Thank You, George Lucas
On August 20,
2022, I wrote to filmmaker George Lucas, asking what he thought of “The Force of Life” as a new genre in literature and film.
I asked him the following:
“Do you believe in:
1.
Reincarnation?
2.
Life-Altering Love? (When encountering someone you’ve known
/ loved before in a past life.)
3.
The interconnectivity of everyone / everything in the Universe?”
I
intimated that if he answered
“YES” to any of these
questions, then maybe he’d want to join me in creating a new genre of storytelling, tentatively called “Life Force” storytelling.
This genre evolved after decades of receiving
feedback and
rejections from editors,
contest judges, and potential literary
agents, whose most consistent comments are summarized below:
1.
Your writing has a
unique and intricately developed emotional core. It’s fast paced, easy to follow, with an engaging
literary style, well-developed characters, but an overall lack of conflict.
2. Your writing demonstrates refined talent, imagination, and thought-provoking nuances such as the
possibility of reincarnation as a viable,
scientific reality. But
your story does not follow the typical
paradigm where the protagonist has a goal, want, need, or desire.
This goal should force the hero to go on a literal, figurative, or symbolic journey where
they overcome obstacles and conflict, to achieve their goal— ultimately
helping them grow, arc, or learn a valuable lesson.
For
the record, I reject the idea that storytelling must adhere to the formulae
described above. That’s not the only way to tell a story.
I prefer
stories that show a “slice of life” where characters’ emotions, or “ah-ha” moments and
epiphanies, function as their Goal, Need,
Want or Desire
because this seems far more valid, poignant,
and necessary as a
method of storytelling than relying on “conflict”— this
is literally the “point”
of writing stories or making films. It allows people to connect with universal truths, then grow and evolve both individually and as a
society. It seems to me THIS is a more valuable point of storytelling
than demonstrating conflict in order to entertain audiences—and more troubling—
to simply sell more movie tickets or books.
But why do so many blockbuster movies and New
York Times Bestsellers rely so heavily on conflict? Why do we value CONFLICT so
much? It has been part of our collective unconscious for the past 2,300 years
or so since Aristotle wrote “The Poetics.” But ideas evolve, societies evolve,
technology evolves. Maybe it’s time we allow our storytelling techniques to
evolve as well. It seems to me that conflict has been a part of storytelling
for so long, that we just “accept” it, without questioning the harmful side
effects of doing this. Decades ago, when first starting out as a writer, I came
across this quote in one of the very few books available at that time on the
craft of screenwriting:
“All drama is conflict. Without conflict, there
is no action. Without action, there
is no
character. Without character, there is no story. And without story, there is
no screenplay.”
-
Author: Syd Field
Since that time, over the past three and a half
decades, I’ve come to believe that it isn’t the CONFLICT that makes for great
storytelling, it is the moments right after the conflict has been resolved. The
aftermath of the conflict is where the most interesting, thought-igniting, and
compelling storytelling arises—the AH-HAH moments, where characters have
epiphanies and learn exceptionally valuable life lessons. There is no need to
witness violent life or death struggles; battlefield carnage; domestic
violence; physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; people shooting, stabbing, or
killing each other; or even people just arguing and screaming at each other in
order to tell an engaging and compelling story. None of that is necessary.
In fact, I’m suggesting that by witnessing these
types of conflict, we are damaging ourselves, and our children. We are RUINING
our society by breeding a “killing culture” where mass-shootings, hate-crimes,
and even discriminatory hate-speak and bullying on social media are no longer
aberrations but are the NEW NORMAL. This
is insane. And I refuse to contribute to this sickness by creating content,
whether in my short stories, novels, screenplays, and even my social media
posts— that focus on conflict instead of offering valuable insights in a more
positive, optimistic, and socially healthy manner.
What more do I have against conflict? If we
consider the US political
conflict found in the 2016 and 2020 elections,
the January 6th insurrection, and all
the Black Lives Matter protests
of recent years, it’s obvious that conflict is broiling
in our society. It has infiltrated every aspect of modern life. It’s too much, and it’s NOT at all healthy. Conflict has become outdated
as the optimal mode
of storytelling. It is also outdated
as way of living life.
But this is not new. It has been building up for decades.
Consider this quote from The Atlantic Monthly circa 1997:
The average American
child spends twenty-seven hours a week watching television and will witness
more than 8,000 murders on TV by the time he or she leaves elementary
school…witnessing 40,000 murders and 200,000 other violent acts by the age of
eighteen., (“The Man Who Counts the Killings,” by Scott Stossel, Atlantic
Monthly, May 1997, pg. 90.)
Consider also this quote from the AP news wire in
May of 1997:
Alabama boy, 16,
convicted of fatally beating his mother with an aluminum baseball bat. After
killing her, he went to school and opened fire in a classroom, killing three
students and wounding several others. “I heard voices telling me what to do,”
he told reporters as police led him from the courthouse to a patrol car. “But I
don’t remember doing it.” Scheduled to stand trial next month for the deaths of
the three students, he could possibly face the death penalty if convicted.
As far back as 1997, when I was writing a short
story called, “The Tile That Levi Laid,” I was troubled by the growing
phenomenon of the adverse effects of media violence on human beings, especially
children. It has only gotten exponentially worse in the quarter century which
has lapsed since I first started doubting the wisdom of focusing on conflict as
a primary function of storytelling.
What is the solution to this unsustainable
situation? Shouldn’t we at least try
to find a solution?
What would it take to
replace our conflict-driven, strife-oriented, warlike
mindset with the timeless wisdom of treating everyone (including animals and the environment) only the way you’d wish to be treated yourself?
Can you imagine a world like this?
How would George Lucas answer this
question? Could he imagine a world like this? I’d like to think so. Consider
this quote from Steven Spielberg’s introduction to the book, “George Lucas –
The Creative Impulse” originally published in 1992:
“For two decades I’ve tried to figure
out George’s genius. I have tried to unearth it as though it were some
archaeological antiquity-- George Lucas’s crystal ball. After much thought, the only explanation I can
offer is this: one day, in a brilliant flash of white light, he saw the future,
and he has spent the last twenty years showing it to us.”
~ Steven Spielberg, (1992)
What exactly
did George Lucas see in this “brilliant flash of white light?” What kind of
future does he envision? And if one were hoping to “redirect” the course of
storytelling, what type of future would this require? My answer is this, and it
came to me in my own brilliant flash of white light: “Write to George Lucas,
tell him how you feel, and invite him to share his vision in a new approach,
which could alter the course of human events.”
So that’s what
I did.
In my first
letter to George Lucas, I not only proposed the idea of starting a new genre
for literature and film, but
I asked how he felt about ending our global reliance on conflict as the core
tenet for storytelling. Mr. Lucas has not yet responded to my letter.
So, on November 16, 2022, I wrote
him again, saying the following:
My invitation for you to join me
in creating a new genre of literature and film
still stands. Let’s call it “Life Force” storytelling, and base
it on the tenets of reincarnation, life-altering love, and the interconnectedness of everyone and everything in the Universe.
It seems you favor these storytelling tenets, based on “Star Wars” alone. However, the one tenet this new genre would not include is the focus on conflict-driven action.
Why does the media, television, movies, literature, the nightly
news, and especially social media, all flood themselves with conflict, hate-speak,
and bullying? Our society
is plagued with everything from school shootings to opioid addiction and an epidemic of homelessness, to name but a few crises brought
on by people being bombarded
with conflict in the airwaves.
It is up to us as writers and critical
thinkers, to stop this madness
and offer an alternative to centuries of conflict-driven, war-centered,
strife-oriented content. As storytellers, we must lead the way in turning our collective unconscious toward a hopeful,
peaceful, and light-oriented
future.
You are the pinnacle
of Hollywood content creators. With more accolades, honors, and success than most people
ever realize. I remember
this quote from years ago at the Oscars, during your Thalberg
Award acceptance speech where you said: “All of us who make motion pictures are teachers, teachers
with very loud voices.”
I do not have a voice as loud as yours. But I can whisper in your ear and spark an inspiration for this new genre. We
can create content that focuses on The Force. That spreads hope, love, and light. Without glorifying
darkness by focusing on
conflict.
In conclusion, I want to thank
you because the ideas in your movies allow me to relate to the Universe
in a Life Force mindset. This enables me to visualize a future where the concepts
of reincarnation, love, and peace are foremost in the minds and hearts of the global population. We can lead the way to a future dreamed of long ago and far away.
Thank you for reading this
letter.
Namaste, and blessings.
Melissa L. White
Los Angeles, CA
Melissa L. White
Melissa published a short fiction collection in 2012 titled, “On
the Green Earth Contemplating the Moon,” available on Amazon and Barnes &
Noble. In addition to writing novels and short fiction, Melissa is also a
produced screenwriter. Her latest film, Catch the Light, premiered
in Mumbai, India in June 2019. Most recently, her biopic screenplay about the
life and work of female artist, Georgia O’Keeffe, was a Finalist in the ScreenCraft
True Stories Screenplay Competition 2020, and a Finalist in the Chicago
Screenplay Awards Contest 2021, and a Finalist in the NYC International
Screenplay Contest 2021. Her LGBTQ+ Rom Com screenplay, Modern
Marriage, won 4th Place in the Writer’s Digest
Screenwriting Contest in 2021.
Some of Melissa’s recent publications are listed below:
Oyster River Pages - Special Issue 5.2, Jan. 4, 2022
"Breaking Bread."
See my story, “Small Victories,” here: https://www.oysterriverpages.com/fiction-52/small-victories
Litbreak Magazine – Summer 2021, August 22, 2021 – “The
Road Back” (Novel Excerpt)
https://litbreak.com/the-road-back-novel-excerpt/
Litbreak Magazine – Summer 2021, August 22, 2021 –
“To See a Huge World Outside Us” (Essay) https://litbreak.com/i-radiate-love/
October Hill
Magazine - FALL 2017 - Volume 1, Issue 2, pg. 56 – “Streets of Gold in the City
of Angels” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9-HqfzHYMRCcWxpX2xZaTFsSUE/view?resourcekey=0-MeiGx3yqZOCtLwqMBXIPpw