OPINION: Screenplays That Send Messages

There’s a famous piece of screenwriting advice that “if you want to send messages, use Western Union.” Now it might go, “if you want to send messages, Tweet about it.” The implication is that such idealised notions about art improving the world don’t belong in show business (emphasis on the business). It’s true that clunky moralising is an instant turn-off in a script, film or TV show. No-one likes to be lectured when they sit down expecting to be entertained.

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