Theme and Thesis Defined

Why is Theme confusing to most screenwriters?  Because most screenwriters made it through school without having to write a decent essay or paper.  Can I prove that thesis?  If I felt like interviewing a load of screenwriters, maybe.

Here's a new thesis: Because most screenwriters confuse Theme and Thesis.

So what is Theme?

Theme defined by the dictionary is "a subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation."

This is where it gets confusing for writers.  Most screenwriters will read that definition and think...okay...theme is a word.  One Word.  Like Hope, Love, Peace, Ambition, Denial, Fear etc.

Why is this idea unhelpful for screenwriters?
Because a single story can contain MANY one word themes.  I could argue the theme of Shawshank Redemption is Freedom.  You could argue it is Hope.  We would both be able to find good evidence from the text to prove those thesis.

(Side note: In story's that one word tends to be the emotional tool the main character is learning how to use to solve their problem. More on that in my other pages.)

So as screenwriters we must expand the idea of "subject or topic."  And that leads me to define theme as a question.

Theme is a question.

Now let's talk about thesis for a moment.  Thesis defined by the dictionary is "A statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved"

How many times have you read this example?  "Love conquers all."  How many times have you heard someone call that theme?

That's a thesis.  Not a theme.  That's an argument not a subject or topic.

Why the mix up?

First, that goes back to my argument that most screenwriters were poor english students, like me.  But second, the thesis is the point of the story.  It is the "message" that is made clearer in the final ACTion.  In a transformational story, the main character chooses to embody the thesis.  So I think it's the fact that thesis is the last thing we see and hear in a lot of movies, and the last thing we read in a screenplay that leads most screenwriters to believe that their thesis is their theme.

What is thesis really?

Thesis is an answer.

So the concept of Theme and Thesis in a story can also be called Question and Answer.

And to find out how Theme and Thesis work in a story I have used well known story examples to be found in my blog posts.


UPDATE: 11/9/13

Theme is what the main character wants.
Theme is also why the main character wants it.

Theme is what the opposing character wants.
Theme is also why the opposing character wants it.