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Post by RJ Alden Lackie on Jan 14, 2014 20:08:37 GMT
The Compass Network Presents...
Name: Happiness and the Fish Written By: Alex McKinnon Premise: A man who has spent his whole life doing everything right explores the opportunity do so something wrong. Airdate: January 14, 2014HAPPINESS AND THE FISH [PDF] Happiness and the Fish is a #TheNewYear project, so please read, review and enjoy! Feel free to discuss the script in this thread, whether a more formal review, some jotted-down reactions, discussion amongst readers, or even just kudos to the author. Please be kind and constructive.
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Post by Alex McKinnon on Feb 6, 2014 16:54:36 GMT
Happiness and The Fish was the first original screenplay I ever wrote. It was born out of a fixation on a reoccurring character I saw popping up again and again I deemed 'The Other Guy'. If you've ever seen a romance, you know The Other Guy. He's the fella who doesn't get the girl. Sometimes it's because he's rich and cruel. Sometimes he's a boring square. For good and bad, he's whatever the true love interest isn't.
Back in the day, he would be a cad. Either it was obvious from the get go, or he'd gradually reveal it. It was a cliche, common yet still occasionally effective. But somewhere along the line, a new trope emerged. 'The Other Guy' became a sympathetic character. Rather than turn out to be a jerk, stories would prop him up as a figure of genuine decency from curtain to curtain. And it was great, because it cast a tiny bit of doubt on the narrative's end result. When a heroin has to pick between a pair of solid suitors, it's a genuinely tough decision. There's drama in tough decisions.
I always found myself identifying with that poor Other Guy, the guy who did nothing wrong but still missed out on love. So Happiness and The Fish was my juvenile and earnest little tribute to that new archetype.
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