Put A Spin on Classics

I saw the movie Avatar and had mixed feelings toward it. On the one hand, it was visually wonderful and even the 3D effects were well-executed and not cheesy at all. On the other hand, the story was really boring.

Absolutely everything about this movie was stereotypical, or if you want to use fancy educated words, archetypal. The characters, their actions, and the entire story as a whole are so unoriginal that Avatar has been called another clone of classic movies like Dances With Wolves and more recent movies like Pocahontas. However, despite the derivative nature of the story, I was not bored while watching the movie. In fact, I was entertained throughout the majority of the movie.

So I wonder, how come a story can be thoroughly unoriginal, yet the end product still be entertaining? Part of it is the fact that this story is a classic. And classics are classic because they are good. They are stories that affect people from all over, from all walks of life and throughout countless generations. They are solidly constructed and the important characters grow and change from beginning to end.

Even still, a complete rehash will still get boring, so there has to be another part, a new spin on a classic story. Avatar was groundbreakingly expensive. The special effects used for that movie, and the blending to make them seamless with the actors were beyond any other movie ever made. The presentation was so exquisite that it made up for the cliche story.

If you are writing prose only, you do not have this luxury. You can't spice up a basic story with dazzling images. However, you can still play with classic stories. Tell a story in your own words. Make your own characters. Add your style to it. A classic storyline can work as a great base, but feel free to branch off. When you put your spin on a classic story, it becomes yours and it becomes interesting because it is new.