Some of you have asked an important question regarding the screenplay, The Author. WHY? Why am I interested in producing this film? Why this story? Why now?
The answer in a word, “identity”.
The New York Times Magazine recently published an article entitled, “The Year We Obsessed Over Identity”. Indeed, I can think of no other pursuit held any higher in our culture, or an exercise deemed more noble, than for us as individuals to discover our personal identity.
But, what is identity? Academic and best-selling author, Tim Keller, has been helpful in revealing how our modern society views identity. He suggests that when we talk of “finding our identity” we simply mean finding a sense of self and a sense of worth.
Our society gives the blueprints to uncover our identity by instructing us to look within, deep into ourselves, and to identify what is core to our being and to give ourselves a name that describes the results of this important self-discovery. And so, especially in our western culture, we are obsessed with mining through the crust of our lives into the mantle and core of our being. We are told it will be in this “journey to the center of us” where we will find the permanent parts of our being; it will be there in this most secret and intimate place where we will discover the holy grail we have titled “identity”.
But I wonder if there is a flaw in this assumed cultural practice of discovering our identity. You see, when we take inventory of all that is deep within us, we will not find a being whose traits are in harmony, but instead we will discover a civil war at play.
I wonder if there is a flaw in this assumed cultural practice of discovering our identity. You see, when we take inventory of all that is deep within us, we will not find a being whose traits are in harmony, but instead we will discover a civil war at play.
As we paint the portrait of our identity during self-discovery are we free to choose the brushes that paint a beautiful picture of one who loves, creates and works hard, but ignore the brushes that paint a blemished picture of one who loses their temper, procrastinates and is controlled by fear?
In other words, what counts toward our true identity? Is it only the things we are proud of which seem to be true to our core? What about the things we are ashamed of which, if we are honest with ourselves, are equally true to our core?
The Author is an opportunity for the audience to enter into the safe space of a dark theater and ask “Who am I”?
It offers an alternative to the culture’s routine of naming our identity ourselves, and instead asks, “Is there another place to find identity and purpose?” The Author is simply an opportunity to have an internal dialogue. Are the events of my life evident of a series of accidents with no meaning, or do they reveal the paragraphs and chapters of an author purposefully at work?
You see, this is the starting point of identity. If life has no author then we must look within to discover and name who we are, but if life has an author then we have an alternative place – a less frequented place – to discover a name and identity given to us.
So, why make this movie? Why this story? Why now?
Perhaps “two hours in the dark” can help provide a different lens for us to view ourselves and get a sense of our identity.