The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Avengers Assemble!


Avengers Assemble!

I'm going to attend the 1pm screening of Joss Whedon's THE AVENGERS on Saturday May 5th at the Universal City Imax 3d in Hollywood, with my daughter Nicki.
I'm inviting friends and students to join us, and come later to a nearby restaurant (probably Bubba Gump Shrimpworks on Citywalk) for rowdy conversation.

See you there?
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But meanwhile, it is valuable to note some of the early response. Whedon has apparently found the emotional "hook" which will hopefully enable the film to rise above a collection of dynamic action sequences: the creation of the Master Mind. Yup.

How do you bring a team of super-powered beings together in hopes of saving the world? You have to get them to cooperate and stop fighting each other, to be willing to pull in the same direction.

This is what you must do within yourself. It is what you must do when you create your primary partnership. It is what you must do, one person at a time, as you build your writing group or brainstorming crew.

ALIGNMENT. Someone was asking why some writers write and write and never build their careers or move forward. Lots of work, but little result. The answer is that they do not have internal alignment: their   inner "Hulk" too rambunctious, their "Iron Man" intellect is too cool and remote and ego-controlled, and their "Captain America" values and morality is in conflict with their passion and creativity. There is no leader. There is no agreement. There is conflict.

This is where journaling, meditation and even therapy can be useful, even critical. Remember that most of us are a ball of conflicts, with values, beliefs and emotional charges inherited from a dozen different institutions and role models. In order to move forward with elegance, we need to stop stumbling over our own road-blocks, barking our shins on every piece of emotional junk left in our inner work-space...or else we won't only fail to reach our goals, we're gonna be Mighty Thor!

Sorry about that. Just couldn't help it...


Steve

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Mighty Thor."
Oh, Steve.