I bought one of Michael Hauge's DVDs.... only because Jenny Crusie told me to. And when someone who's published tells you-- an aspiring writer-- to do something, you're stupid if you don't. I know why she said to listen to him, and I'm going to now tell you: the guy knows what he's talking about. And not just is he relevant for screenwriters, but for all story tellers.
We all know that our character has to undergo a significant transformation from the beginning of our story to the end. But do you know why? Because he is going from living in his identity to living in his essence... living in a protective shell he gave himself to living as he longs to live.
Identity is the persona we give ourselves after enduring a life-altering "wound". For some, that wound could be that we're unlovable because no one ever loved us in the past. As a result, our identity is that we don't need to have people in our lives; we're loners, isolated from the world because "we choose" to be. That's the lie. The essence is that we're really in need of love, in need of human connection, and given the chance we would be the best husband/wife/father/mother you've ever seen.
The way this is brought about it through the conflict of the story. The Longing/Need is revealed and throughout the story is achieved by a reflection character and (in my case) a romance character.
Let's use an example that MH gave in the DVD.
In the movie "Shrek", our hero is an ogre who is isolated from the world. His identity is a mean, scary ogre who does not like people. In reality, his essence is nothing of the sort. His essence is revealed when Donkey (the reflection character) points out that Shrek has a problem. Shrek says- it's not ME who has the problem... it's every one else. They all have a problem with me. When they see me, they're scared. They say oh, here comes that big scary ogre.
This is the wound.
Shrek has been scarred from others' reactions to him, so in order to protect himself from this rejection, he isolates himself and shuts the world out.
In reality, we learn that Shrek is actually a pretty nice, compassionate guy. He goes out of way to rescue Princess Fiona, and takes on all of these obstacles in order to keep her safe.
Princess Fiona is, of course, our romance character.
Fiona sees the essence of Shrek-- she doesn't see the big scary ogre-- she sees the kind and compassionate "man" beneath. Fiona connects to him on the level of his essence, as he connects to her on hers. With her, he is able to be himself instead of the identity he pretends to be.
It is this "tug of war" between identity and essence throughout the movie that keeps us hooked. Will Shrek let go of his identity-- the isolated ogre-- in order to reach the GOAL of what he really needs-- the love of Princess Fiona? He can't do both, so he has to choose.
And, of course, since this is a romantic comedy, we know he will choose to pursue Princess Fiona. In so doing, Shrek will shed his identity and fully live in his essence.
I've heard this same concept a thousand times, but never has it made as much sense to me as it did after listening to MH's lecture on the romantic comedy. Like, DUH... I wanted to hit myself over the head!! I always knew the character went through a transformation, but I could never define it-- and so, never create it myself. Now that I know it's a fight between who the character thinks they are (identity) and the longing/need that they have on that subconscious level (essence)... it makes so much more sense.
I recommend Michael Hague to all of you... I am eager to watch the DVD again. Sometimes some things get lost the first time and this is not something I ever want to forget!
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