(This is a different blog post then I usually do on this blog, but here it goes...)
Can people really change? A timeless question, one the begs to be answered. When I sat down to start writing the original script to THE HOUSE I knew I could go many directions with the film. But, for some reason this question kept coming back to me: Can people change? Now the answer that many people might give to this question is usually some quick, one sentence "yes" or "no" with some statement about their personal beliefs. I'm not complaining about anyone's personal views, but simply giving a verbal statement is very easy to do, but it could be hard to live by.
Can people really change? Or are we stuck being who we are? I have seen tons of people who have fought hard to change career paths. Or, I have read or seen films where individuals try to beat a bad habit or are ex-criminals out on parole trying to make a second chance that works. What is necessary for true change deals with the internal struggles of the human soul. One part of them trying to keep them where they are while the other part of them wanting so much to change.
I find it is so easy to judge, but hard to change We see on the outside the effects of choices someone makes, but do we know the causes that are hidden deep within. There are so many layers upon layers of someone's past that we might not truly understand. Now I am not making excuses for choices that people make, I am just simply stating that they are not isolated events. Each event in someone's past is potential motivation for their decisions.
I find it interesting how many people say that people can change, but when a new tabloid article comes out about an affair, or someone doing or saying something stupid while they're drunk people quickly make comments like, "...that person can't change."
--Why do we do this? Have these people fallen so quickly from the pedestal that we placed them on?
Acting asks a person to acquire empathy for a character. To dig down and find out the "why" that motivates the character's actions. Writing also does the same thing. Whether novels, poetry, songs or screenplays: all ask emotional and psychological questions. They might not appear that way on the surface, but part of a writer's soul ends up imprinted in their art. Art is an expression of a artist's soul and a reflection of the world around them.
Back to the point: Can people change? What do you really believe? And how can a person find the ability to change? This blog post is open to any answers, because I believe that it is possible by asking the right questions we can lead to the possible answer...
