Introduction to Dramaturgy
Last week I saw the German Documentary 9 to 5: Days in Porn. Porn, love it or hate it, is inherently interesting. The moral debate surrounding pornography is beyond the scope of this article. As a writer and filmmaker my biggest issue with this documentary was dramaturgical, so allow me a short digression to explain my terminology.
There are many interchangeable words for the basic ideas of dramaturgy, but this is the way I was taught at The Wolfgang Pfeiffer Screenwriting School in Berlin and I find it pretty good.
Pfeiffer teaches that all good films have a premise, composed of 5 parts:
1. The World. The world is more symbolic than definite, more like “The American Midwest” than “115 Houston avenue New York, New York.” It is also generally abstract, like the world of advertising, or in this case, porn. This is where the drama takes place and shapes the theme of the work.
2. The Theme: The theme is a general human subject, like love or happiness. It narrows down the specific focus on the world.
3. The Thematic Question: The thematic question is an abstract question that refines the theme for your protagonists, like “How do I find love in the world?” (most romantic comedies) or “How do I get over a great loss?” (Ordinary People) The answer to the thematic question is:
4. The Idea: The idea is the moral argument of a work. All good narrative writing is moral, whether it intends to be or not. It’s rooted in Dramaturgy, which is based in teleological (or goal-oriented) action. An example:
The 2008 winner of the Golden Lion, Darren Aronofsky‘s wonderful “The Wrestler,” poses the thematic question: “What do I do when the only thing that’s important to me could cost me my life?” These questions can (and should) be phrased more precisely, but I think you get the idea. The answer to this question, as presented by the film, is “It’s better to die doing something you love than to live doing something you hate.” These answers can differ, (my screenwriting teacher said the idea was: “Always listen to your doctor,”) but its important for some idenitfiable idea to be present.
5. The plot. The striving of a character to achieve a goal. This goal can be internal and lead to a recognition, as in the case of The Wrestler, or it can be external: in Speed, Keanu Reeves wants to get the hell off the bus and bring the villain to justice. Whether a character achieves their goal or not is based on their success or failure to recognize the idea of the film.
The plot of most good films can be very succinctly phrased, as in the case of the first Alien movie: Ripley wants to kill the evil alien on her ship, she struggles to do so, she succeeds. The plot of most films can also be divided into three acts.
For a literary example one could look at No Country for Old Men, whose theme, like most of McCarthy’s work, is violence. The reason Llewelyn Moss does not achieve his goal of escaping with the two million dollars is because of the rampant, irrational nature of the violence that has overtaken America (in reality but also, more importantly, in the world of the book).
And on to Porn
So, with that rudimentary discussion of dramatic writing behind me, we’re ready to talk about porn. Porn also follows the same structures. Like the good old Scandanavians Ibsen and Strindberg it seems to lean toward 4 acts, namely:
Act 1: The characters are introduced who will be having the sex. All exposition, such as their costumes, power relationships, and professions are explained here. Curiously this stage is also completely expendable depending on the production. It is just as easy to enter in the middle of
Act 2: The foreplay, which leads to
Act 3: The sex itself, which leads to
Act 4: The finale.
So we have a basic structure.
Now please allow me the indulgence of a dramaturgical breakdown. It is now incredibly difficult to find shooting scripts for porn so I have been forced to analyze a scene I found online.
We have John, a high school student who is caught cheating on a test by his voluptuous teacher. She insists that he go to the principal’s office. He begs her not to send him there. He has been unable to study because he has been working double shifts all week. He has also never cheated before in his life.
We thus have a solid first act. We have introduced the setting and shown our protagonist (nearly exclusively male in pornography)’s goal, namely not to be sent to the principals office.
Because we’re in the world of pornography, he’s in luck! His teacher hasn’t had sex in many years and wishes to have it with him. The rest you can predict yourself. Thus we can create a Premise:
1. The World: Pornography. Subworld: the classroom.
2. The Theme: Honesty/Dishonesty.
3. The Thematic question: How can I avoid the consequences of a dishonest act?
4. The Idea: By having sex with my teacher.
5. The Plot: John wants to get out of trouble for cheating, he struggles to achieve his goal, he succeeds.
There’s even a subplot: John’s teacher wants to have sex, she struggles to do so, and succeeds.
The difficulties with pornographic dramaturgy (and some would argue it’s triumphs) are in its simple repetition. The broad theme of our little pornographic short is similar to that of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, but the problems presented in that film are not solved by the incessant fornication of the main characters. No one really believes that the best way to get out of getting caught cheating is to have sex with the teacher, certainly not Pulitzer Prize winning playwrights. Porn does have a structure and ideas, but they are absurd, which allows it to recreate the same plot ad infinitum.
What’s Wrong With 9 to 5
That very long tangent is my introduction to my critique of 9 to 5: Days in Porn, a German Documentary I saw last week. Documentaries, contrary to popular opinion, are usually carefully planned and written. They hopefully have clear ideas based on an extensive treatment. They often do extensive casting to find protagonists to express their idea as clearly as possible. It is a form of storytelling that uses a kind of reality to express its ideas about the world.
9 to 5: Days in Porn doesn’t have any real ideas about the world. It feels as though a German camera team with a government grant went to the San Fernando Valley and hung out with a number of famous people from the porn industry. There are agents, stars, doctors, distributors, etc.These people are interesting, but the only real connection between them is their industry, which is larger than the music industry. If you put Michael Jackson and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a documentary there should be more of a connection than the fact that they’re both musicians.
What is lacking in this film is an idea. What are they saying about porn? Is it good? Is it bad? Something more subtle? They don’t know. There are too many people in this movie to really say.
In the triumph of fiction porn filmmaking, Boogie Nights, P.T. Anderson chronicles the rise and fall (and semi-rise) of Dirk Diggler. Dirk’s tragicomic struggle is the struggle of the porn industry (and hollywood) against the effects of aging, decadence, rapidly changing technology and consumer demands. It is a brilliant work.
Days in Porn is interesting primarily because of its setting and protagonists. The filmmakers themselves seem to have contributed little to the actual storytelling other than meeting the right people, getting them to talk, and turning on the cameras. A good documentary, like a good fiction film, needs a lot more than that.
