Who doesn’t love the dark side? You know you do! Tony Soprano, Hannibal Lecter, Louie DePalma — everybody loves a great villain. Pamela Jaye Smith’s wonderful new book gives you the tools to harness this wild horse and make your scripts come alive with The Power of the Dark Side.
— Ellen Sandler, Former Co-Executive Producer of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and author of The TV Writer’s Workbook (Bantam/Dell)
Well, Pamela Jaye Smith has done it again. Your hero is only as good as the antagonist she’s fighting. In exploring the power of the Dark Side, Smith has provided all the tools you’ll need to define the villain of your piece. The rest is up to you.
— Bruce Logan, A.S.C., Emmy-winning Writer/Director, Cameraman www.bruceloganfilm.com
Every once in a while, an exceptional book comes along -- such is Pamela Jaye Smith’s latest offering, The Power of the Dark Side. She not only defines “bad” and “evil,” but deftly gives us examples from all creative corners, explaining the genesis, the characteristics, and the mythological and psychological underpinnings which can take your storytelling to a whole new stratosphere! What makes this book such a standout is Smith’s winning writing style, which provides us with an entertaining “read” as well as a treasure trove of information which writers can continue to rely upon for decades!
— Kathie Fong Yoneda, Seminar Leader, Producer, Author of THE SCRIPTSELLING GAME: An Hollywood Insider’s Look at Getting Your Script Sold and Produced
The Power of the Dark Side is essential reading for writers in all genres who want to authentically portray the quality and power of evil in their characters. Pamela Jaye Smith writes in a highly entertaining style that displays a profound breadth of knowledge from many disciplines.
— Celeste Allegrea Adams, Screenwriter, Story Consultant www.CreatrixStudio.com
Pamela Jaye Smith has brought screenwriting to a whole new level! Her mythical approach to story and screenwriting has deepened our understanding of conflict and villains and antagonists, and even how to work with the problem of evil. Rich with concepts, examples, and possibilities, any writer would find this helpful in adding dimension and credibility and depth to their characters. This is a book to be read and reread and worked with. Fill the margins of this book with ideas and thoughts… read slowly and often! And besides, you’ll love Pamela’s wit and humor! I laughed out loud more than once!
— Dr. Linda Seger, Script Consultant, Author, Screenwriting Teacher
As an actor, writer, and video game designer, I’ve found The Power of the Dark Side enormously useful. The exercises in this book have enabled me to create much more powerful characters, as both protagonists and antagonists, to say nothing of the ever-favorite antihero. Plus, it’s a fun read!
— Aurora Miller, Games Industry professional, JAMDAT Mobile, Electronic Arts
It’s a fact that the more multifaceted, clever, and resourceful the bad guy is in your story, the more mulitfaceted, clever, and resourceful the hero has to be to defeat him… which means a better film for the audience. Pamela Jaye Smith’s insights in The Power of the Dark Side will inspire you to create villains truly worthy of all the silvery screens.
— Steven A. Finly, WGAw, Wishful Thinking, Blackheart, In Her Mother’s Footsteps
I found Pamela Jaye Smith’s Power of the Dark Side to be of tremendous assistance in the development process of our supernatural thriller feature film project, especially in the area of creating believable villainy.
— Lynn Hendee, Producer, Chartoff Productions
In The Power of the Dark Side, Pamela Jaye Smith has once again honed in on the salient and vital points so often overlooked by both veteran and novice writers when constructing a masterpiece to entice and enthrall producers and audiences alike. Whether you’re creating a character we love to hate, designing one of those bad boys (or girls) we can’t help but be drawn to, or trying to convey the age-old “the devil made me do it,” this book is a must-have and a must-read for everyone in the writing business.
— Lynn Santer, Author, Screenwriter, and Conservationist www.lynnsanter.com, www.themagicalscarecrows.com
This book is an invaluable resource for anyone involved in the creative side of the video game business. The ultimate test of a game is that it contains exciting gameplay – gripping challenges for the player to overcome. Unfortunately, the physical challenges offered in most games are unimaginative and predictable; and as for the bad guys, they are usually stereotypes we’ve seen a hundred times before… Pamela Jaye Smith’s book is full of excellent ideas on how to create dramatic obstacles and unique, powerful, fully dimensional antagonists.
— Carolyn Handler Miller, Writer and consultant for video games and other forms of interactive media; author of Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment (Focal Press)
The Power of the Dark Side is a fascinating book, filled with incredible information for anyone, not only writers, interested in the Dark Side of life. Pamela Jaye Smith has the ability and knowledge to take complex material and make it accessible to readers. She not only gives writers many new tools to make characters dark and stories dramatic, but she also illustrates how the dark side affects us in our universe. Congratulations on a terrific book that illuminates the power of the Dark Side in all of us.
— Rachel Ballon, Ph.D., Writer’s psychotherapist in private practice, international writing consultant and author of five books on writing, the latest, The Writer’s Portable Therapist: 25 Sessions to a Creativity Cure
“The Power of the Dark Side is an incredible exploration of the different dimensions of Evil. Pamela Jaye Smith demonstrates once again that she is one of the world’s experts, not only on multicultural mythology but also on the application of the ideas of archetype, symbol, and cognitive science. While she’s written this book with the writer in mind, her exploration of the ideas of evil will be of great value to teachers, therapists, and anyone who deals with people, education, motivation, or persuasion. For writers, it opens up a world of ideas that will help in building more complex antagonists. To have a great hero, you need a great villain. Dark Side delivers far more than you’d expect from one book.”
— Rob Kall, publisher of OpEdNews.com and founder, Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story
“What Joseph Campbell did to explain myth, Pamela Jaye Smith does to help us understand human menace. She reveals the crucial role of disturbing characters in mythic structure. This is the best guide ever to creating believable villains. The reader also gains a fuller understanding of personal shadow. This illuminating work will be a much-used addition to the writer’s bookshelf.”
— Jonathan Young, PhD, Psychologist, Founding Curator, Joseph Campbell Archives
THE POWER
OF THE
DARK SIDE
CREATING GREAT VILLAINS,
DANGEROUS SITUATIONS,
& DRAMATIC CONFLICT
BY
PAMELA JAYE SMITH
MICHAEL WIESE PRODUCTIONS
Published by Michael Wiese Productions
12400 Ventura Blvd. #1111
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 379-8799, (818) 986-3408 (FAX).
[email protected]
www.mwp.com
Cover design by MWP
Interior design by William Morosi
Copyedited by Adria Carey
Printed by McNaughton & Gunn
Manufactured in the United States of America
Copyright 2008 Pamela Jaye Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
&nbs
p; Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Pamela Jaye, 1948-
The power of the dark side : creating great villains, dangerous situations, & dramatic conflict / Pamela Jaye Smith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-932907-43-8
ISBN-10: 1-932907-43-2
1. Motion picture authorship. 2. Villains in literature. 3. Evil in literature. I. Title.
PN1996.S59 2008
808.3'97--dc22
2008009401
Printed on Recycled Stock
DEDICATION
TO
BOGIE, BRUCE, MICHAEL, MONTY, REX, RICK
WARRIORS, WIZARDS, WONDERS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
CAVEAT SCRIPTOR = WRITER BEWARE
I. DEFINING THE DARK SIDE
1. WHAT DARK SIDE?
• What is Evil?
• Who is Evil?
• Why is there Evil?
• What does Evil want?
• Why is Evil sometimes so alluring?
• What’s the difference between Evil and Bad?
• What can we learn from Evil?
• How do we defeat/defuse Evil?
II. THREE LEVELS OF THE DARK SIDE
2. THE DWELLER ON THE THRESHOLD – PERSONAL
• Our own Shadow
• Illness, wounds, and death
• When bad things happen to silly people
• Dark night of the Soul
• Gang-related
• Karma
3. THE DARK FORCES – IMPERSONAL
• Laws of physics
• Theories of other physics
• Time
• Duality
• Earth, Air, Fire, and Water
• Red in tooth and claw
• A plague on both your houses
• Techno trouble
4. THE DARK BROTHERHOOD – SUPRA-PERSONAL
• Who is this Dark Brotherhood?
• Where did they come from?
• What do they want?
• How do they get away with it?
• How can we resist and/or defeat them?
III. THEY WALK ON THE DARK SIDE
5. ANTI-HERO
6. BAD BOYS AND GIRLS
• The Trickster
• The Rake and the Temptress
• Pimps, Panderers, and Pushers
• Mommie Dearest and Bad Dads
• Killer Kids
• Evil Twins
• Pirates, Rebels, and Traitors
• Bad Cop, Worse Cop
• Bumblers
• Dictators, Tyrants, and Cult Leaders
• Mad Scientists
• Psychopaths, Pedophiles, and Serial Killers
7. GROUPTHINK STINKS
• Stereotypes, racism, classism
• Cultural clashes
• Kids and cliques
• Child warriors and child workers
• Vandals, Goths, Golden Hordes
• Soldiers of God
• Organized religion
• Organized crime
• Corporate corruption
• Secret societies and shadow governments
• Big Brothers and bureaucracies
• Evil empires
• War, huh, what is it good for?
8. WITCHES, WIZARDS, AND WARLOCKS
• Shamans
• Witchcraft as science
• Wizardry as political science
• The Dark Arts
• Witch hunts
9. GHOSTS, GHOULS, AND GHASTLY GODS
• Ye gods
• Nature spirits
• Ghosts
• Vampires, werewolves, zombies
• Monsters
• Aliens
• Haunted things and places
IV. THE LURE OF THE DARK SIDE
10. THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT
• The ghost
• The fatal flaw
• I was under orders
• Ate the Twinkies, drank the Kool-Aid
• Gateway Dwellers
• Guilt, grief, and shame
• Born under a bad sign
• Karma
• Curses and voices
• Aliens
11. DEVICES OF THE DARK SIDE
• Sleeping with the enemy
• Seemed like a good idea at the time
• Slippery slope
• Deal with the devil
• Power corrupts
• Cover your ass
• Violence
• Go along to get along
• Dumb and dumber
V. CONFRONTING THE DARK SIDE
12. DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK SIDE
• Charms and chants
• Therapy, drugs, self-help
• Ignore it
• Laughter
• Education
• Deception and diplomacy
• Exposure
• Nonviolence
• Civil disobedience
• Fight fire with fire
• You say you want a revolution?
• Cut to the chase
• Seek sanctuary
• Trials, truths, and reconciliations
• The Primrose Path
• The Road to Damascus
• Get a sense of perspective
VI. WORKING WITH THE DARK SIDE
13. STORY TOOLS
• Selecting the worthy opponent
• The sliding scale
• The Dark Side of our future
VII. CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GLOSSARY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For inspiring and guiding my fascination with how the Dark Side works, I owe infinite gratitude to Georgia Lambert, an amazing Wisdom Teacher and Instructor in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Special thanks go to my content contributors. Monty Hayes McMillan helped brainstorm the book and clarify the concepts. He explained a lot of the groupthink categories, and he offered many of the movie examples. Geffrey von Gerlach, novelist and Doctor of Oriental Medicine, offered expertise in witching ways and all things magical. Michael Wilson Woods instructed me in philosophies and mechanics of the martial arts. Aurora Miller added relevant insights from the world of computer games. Major General Lon E. Maggart and Colonel Tom Dempsey (both U.S. Army, retired) schooled me in many ways of war and intelligence. In addition, long, varied, and fascinating conversations with many friends over many years contributed insights and observations on the Dark Side and its effects.
Feedback and suggestions from many generous readers were invaluable in crafting this book. Special gratitude to Jill Gurr, Monty Hayes McMillan, Steve Finly, Kathie Fong Yoneda, Linda Seger, Geffrey von Gerlach, Mario Bernheim, Aurora Miller, Judith Claire, Brian Dyer, Pam Shepard, Pierre Debs, Michele Shourt, Bruce Logan, James Atticus Bowden, and Dermot Davis.
For their vision and support, my publishers Michael Wiese and Ken Lee, along with copy editor Adria Carey, layout artist Bill Morosi, and the rest of the fine MWP team.
We must all also thank all storytellers who create the myths, fairy tales, films, books, games, and TV series that so marvelously explore the Dark Side. Regardless of whether or not we can ever accurately define or defeat the Dark Side, we are all indebted to the millions of people over the millennia who have taken a stand to hold the Light. May all of us be courageous enough to do so, in our lives and in our stories, now and in the future.
INTRODUCTION
Conflict lies at the heart of all effective stories.
Every good story requires three basic conflicts: the hero’s internal flaw, an antagonist, and an external threat to the hero. These all need to be appropriate, balanced, believable, and capable of contributing to a satisfactory resolution. Ineffe
ctiveness in these elements of conflict is one of the biggest problems storytellers have. That ineffectiveness can be the result of many things:
• from naiveté (it’s all good) to cynicism (it’s all bad)
• from making it too hard on the hero to not hard enough
• from an ineffective antagonist to one who overpowers the story
• from letting your message overpower the story to having no message at all
• from inappropriately mixing one’s personal problems with the hero’s to a lack of any believable human relevance
• from focusing on the hero’s personal conflict to the exclusion of its universality, or vise versa
• plus many more individually unique barriers to building great conflict
There are two essential qualities of good stories: familiarity and surprise. The clever writer will use universally familiar concepts and principles (mythic themes, archetypes, and imagery) and give them a unique, surprising spin to entertain and enlighten us anew with the universal truths around which wonder and recognition circle in delight.
Three must-have aspects of good stories are sympathy, danger, and salvation. We must have sympathy for and interest in the protagonist; the protagonist must be placed in danger; there must be some sort of salvation, direct or implied, for a satisfactory (not necessarily happy) resolution.
You must never make it easy for your protagonist. Barriers, setbacks, detours, and delays are the stuff of drama. Selecting and developing effective conflict requires knowledge of the so-called Dark Side – all that which stands in the way of their desires and fulfillment.
To assist you in crafting your stories, this book will:
• Examine various perspectives on Evil and the Dark Side to widen and deepen your choices for selecting and creating characters and their conflicts
• Define the Three Levels of the Dark Side: what they are, how they work, and how to create characters and situations with them
• Examine Antagonists: antiheroes, evil-doers, seducers, bumblers, vampires, ghosts, aliens, etc. so you can more fully and believably develop those characters
• Investigate the Lure of the Dark Side, so your plots and actions are organic to your characters and stories
Power of the Dark Side Page 1