Writing Right with Dmitri: The 'Morec', and How to Avoid Getting Caught Up in It
Created | Updated Apr 7, 2019
Writing Right with Dmitri: The 'Morec', and How to Avoid Getting Caught Up in It
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Al Capone: Tell ’em why you’re here, George.
George Raft: We’re doing a crime picture.
Capone: Set in Chicago.
Paul Muni: That’s right.
Capone: About?
Muni: Kind of a Shakespearean drama. Man’s rise and fall.
Capone: And he gets it in the end, right?
Raft: Ah, that’s how they have to do it.
– Boardwalk Empire, Season Five, Episode Six, 'The Devil You Know'
In 1956, a year that would make anybody paranoid, let alone Philip K Dick, the science fiction writer came up with an underrated book called The Man Who Japed. The story takes place in a dystopian future (where else?) where everybody's thinking is controlled by carefully crafted propaganda (so what else is new?). The writers of the propaganda 'packets' are required to produce entertainment scripts that conform to the ideology of the time, called Moral Reclamation, basically your average 20th-century-western-civilisation idea of hypocritical 'niceness'. The kernel of each 'packet' is its 'Morec', or Moral Reclamation message.
Just wait, you'll see what I'm getting at in a minute.
For example, in the novel, the main character, who is a writer, produces a packet about a man who goes to a colony world and tries to plant a tree from Earth. The tree dies. He and a bureaucrat have an argument about whether the Morec of the story is clear and appropriate. Does it encourage space exploration? Does it support the moral values of society?
If you've ever read propaganda entertainment – and you have, I'm getting to that – you'll recognise this little dance. The meaning of art is not there because it's true, at least not to the practitioners of Morec. It's there because it conforms to the Party Line. Morec is widely practised on this earth: political parties, religious groups, educational systems, and ideologues of all stripes believe fervently in Morec. Liberals and Conservatives, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, communists and capitalists, all practise Morec. These interest groups all agree that reality should not be allowed to take its own course in a story. They merely differ as to what kind of spin they want to put on the story.
The reading/viewing public demands this, as well. Every time someone yells that film should be more representative of their POV, they're hoping for Morec. They just want the Morec to swing their way. This is not a value judgement about the content. People with ideas we like think this, and people with ideas we don't like think this. They're all engaged in a turf war.
If you get paid for what you're writing, the boss will dictate the Morec. If you're reading me, you probably don't get paid for this. So don't let yourself be cornered into a Morec. But be aware of Morec when you see it. Learn to be a Morec spotter. Morecs you don't agree with are a lot easier to spot than Morecs you do agree with. That's advanced-level Morec-spotting. Practice it early and often. Don't be a chump, as they said back in my dad's day.
I started this little essay with a reference to Boardwalk Empire. I've just finished watching it. I thoroughly enjoyed the series, up until the end. Then they slapped a Morec on it. They killed off the protagonist in a meaningless way, just when he was looking forward to retirement. I was angry.
Why did I tell you that? You might want to watch the series, and now I've spoiled the ending. No, I haven't: the showrunner did that. Of course, I don't think it was his fault. The people who buy his 'packet' probably demanded this Morec tribute. We can't have people thinking crime pays, right? Even though we've been getting people to pay to watch gangsters and bootleggers killing each other in nasty ways for the last five years? We have to at least pretend we disapprove of all this bad behaviour.
Personally, I disapprove of this form of writing. I recommend that you watch Boardwalk Empire. It's beautifully staged and acted, and a number of its themes are deftly handled. That is to say, I recommend that you watch seasons 1-4. Skip the short, unhappy season 5, or only watch the first half of that season. All it does is wrap up the plots in a jerky, unconvincing manner. Instead, write your own ending. Fanfic is a thing, right? Compose your own treatment, or scenario, or outline of final episodes to indicate what you, personally, think should happen to each of the characters.
For my part, I desperately want this ending for Margaret Thompson:
Margaret (walking along Wall Street arm-in-arm with Joseph Kennedy): I've made you a lot of money today, Mr Kennedy.
Joe Kennedy (yes, that Joe Kennedy): You haven't done badly yourself, Mrs Thompson. May I buy you lunch?
Margaret (looking extremely pleased with herself, that will show Nucky):How about Delmonic…
[Camera cuts to shot of very large piano breaking loose from its cables and plummeting directly at Margaret.]
Margaret: Oof!
Joe Kennedy (as he steps nimbly out of range of the falling piano): Sorry, my dear, I'm an historical figure. I can't die, yet.
PS: The character on whom Boardwalk Empire's protagonist was loosely based did not die in 1931, did not die a violent death, and wasn't arrested until 1941. So much for realism.
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