Give yourself a kick up the a**

Dear Fellow Writer,,
Watched Scream 4 the other day.
I love the Scream movies for that deliberate self consciousness of the genre they use as part of the plot. It's a clever device - a kind of nudge nudge, wink wink at the audience. Instead of: "this is not a movie, it's real life" - Scream goes beyond to: "this really is a movie, about movie cliche, and we both know - and love - it!"
Anyway, in between Ghost-face's customary chasing and slashing, the movie explores the role of the Net in our daily lives, pointing out that, in a sense, our generation lives in public.
Social networking sites allow us to document the things we do - or want to be seen to be doing, anyway. Reality shows give us the impression everything we do is somehow interesting and noteworthy.
But as the killer points out in the final scenes, when everybody is famous, what have you got to do to stand out? And what price do you pay for trying?
Notoriety tends to trivialize issues and people. An earth shattering private idea quickly becomes diluted, seemingly crass and often largely ineffective when made public - have you noticed that?
I guess it's really about motivation. What sparks the need for 'fame' - or for some kind of an audience? Is it just human nature to want to be watched - and adored?
When the killer gives the obligatory, explanatory speech at the end of the movie, Ghost-face says, "But you don't understand. I don't need friends, I want fans!"
Says it all.
Keep Writing!
© Rob Parnell
Writing Academy