Drama is about conflict.
Right?
“Would you like a story about two people who always get along and everything in their life is great?”
Uh, no.
How you execute conflict is the variable.
I could do a cop show about police in conflict with criminals. And all the police officers are terrific people. But I could also do a show about deeply flawed people who sometimes come into conflict with their fellow officers – maybe their conflict is with themselves.
Your cop show could be more like Dragnet and Adam-12, or like Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. There will be conflict, but what kind? Deep, rich, complex conflict or a cheaper variety?
(Recall that the cheapest form of conflict on a police drama is the rebel cop whose superior is always threatening to have his badge.)
Here’s another example…
It’s no original thought to point out that movies like to rely on physical conflict, especially fights and chases. I recall seeing Splash in 1984 and initially thinking it was one of the best movies I’d ever seen. The conflict was like this:
- A man who can’t swim falls in love with a mermaid.
- A human, who must live on land, must try to forge a relationship with a mermaid, who must return to the sea.
- A regular guy must summon the moral strength to love a mystical creature.
Those are conflicts. But, right at the moment when Dr. Walter Kornbluth throws water on Madison, the movie turn into a chase involving government scientists. (Reminiscent of the way E.T. switched from a story about a relationship between a marooned alien and a boy to a chase involving government scientists.)
Too often, dramatic conflict consists of pointless bickering between characters, physical action in place of emotional struggles, stereotypical conflicts we’ve seen a million times before, and so on. Sometimes, the conflict seems like spinning plates, just a way of filling time on screen, never adding up to anything.
There must always be conflict. But what kind and to what end?