Creator's Commentary
Ride or Die
There is a popular reel featuring Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner, from the movie, “The Town”,
Ben Affleck’s character says to Jeremy Renner's character:
“I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. You can never ask me about it later, and we’re going to hurt some people."
Jeremy Renner’s character thinks for just a split second, then responds,
“Whose car are we gonna take?”
That’s Ride or Die.
Nikki has already discovered who her Ride or Die partner is. It's Ariel. She had no idea. She was given the experience of seeing him fight on her behalf. His willingness to endure relentless beatings, pain, the humiliation, for her sake. And that realization has changed EVERYTHING about her self-narrative. She is worth something.
Now it’s Ariel’s turn. He suffers from the same affliction as Nikki. The narrative from the past that lives in his head. And he is about to discover that all along, he has had a Ride or Die ready for just this “Whose car are we gonna take” moment.
He has no idea it will come from someone he never expected. And suddenly, everything will change.
The Arc of Redemption
I previously talked about being a discovery writer, a process call “Pantsing”. I just start writing and see where it goes.
But at this point in the story, I began to think, “Where is all of this headed?” “How am I going to wrap this story up?”
There is nothing more disappointing than a movie or a book with a bad ending.
For the first time, I contemplated WHAT elements were needed to let the reader feel that sense of resolution.
That “good ending” to what I hoped was a good story.
There's something about a good story. A story that draws you in. It makes you care about the characters. Makes you feel their victories and their defeats.
Somewhere along the way, you begin to see a little of yourself in those characters. Their struggles become your struggles. Their failures remind you of your own.
Their hopes become your hopes. And sometimes, if it's a really good story, you find yourself hoping for something the character has already given up on.
Redemption. I think that's one of the most powerful things about this story.
The Arc of Redemption.
But redemption doesn't begin with victory. It begins with something broken. Something lost. Something that seems beyond repair.
And the storyteller has to take you there. He has to let you see the wounds. The mistakes. The failures. The things that brought the character to that place. Maybe not all of the backstory, but enough to feel what the character feels.
Otherwise, when redemption finally comes, we don't fully understand what it cost.
Sometimes the character has to reach the end of what he believes he can do before he can discover what someone else can do for him. Nikki now understands that. And Ariel is about to understand that as well.
Who Do You See?
I used these words because they are reminiscent of Jesus asking the crowd about John the Baptist.
Who do you think you see? A lunatic in the desert eating insects?
Then Jesus asks, Who DO you see? And says, “If you believed, this would be Elijah.”
Jesus asks the question again with a small but BIG difference.
There is a BIG difference between what you THINK you see and what you actually see.
Who do you THINK you see? vs. Who DO you see?
Now, as the storyteller, I know where this is going. But I'm not going to tell you. Not yet.
Because sometimes the most important part of a story isn't the moment when someone is rescued. It's the moment just before. When the character believes his story is over.
There is an old Willie Nelson line in the song, “The Time of the Preacher”, the ending lyric is
“And just when you think it’s all over, It’s only begun.”
That's where I’ve left Ariel. He is ready to be cast into the Abyss. I want us to let that moment soak in a bit. Let that tension build and linger before we get to any elements of redemption.
Standing before the throne. Ariel’s head is bowed. He believes he is worthless. He is willing to sacrifice himself for this woman, because he believes he is weak.
While Jesus stands beside him and asks the real question.
WHO DO YOU SEE?
Redemption. “Just when you think it’s all over, It’s only begun.”
In Your Weakness, Christ is Made Strong.
The Lord Is With You.