In screenwriting, we are tasked with the job of creating characters who take action. In those stories that exhibit strong Christian themes, we are often creating characters who tout a strong faith or belief. What does action and faith look like?
Showing a character in church, doesn’t paint that character as a so-called “faithful” person. Lots of people go to church out of habit or ritual on Sunday mornings. I would venture to say, it’s what that character does with their faith, or even better, because of their faith. What does it mean to have faith at all? What does that look like? What does a character do, what choices do they make to illustrate that faith?
In HACKSAW RIDGE, the main character is a Seventh-day Adventist and a self-proclaimed pacifist who refuses to pick up a rifle. In that description, there’s a choice. He makes the choice to not pick up a rifle in drills. Movies are fraught with choices. In THE MATRIX, there’s Morpheus’ offer to Neo of the red and blue pill (“Take the blue pill and the story ends… Take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland”). Or there’s Willow’s choice as offered by the Fairy Queen, Cherlindrea (“You are the guardian, Willow. You must take her [the savior baby, Elora Danan] to Tir Asleen… a distant castle… The choice is yours”).
Faith in action looks like courage. If we’re writing characters that carry a demonstrable degree of faith, their choices need to be courageous. Their faith will give the courage is take action. In FACING DARKNESS, for example, we see characters make the choice to engage in caring for Ebola patients because of their faith. But we also see where their courage wasn’t always enough, and they seemingly failed and allowed fear to overcome them.
At the end of the day, our characters need to make choices, take action, and do things. They shouldn’t always be victims of circumstance or having things happen to them, and simply just react. That makes for weak characters. If we’re working with characters of faith, then their faith should come out in ways that empowers and affects the choices they will have to make.
In HACKSAW RIDGE, Desmond Doss’ faith gave him the opportunity to make one of the most courageous choices: to go into a warzone without a weapon. Subsequently, Doss was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in combat. The film is not a perfect film, but it does show how one’s faith affects the choices they make in a very clear and visceral way.
And so it is in life, right? Does our faith inform the choices we make? Does our faith look like courage to the world? Or is it simply of no consequence? Because if it doesn’t affect or change our lives at all, is it really faith at all?