How Do Screenwriters Contribute to Society?

How do screenwriters contribute to society? How condescending does that sound? Are they implying we don’t do anything? How dare they question screenwriters and our contributions! I’m totally joking. This might actually be one of my favorite questions. To answer this simply, we are storytellers. And in reality, everything that happens in the world is storytelling. We just get to create them from some event we remember or experienced, and we hope that if we have executed it right, it will impact people. It’s pretty rad. We all have different reasons why we like certain TV shows or movies. A lot of it is because it elicited some emotion within us, or it elicited some emotions with the people we were watching it with. In this article, I will talk about the social impact that telling stories has and why it is so important for mankind. Yeah, I said it, I used the word MANKIND.

Screenwriting as a Reflection of Society

We all have opinions and personal experiences about anything and everything that is going on in the world. Great! So turn that into your story! We all live in society, and we all experience emotions depending on the societal situation we are in. And when it is from your POV, it isn’t right or wrong, it’s just your experience. But what you are able to do with screenwriting is to take the specific emotion and experience and unpack it in a way that tells a compelling story. But the tricky part is that in order for the story to be compelling, you have to make sure that the “villain” in your story is compelling as well. This is what is fascinating about screenwriting. Even though it is your story and your experience, the opposing characters need to have opinions, emotions, and actions that feel valid and true. That can be hard for some writers to do. Initially, you default to wanting your villain to be such a terrible person because it will get your personal viewpoint across on the societal theme. But when telling a story for TV and Film, that can’t be the case. Again, your hero needs to be the hero of your story, but the villain also needs to be the hero of your story, but from THEIR POV. And if you can do that, you will have a story that is really worth reading.

Entertainment as an Escape and Emotional Connection

Life can get hard from time to time, and that’s why I feel screenwriting can be such a service in society. When people tune in to watch their favorite show or movie, I think they are subconsciously escaping from whatever trials and tribulations life is throwing at them. And then instead of just watching 1 episode of a TV show, we will watch 11 to further run away from life’s problems. Even though that sounds like a joke, there is a service that is being provided there.

Think about this for a second, and this is going to get a bit philosophical, but when someone tunes in to watch a TV show or a movie, they literally could be doing anything else on the planet. Literally anything else. But they are giving up precious time to watch a story unfold. It’s your obligation to make sure that the story is worth their time so they feel like they haven’t wasted theirs. And that is the ultimate challenge. And this is why learning how to tell a story and execute it is such a necessity.

Driving Social Change Through Storytelling

We all tend to want people to be on the same side as us in whatever aspect of life we are going through. Sometimes that’s a great idea, sometimes it can cause a worse situation. As a screenwriter, you have this amazing ability to create a story around a topic in society and force people to have an opinion on it, either way. I think the biggest gift you can give your audience is to unpack the story, but still give them the option on which way they feel about it. It is so much easier to write something and try to manipulate people to be on the same emotional side as us. But it is so important to allow the audience to have that choice on who was right and who was wrong. When you are writing these stories, you always have to think about “opposites.” Whoever your main character is, the villain needs to have opposing beliefs, and that’s what creates the conflict to drive the story. If the characters are too similar and agree too much, there is no story there.

Everything happening in society has two sides to it, and each of your characters sorta of needs to be aligned with one of those sides. Think of this as an example: if two random roommates moved in together via Craigslist or something, one is a democrat and one is a republican, I don’t even need to go any further, and you can see how much drama, conflict, and comedy could happen in this situation. And each of those characters are going to be “right” from their own individual viewpoints.

Conclusion

People can have their own opinions on what screenwriters do for society, but storytelling is necessary to exist in society. Screenwriting can be this magical tool we use to speak to an audience with the same thoughts on life, or the complete opposite thoughts on life. We get to create this amorphous idea and bring people joy and let them forget and hard times they are dealing with. Stories elicit so many emotions for people: joy, sadness, happiness, terror, and any other emotion you can think of. We don’t just write these stories to make people think; we write them so people can continue to feel.

Michael has some free lessons you can watch, so you can start your journey and learn more about story structure and the storytelling process.

I encourage you to sign up. It’s free! Literally no excuse. It’s free! And just in case you don’t know what “free” means, “free” means “FREE.” Do you know what ISN’T free?

Having regrets.

But what IS free is Michael’s free screenwriting lesson.

Sign up and start your screenwriting journey today with a lesson from Michael Jamin at michaeljamin.com/free.

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Understanding The Role Of A Screenwriter
Do You Need an Apprenticeship to Become a Screenwriter
Essential Skills For Successful Screenwriting
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Networking And Industry Connections For Screenwriters
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