Humans have been telling the same stories for millennia. Author Christopher Booker claims there are only seven basic plots, which are repeated over and over in film, in television, and in novels with just slight tweaks.
There is the
- “overcoming the monster” plot (Beowulf,War of the Worlds);
- “rags to riches” (Cinderella, Jane Eyre);
- “the quest” (Illiad, The Lord of the Rings);
- “voyage and return” (Odyssey,Alice in Wonderland);
- “rebirth” (Sleeping Beauty, A Christmas Carol);
- “comedy” (ends in marriage);
- “tragedy” (ends in death).
I’m betting on number one, “overcoming the monster” plot. There are several nominees for the monster character. Obama goes for Climate Change. Trump has at least three of his own, ISIS, China and Muslims. Hillary tried to save us from the Monster but she wasn’t sure who or what the Monster was.. My feeling is it’s the Money, Honey.
Our Four Generation Psychodrama has entered the Resolution phase 2004 to 2026. Conflict/Exposition 1946-1964 ended with the assassination of JFK. The Rising Action 1964-1984 led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The Falling Action 1984-2004 could be characterized as the quest for a New World Order. This global live action Psychodrama is supposed to be concluded by 2026. Like any movie, the last Act, the inevitable Resolution has got everybody’s attention trying to figure out how it will end.
The previous American Fourth Turning Classics were resolved in a manner that left America in a better place. The American Revolution drama 1704-1794 gave us George Washington as our first president. This was followed by the Civil War 1794-1865 where Abe Lincoln played the lead as well as produced and directed the save the Union flick. The preceding bonanza the Great War Years 1865-1945 was brought to an abrupt ending when Truman dropped the bomb.
Resolution phase of the AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1773-1794 has George Washington becoming the first president on April 30, 1789.
Lincoln closed out the Resolution of the CIVIL WAR period 1860-1865 by attending Ford’s Theater one last time.
Harry Truman’s term in office ended the War II and the GREAT POWERS 1929-1946 documentary. Our movie, WORLD OF WARS, the one with a cast of 7 trillion began in 1946. No sooner had we finished the preceding classic, 80 years in the making , the GREAT POWERS, electing “I Like IKE” as president we released our prequel the “Korean Police Action.” Period: June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953
In 1953 Sister Sue and I were being dragged through the Blue Ridge mountains in Marion’s ’47 Plymouth and what did we know or care about the 38th parallel or the meaning of an armistice? Fifteen years later in 1968 on my way to Vietnam via Travis AFB, I visited Sister Sue in Haight-Ashbury. While our fellow WHHS alum, Jerry Rubin, was saying, “Hell no, we won’t go!” I reaffirmed my belief that God protected drunks, children and architects at least long enough for me to vote for Reagan.
ACT II of the WORLD OF WARS spans from 1964 to 1984 Rising Action to Climax on the standard Plot Line Template. Reagan won – do you believe the actor from Bedtime for Bonzo is president – gave his Star Wars speech on March 23, 1983, welcomed Gorbachev in 1985, told him to tear down this wall” in ’87 and the wall came down in ’89. Truth is stranger than fiction, the world thought the movie was over but that was just the Climax, ACT III Falling Action and ACT IV Resolution were still to come.ACT III 1984-2004 The search for a new world order or maybe the decline and fall of the American Empire. No more world war but the beginning of mini wars everywhere. Fifteen new nations to argue about Race, Religion, Sex, Politics and Money – the important things in life.
Osama Bin Ladan got the WORLD OF WARS going big time with the help of Bush and Cheney taking us into ACT IV the Resolution.
So far on our Resolution watch 2004-2026 we have been at war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. The World Trade Center towers came down in 2001 but Wall Street crashed in 2008. Greenspan, Bernanke and Yellen have tried to put it back together again with trillions – no one knows exactly how many – of thin-air money. Nobody has a job that pays enough to pay the rent, the refugees are running willy-nilly through Europe and nobody knows what to about it except Trump.
There you have it, timing is everything our “overcoming the monster” plot, re-titled WORLD OF WARS is drawing to a close. Trump takes office 20 January 2017, he could finish in 2024 as the Superhero President. If he can’t do it, then it’s the LAST PICTURE SHOW.