A few thoughts on screenwriting (and this contains spoilers re The Sixth Sense):
THE REWARD IS NO REWARD
In Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces (and please see Stuart Voytilla’s Myth and the Movies: Discovering the Mythic Structure of 50 Unforgettable Films , to see how the hero’s journey can be applied to particular genres/movies, i.e. comedies, science fiction, horror), Campbell suggests that midway through the hero’s journey, the hero experiences "the ordeal” (seeing him/herself clearly, encountering something frightening, some kind of demon or witch character), out of which the hero emerges with a “reward” – a weapon, a piece of information, a new perspective.
Now to me, a reward sounds like a positive, but in examining various movies, the reward actually brings PAIN and SUFFERING:
In the Sixth Sense, Cole learns that he can tell his secret to an adult, Malcom, (“I see dead people all the time”) without anything bad happening. So, his reward is TRUST in talking openly to an adult. So, he tries this new power out with his mom in a scene halfway through the third act (in a four-act structure) where he decides to stop lying to her as well and tell her that he didn’t take the pendant (and implying there are strange forces at work). This does not go well – his mother becomes FURIOUS, tells him to leave, and we feel the pain on her face that her son is not being “honest” about her mom’s pendant, something that she values, that she misses her mom, etc. So, Cole loses her as a mentor and must face the ghosts by himself.
In An Education, our heroine Jenny feels a new sense of sophistication, during her ordeal, that’s her reward, that yes, her boyfriend is a crook, but she’s “better" than all those boring teens studying for college. So, she tries this new sense of sophistication out on her teacher (again, halfway through the third act in a four-act structure) and tells her teacher why should she go to college so she’ll end up sad and grading “my little pony” essays like her. The teacher is devastated, tells Jenny to leave, and our heroine is now alienated from her main mentor. And must face the rest of her journey alone.
A crass example: Obi-Wan learns that Luke is “the one” at the ordeal of the first Star Wars movie, that the force is strong for him, that he can fend off attacks with his light saber, even when blind. The reward (again halfway through the third act): Obi-Wan allows himself to be struck down by Darth Vader, since he knows Luke is powerful enough to take him on himself and that by taking him on, it will expand his powers. But of course for Luke: It’s PAIN, he’s lost his mentor, now he’s alone.
So, ordeal leads to a reward, but the reward is pain.
And of course that pain is necessary, to be on a journey by yourself to be forced to come into your own --
Cole learns that despite what happened with his mom, what he learned in his ordeal is true: He talks to the ghosts, trusts in the power of communication, and they turn out not to be so scary. So yes, the reward is ultimately something GOOD, but in the short run, it feels BAD/like a curse.
Also what’s interesting, who is learning in the ordeal, who is failing to learn (and thus not getting the reward) or who is learning the wrong thing/misinformation so getting the wrong reward changes depending on the movie. Sometimes when the ordeal involves two main characters, there’s a mixture of both.
So Malcom in the Sixth Sense fends off the knowledge that he’s a ghost (although deep down he knows it’s true, thus causing him anxiety and to go in the OPPOSITE direction – convincing himself that Cole is more disturbed than he thought so the IGNORED answer or IGNORED reward). Versus Cole learns that he can TRUST, actively accepts the reward.
Obi-Wan recognizes Luke’s power. Luke not so much, hey it’s just luck. So actively accepting the reward versus resisting the reward.
And the heroine in The Education, does Jenny accept the reward, the knowledge her boyfriend is a crook? No, she accepts "the reward" (or rather misinformation) that she is SOPHISTICATED.
Does Fleabag (in Season 2, Episode 2) accept the reward that "people are all that matter" or no, does she IGNORE that and instead, accept the wrong reward (or misinformation) that she should FLIRT/have sex/be given license to do more of what she's been doing?
So check your work:
Do I have an ordeal at the midpoint? Which leads to some kind of reward/new power. Or fending off of a reward? Or acceptance of the WRONG reward?
Do I have a scene right at the middle of the third act where the hero tries out their reward (power, weapon, a new perspective, WRONG perspective)? Does it go badly for them? Is it painful? Do they lose a mentor and are now alone?
And of course play with all of this/break the rules:
Play with the nature of the reward.
Play with the nature of that aftermath scene in the third act. Or leave it out.
Or have the reward be something that leads to more mentors or companions not less.
See what happens.
Happy writing.
#screenwriting #herosjourney #josephcampbell #voytilla #starwars #thesixthsense #aneducation #fleabag