THEME–Do You Even Need One?

Every screenwriting teacher talks about Theme.

But do you actually need it?

If you’re unfamiliar, THEME generally refers to what the writer is really trying to say: the takeaway, the mission statement, if you will. It’s often a truism or observation about life, like: no good deed goes unpunished, or love will find a way.

It can also be a false statement which is tested, proven to be untrue, and then discarded. For example, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the theme stated up front is “the grass is always greener,” as expressed by Dorothy in “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” However, she soon comes to learn that this is not at all true, and this theme is replaced at the end by “there’s no place like home.”

Themes can also simply be an overall concept that unify all the subplots within a pilot or feature. For example, Family. Aging. Work-Life Balance. How Far Will Someone Go to Be Successful? A million different possibilities. Any one of these can add texture and resonance to your script, and of course, tick the all-important “theme” box for script readers.

So yep, theme can benefit a work. But does every movie have one or even need one? Nope! Genre movies – action films, horror, thrillers, etc., often don’t. And may not need one. After all, an action film often lives or dies by its cool action set pieces. Hey, nobody watches a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE flick because it makes profound statements about the human condition. Similarly, a horror flick is about the scares and a thriller about the thrills.

No one’s generally expecting a chopsocky movie or a grisly slasher to have a compelling theme — certainly not one that gives us something to mull long after the credits roll.

However, these movies are what used to be known as “programmers.” Nowadays we’d probably just call them “content.” Writers can make (some) money writing those. And if you go back 20 years, they could even make a decent living and have a career churning them out.

If you’re already in the biz, have fun not bothering with a theme. If you’re still trying to get your foot in the door, though, then we recommend you find a theme, especially if you’re trying to get attention or win awards.

There’s nothing agents, managers, and producers like more than “elevated genre.” And one way to do that is by bringing unexpected depth of character, emotion, and yes, a strong theme to a project where it may not be expected.

Even horror is getting mainstream awards attention. Look no further than GET OUT or, more recently, THE SUBSTANCE. The reason for that is theme. It’s front and center in both of these examples.

Let’s face it, the script for THE SUBSTANCE has numerous problems–it lacks verisimilitude, and is even aggressively illogical at times. But it has a strong theme- how far will a woman go to remain “viable” in a toxic male-driven world? And that theme, combined with a killer performance by Demi Moore, has elevated into the stratosphere.

So if you want to stand out from the crowd, make sure your theme is woven throughout your story.