Monday, August 20, 2012

Write Like a Savage

Recently, I went to the movie with my honey to see Savages. I was the one who wanted to see it...Crazy, I know. Who would've thought, right? "She's a romance writer," you say. I am, it's true; but I love a good movie.
So, we went to see Savages. It's an Oliver Stone directed film about three lovers (why yes, I said three lovers), O (Blake Lively), Chon (Taylor Kitsch), and Ben (Aaron Johnson) who are uber-wealthy growing an amazing strong medicinal herb. They're perfectly happy until a Mexican drug Cartel decides they want the business and the two factions butt heads.
Things go to hell in a hand-basket fast! O gets kidnapped, lots of blood and gore and unnecessary dying of muscular ex-military hotties; Chon and O try to get her back by agreeing to the Cartel boss's terms, the  lady running the Cartel (yep, she's a super-sexy mom, like me or Vicki) tells them they can have her back in three years; they decide that won't work for them and fight back. Lots and lots more blood, violence, mayhem, and sick puppies, then...well, it ends in such a way to leave me wondering at the current state of affairs in our world...
Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh. However, I left the movie thinking it was a horrible movie. It was graphic, it was disturbing, it was too real, to violent, too extreme.
But I left the movie thinking...
Over a week ago. And I'm still thinking about it. It's one of those movies that just sticks with you. It twists up your mind, makes you question right and wrong, morals and people. I've been thinking about it, stewing about it, and I've decided not only was the movie worth watching (even though it isn't a romance), but I want to write like that. A story with that ability, the power to stay with the reader for days, weeks, months, years, to change perceptions or reinforce ideals...That's the type of story every author dreams of touching the world with...
Or I do, at least.

4 comments:

  1. ***Spoiler****

    Haven't seen the movie, but the book left me in the same questioning state. What bothered me most was O's death. I need a happy ending, and while the book was amazingly written and the story was gritty, I finished it without feeling satisfied because winning in the end didn't mean as much.

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  2. Oh, well j.a. You'll be happy to know the movie has a...slightly happier ending ;-)
    But in the story, the three lovers thought the Cartel people were the savages, the Cartel people thought the lovers were the savages, the kidnapped girl started to question her life, and I thought...well, I only thought one of the people was a savage, to be honest, and he was more. He was a monster...
    But I didn't know this was a book, first. That's cool. I bet, as is most of the time, the book was probably even more twisted than the movie!

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  3. I'm with you, Marne. That's the kind of book I want to write, too. One that's going to make people think, get them talking, and hopefully wind up on a lot of "keeper" shelves. :)

    Maura Troy

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