple times, and whose music beautifully captures the melancholy aspects of the movie.)
Scott W. Smith is the author of Screenwriting with Brass Knuckles
Screenwriting from Iowa 