A Thesis on Themes

The common denominator for any tale is it should possess a theme. It can be thought of, simply, as the idea that births and sustains the drama which plays out over chapters, in celluloid, or on one’s computer screen. There are indeed universal themes that, although the setting might be drastically different (Star Wars vs. Oedipus Rex for example), are present and speak similarly and powerfully to all kinds of people. When our ancestors first gathered around fires and recounted the days events, particularly the excitement of the hunt, the rudimentary tales they would tell of courage in the face of danger, heroism in defending a comrade, persevering in spite of pain, etc. laid the foundation for stories that could be orally transmitted from generation to generation and have found themselves in our modern stages and screens. I do not hold any single medium to be superior to another in sharing these or any other themes. There is equal power to move the soul to be found in a well-crafted movie as in a book and likewise in a video game. Over the course of this website’s life I will strive to make this point by drawing comparisons between fine examples from all three. As the much older, literature (prose, poetry, fiction and non-fiction) is widely considered the most venerable of the storytelling methods, therefore my analysis will most often be rooted in a theme found in a notable work of the written language and demonstrate that the younger types of media (namely film and interactive entertainment) can and often do succeed at expressing such themes as efficaciously as a novel or verse might. Through this I hope to bring greater acceptance to film, but especially to video games and other types of interactive entertainment, as potential works of art that weave as compelling a narrative as any our finest works of literature do.