Tags
Carl Elias, Charles Baudelaire, Chun, Don Corleone, Elias, Enrico Colantoni, Eric Cartman, Irene Adler, Keyser Soze, Nina Simoe, Nuhc, Person of Interest, Remo Williams, Renegade, Sherlock Holmes, Sinner Man, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, South Park, Styx, Supernatural, The Destroyer, The Most Dangerous Game, The Usual Suspects, Veni Vidi Vici, Winchester Brothers, Zaroff
As a writer I know you’ve felt the same as I have. When you watch or read a particular scene, whether it’s in a book, a television show, or a movie, and after watching it you wish you were the one who wrote it, because it’s so damn good and memorable. It makes you hope that one day you write something as good that will inspire others the same way you were.
The energy and the radiance that come out of a scene is magical, and it can save a book, or T.V. show, or even a movie. It can also doom it; one good scene in a bad movie makes you think what the movie could have been instead of what it was. But still if that inspires you to write something fantastic, it’s worth it.
Some of the scenes I’m describing might contain spoilers so consider yourself warned. The following are scenes I wish I wrote:
From the television series Supernatural, season 2, episode 12, Nightshifter: At the end of the episode the heroes Sam and Dean barely escape from the police and the FBI who are hunting them. They make it out disguised as SWAT members. They get in the car and Dean matter-of-factly states that they are screwed, then it jumps big time into the song Renegade by Styx, and plays as our heroes ride off trying to figure out their next move. I think one of the reasons I like this scene is that it kicks ass, and because the Winchester brothers now have to be more careful. It also reminds me a little of my big brother who shared his love of prog rock with me. That style of music has stuck with me and I’ll use it as I write, depending on my mood.
Another scene from television is from another series I’ve recently started watching, Person of Interest. In season 1, episode 7, Witness: Near the end of this episode you find out a witness to a gangland shooting that the heroes are protecting is actually the crime lord Carl Elias. Pretending to be a school teacher, he has been manipulating things behind the scenes. After tricking his protector John Reese and wounding a Russian gangster, he makes his escape. It ends with him walking with his crew in his newly won territory, Coney Island, victorious. Veni, vidi, vici indeed. Love it for many reasons; including the haunting end tune they play to catch the mood of the episode, Nina Simone’s version of the song Sinner Man. Enrico Colantoni plays the charismatic Elias to great rapture, and I’m glad this talented character actor is getting praise and continual work. I’ve always been a fan of gangsters and mob figures in fiction and movies/television. Elias is right up there with Don Corleone (Vito and Michael).
And speaking of criminal masterminds, how could I not mention Keyser Söze from the amazing movie The Usual Suspects. Surprise surprise, this comes at the end of the movie, where in a surprise twist, a small-time con artist is revealed to be the mysterious crime lord everyone has looking for. Somehow he slips out of the police precinct where he spent the day being interrogated by a cop who is determined to bring the ultimate evil to justice. And yet that cop will fail. The scene I’m talking about is the very end, where Verbal Kent slowly emerges as the man who brought the Hungarian mob to their knees. The best part is when Keyser escapes while Customs Agent Dave Kujan realizes he let the ‘cripple’ get away. All the while proving “the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” How can you not like that ending, and how, as a writer, can you not wish that you wrote or invented that ending and that line? I’m double dipping because Charles Baudelaire actually came up with the line about the devil tricking the world…yep dropped a knowledge bomb on you, you’re welcome. It’s a great movie and it makes me want to write haunting passages that even years after you watch or read it, it will stick with you and influence you as a writer or creator.
I notice that the three above I mentioned all have one thing in common, the main character(s) in these scenes are all escaping using tricks, and in doing so become stronger than ever. Curious.
So let’s go onto literature, and some scenes that inspired me that I wish I wrote:
The Destroyer novel #10, Terror Squad, is the book where Remo Williams accepts his destiny as a true master of Sinanju after Nuhc claims to have murdered his uncle and Remo’s mentor Chun and declared himself the ultimate power. Remo declares in response, I am created Shiva, the Destroyer, death, the shatterer of worlds. The dead night tiger made whole by the Master of Sinanju. What is this dog meat that now challenges me?” I love that passage. You have the hero finally coming into his own, and proving his destiny. I know a lot of people consider The Destroyer novels to be pulp and trashy, and I agree some of the books are a product of their time. Some are better than others, but the final insult Remo flings at Nuhc is classic.
The last line in The Most Dangerous Game, is something that still haunts me and I’ve used the aftereffect in my writing. The lead up, the confrontation that is about to happen, and then that fantastic last line. Leading up to it you can just imagine the final battle between Sanger Rainsford and Zaroff. A classic case where less is more, it was no doubt an epic clash, but no amount of written description could match the fight in my head. No way could anything live up to my imagination. I like to believe the general and Sanger dueled with swords that had to have been hanging somewhere on Zaroff’s bedroom wall.
And to prove I’m not just a sword and gun, macho complex kind of guy, the last example I’m going to share (though I do have more) is more cerebral and from a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story, A Scandal in Bohemia. It is a Sherlock Holmes tale. It introduces one of the few equals to the intellect that is Holmes, Irene Adler. She outwits Holmes, and more importantly she does it with flair. But the part I love best, and wish I wrote is when Holmes agrees with Cassel-Felstein, the King of Bohemia, when he says that it’s a “pity that she was not on my level.” Holmes agrees, but for different reasons. While arrogant and royalty, it is Adler, and not the King, who is the superior in this tale and she earns Holmes’ respect.
So these are the scenes that inspire me. They make me wish I wrote them. So what passages or scenes you’ve watched or read make you wish you wrote them? Why? I’m curious. Perhaps I’ve missed something. Always remember, good (and even bad) art can inspire art. Hey that inspires me to write another blog.
Oh, and just for shits and giggles, I want to leave you with probably the greatest scene ever (in my opinion) in modern pop culture. While I have had a thought like it, I wouldn’t have written it. Still, why do I like it? Because sometimes we all can be the mean fat kid who hates somebody – the line starts at 12 seconds: