Facebook and Tattoos

What is a Tattoo?

Body art? A fusion of skin and ink? Creative expression, so to speak?   

Jimmy Buffet called his “…a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.”
Kind of like your posts on Facebook.

So when is a person a tattoo?  

Everyone has heroes. Even John Wayne. He had mentors. He had a nemesis, too.
Who mentored your character? Who thwarted them? Who mentored you?

Ask any film director worth his salt about his qualifications, and he will tell you this: A director knows Life. In order to know Life, he must first know himself. It stands to reason that the dramatist might explore via his lead characters the same open-ended questions he once asked himself: Who or what stands in the way of getting what you want, really? Is it them? Or is it you?

Virtually every person you, or I, have met on this journey called Life has had some measure of influence upon us. The fundamental law of physics tells us that an object in motion will stay in motion until it encounters a force which opposes it.

Let us pause to consider the notion that, "We are people through other people." Those whom we encounter have the power to change our trajectory, surely as the rock alters the flow of the stream. Remove the rock, the water is no longer diverted. The course of the water's flow is once again changed.

Conversely, should the rock remain for a significant period of time, it is worn down. Again, the flow of the water is affected, perhaps subtly, over a matter of days, weeks, years. The length of contact matters not.

In the same way, each person with whom we encounter may alter the course of our journey, as artists, as craftsmen. They may become allies, whose presence smooths the way, or enemies, hell bent on thwarting the march of progress. Such encounters have the power to change us, sometimes irrevocably. Hopefully for the better. We call those moments defining ones.

The same is true for our characters. Some word or deed left a footprint. Or, perhaps, a knife in the back?
They hit a wall. Then what happened? Did they bounce back? Or push through? 

Aristotle said Plot is Character. The question for those of us who dwell on character is.... who did what?

The prince slayed the dragon.
The mouse reached for the cheese.
The girl said yes.
A parent did nothing.
A murderer sang.
The sun came out anyway.

A Russian extremist high-jacks a plane because the American President is on board.

Think about the love stories you’ve seen. Novels with revenge plots.

Sam, in Casino, for example, proposed to Ginger. The proverbial die was cast.
Scarlett accepted Charles Hamilton's proposal of marriage. Cinematic history was born.  
See also Evening, Citizen Kane. 

The Bottom Line: Plot IS character. (Aristotle)
 
Someone said a word or committed an act; OR he/she remained silent or failed to act. That, in turn, inspired your character to take his own action. Or not. 

Who is on your character’s heart, ”just like a tattoo”? 

Know thy character. Then perhaps your next tweet will go something like this: 
"The studio executive said yes... and greenlit the production."

En pace,
AL