Pants on Fire....

Everybody lies. Everyday. For good and bad. Get used to it.

I am probably obsessed with two things: Perception and Behavior.

I would have made a great researcher - if only I didn't have to do any of that paperwork stuff. My ideal job with be working with the Dharma Initiative on Lost - getting to set up experiments and observe people in action as they interact.

Why do people do what they do? And why is it that we go so far to cover up our sin to others? Why is the guy with the suit and tie and smile - with the boy locked in his basement - seen as a pillar of society - while the greasy guy with the broken smile seen as a hazard?

We are truly a sum of our parts and are not meant to be judged on the actions of one day - you really need to get to know the person in totality before you can pass on judgment.

But in a script it is completely different.

We need to use a simple action, a line of exposition, a visual - to set up that this person is the one we need to pull for. A save the cat moment. And once we see this person - we need to know what is his big problem. The ghost of his story. The thing he really needs to overcome to be a better person.

And we want it that simple. We need it that simple. It becomes the theme, the spine, the essence that the plot moves on.

But it is not life.

Everyday people do things that they shouldn't. That they couldn't.

Like Matt Dillion rescuing the lady in Crash.

But in scripts - we give people moments that force them to confront their actions and give them opportunity to change...

Or like in the new Pirates trailer where Johnny Depp says-

I love those moments. I love to wave at them as they pass me by.

That is truthful. But it is resonant because it is how we are. We don't change. We are who we are and while we might slightly modify our behavior... We rarely have epiphanies that set our lives on a new course or direction.

Which brings me to my topic.

Everybody lies.

On HOUSE - a great show if you haven't seen it - start watching - the basic premise that the doctor's start with is that patients lie. All of them. The only thing you can trust is that they are not telling you the truth.

I would say this holds true for all of us.

If we are placed in a situation where it is easier to lie and spare someone's feelings - most of us take the easy way out.

So how does this apply to writing?

Well - we want to simply and quickly understand a character. But we want to challenge what we know of that character - and we want to see that character grow. And while everyone says they want complex and multi-faceted characters - we usually serve up the stereotype because it is so readily understandable.

The hero.

The villain.

The sidekick.

The girl.

You see and know who they are immediately - and then we can get back to the shooting and the car chases.

And as you give information to the audience - you are also setting up expectations. When we meet this guy - and he is seemingly the hero of our story - it is really hard to turn that guy around and make him the villain in the third act. While we might follow a bad guy that gets redemption - it is hard to follow a good guy who goes bad - unless it is a cautionary tale of what happens when we make wrong decisions.

We are charged with setting up a world - and the rules of that world - and not violating it. Usually we have 10 minutes for this - and then we must stay consistent.

If we are to betray that trust - and change the parameters of the world we set up - it better do so in a very very satisfying way. And we better not betray the trust the audience has placed in us.

I have a character who tells a story.

He lies.

And we still have to like him and follow him and believe in parts of what he says.

And it is hard... Cause no one likes a liar.

Unless they are telling us what we want to hear -

Boy - Didn't I just tell you not to do that?

Sigh... Back to pimp slapping...