Situations 23&24
OBTAINING AND LETTING GO
“Don’t wait for your ship to come in. Swim out to it.”
–UNKNOWN
Obtaining
Obtaining means to acquire or to succeed in gaining possession as the result of planning.
There are two types of Obtaining situations—Obtaining Through Selling, which requires a Solicitor and Adversary Who Is Refusing; and Obtaining Through Negotiation, which requires an Arbitrator and Opposing Parties.
In Obtaining Through Selling, the Solicitor has a goal of obtaining an objective or object but cannot reach this goal unless an Adversary agrees with her and buys into her presentation.
The Adversary stands as the obstacle to her objective. Even if he agrees to fund or be a part of her objective, he will have a hard time leaving her alone to do her job. He’s like a venture capitalist who wants to be involved in every minute detail of the business—micromanaging it when he should just step aside.
In this type, the Solicitor wants to either sell an idea to the Adversary or she wants the Adversary to buy something so she can go out and obtain an object.
• She has the idea, it’s already set in stone—now who wants to buy in?
• She wants to convert the Adversary into her way of thinking (like a missionary trying to convert the natives).
She may use:
• RUSE: something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity
• TEMPTATION: an inducement, especially to something evil, to try to get someone to do something wrong
• LURE: to attract by wiles or entice; something that attracts with the promise of pleasure or reward
In Obtaining Through Negotiation, the Opposing Party has a goal of obtaining an objective or object but cannot reach this goal unless another Opposing Party is willing to negotiate with him.
It’s as if the hero needs to get across an alligator-infested lake and the Opposing Party has the only boat. Of course he wants way too much money to take him across, so an Arbitrator may step in to help the negotiation.
Usually the hero can negotiate for himself depending on how tough the Opposing Party is. Do they have any history of butting heads? One party may not want to help the other without great compensation. If they have a long history, the second Opposing Party will know exactly what to ask for in compensation—that which he knows the hero loves or values.
He may use:
• FORCE: the exertion of physical power or the operation of circumstances that permit no options
• CHARM: to attract strongly or irresistibly, to please
• DIPLOMACY: the art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances and agreements; tact and skill in dealing with people
THE SOLICITOR/ARBITRATOR
The Solicitor/Arbitrator is someone who cannot reach her goal without outside help. On the one hand she can be seen as not being self-sufficient; on the other she can be seen as someone who has learned to work with others, instead of against them, to reach her goals.
At times she can be hard on herself if she doesn’t make a “sale” or if she doesn’t believe in the product or ideal she is selling, but she always pushes on. She knows what she wants and is willing to do what ever it takes to get it.
She is driven by her desire for a specific objective or object, and desire can sometimes make one do crazy things. If she is conflicted about her tactics she will find the positive side to it, like the cigarette company executive who stated that cigarettes bring down elderly medical costs because so many smokers die early deaths and never make it to old age. Of course, if the Solicitor/Arbitrator is the hero in the story, she should not be so heinous.
Her beliefs are very strong; she has to believe in herself and her product or idea. She wants to meet her goal to possibly:
• get the funding she needs
• stop a war
• start a war
• save a life
• help the environment
• find her kidnapped child
• rescue someone in captivity
• make the big sale
• win her freedom
ADVERSARY/OPPOSING PARTY
The Adversary and Opposing Party are very similar. This is someone who enjoys saying ”No,” being confrontational, or playing devil’s advocate. He knows what the Solicititor/Arbitrator wants and may enjoy exercising his power over her to just say “No.” He may not care one way or the other about the Solicitor/Arbitrator’s cause or objective, so he could easily say “Yes.”
If he is ethical, he is looking for a reason to say yes and may try to help the Solicitor/Arbitrator phrase her request in the correct way or come up with a plan to make the request doable. It’s like the politician who says he can vote for a bill if you take certain words out.
The Adversary is there to test the Solicitor/Arbitrator. How serious is she? How strong are her desires? How long will she keep it up? To what lengths will she go?
Whether Obtaining is used as plot, subplot, or incident, the elements of the beginning, middle, and end are the same:
BEGINNING: The Solicitor/Arbitrator realizes her desired objective or object and gets close to it. She has to approach either an Adversary who refuses or an Opposing Party.
• When does she meet the Adversary? Is he friendly?
• How will she approach the Adversary? What tactic will she use?
• Does she believe in what she is doing?
• Is the Solicitor the hero of the story?
• What is at stake for the Solicitor/Arbitrator? For the Adversary?
• Can you add other characters to spice things up?
MIDDLE: The Solicitor meets with the Adversary again.
• How will their second meeting be? Do they each have more ammunition to throw?
• Will an Arbitrator be needed? Are they at an impasse?
• What does the Solicitor do to sweeten the offer and get her way?
• Does the Adversary really care about the Solicitor or her objective?
• Does the Adversary try to turn the tables on the Solicitor? Is he successful?
• How far will the Solicitor go?
END: The Solicitor gets her way.
• At what cost does the Solicitor get her way? Does she have to give up something dear to her?
• How does she reach her object or objective?
• Is victory as sweet as she thought it would be?
• Is she satisfied now?
• How does the Adversary feel about it? Did he trick her?
“Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.”
–GAIL SHEEHY
Letting Go
Letting Go means to give up or abandon, put aside, surrender, or release.
In this situation the Solicitor becomes the Liberator. Instead of trying to obtain more things or ideas, she lets go of the ones she has and becomes freer in the process. She gives up that which holds her back and ties her to things that make her unhappy—a dead-end job, a bad marriage, an unhealthy belief system. This is what the New Age movement is all about.
She possibly meets someone who seems to have obtained the peace she desires, but she learns that “obtain” is the wrong word to use. The person has let go.
Perhaps a stranger came to town to teach a seminar, which she attended, and now her friends and family think she has been taken over by a cult because her personality has changed that much.
Perhaps a housewife facing empty-nest syndrome learns how to let go of her kids as they go off to college and finds herself in the process.
A great theme here is how others may fear change so much that they will do anything to keep their family and friends exactly the same throughout their lives. If one person steps out of the box it causes everyone they know to examine their own lives. This can be very frightening for some. Just watch the television show Clean Sweep on TLC and see how people fight to keep junk they will never use.
There may still be an Adversary in this situation, as many people around her may not want her to change or let go of her old self.
Whether Letting Go is used as plot, subplot, or incident, the elements of the beginning, middle, and end are the same:
BEGINNING: A Liberator is faced with losing something (kids, husband, job).
• What does she need to let go of? Why?
• Why won’t she see that the best thing she can do is to let go?
• Why is she so attached to “it”?
• Do other characters want her to let it go? Will they be supportive?
• How will you show the inner struggle here? Or is she in complete denial?
• What incident pushes her to examine things?
MIDDLE: The Liberator realizes the only way for her to be happy or to move on is to let go. Can she do it?
• Will she accept the truth that she needs to let go? Or will she spend some time still trying to hold on? (If the kids go off to college, will she still try to get them to go to school closer to home?)
• Will anyone help her? Hinder her?
• Where does the realization take place? (Maybe use a location that adds irony or comic relief to the moment.)
• Does something from her past give her strength? Does she see an old diary of hers where she wrote down her dreams?
END: The Liberator lets go and enjoys the rewards of her decision.
• What kind of reward does she get?
• Does her life seem to be starting over again?
• Is she better off now?
• What is the message or theme here?
• Did she lose any relationships in the process?
• Does she want to go out and help others do the same now?
EXAMPLES
Contact, ROBERT ZEMECKIS
OBTAINING AS SUBPLOT— Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of intelligent aliens, who send plans for a mysterious machine. When her funding is pulled she must travel around giving presentations to raise more funding.
Jurassic Park, MICHAEL CRICHTON
OBTAINING AS INCIDENT— A scientist clones dinosaurs to populate a theme park. He tries to obtain the endorsements of several objective scientists for his investors and insurance agent.
Practical Magic, ALICE HOFFMAN
LETTING GO AS SUBPLOT— The Owens sisters, Sally and Gillian, struggle to use their hereditary gift for practical magic to overcome the obstacles in discovering true love. Sally lets go and falls in love even though she’s afraid of a curse.
Something to Talk About, LASSE HALLSTROM
LETTING GO AS PLOT— Grace discovers that her husband Eddie deceived her with another woman. After confronting him in the middle of the night, she decides to stay at her sister Emma Rae’s house for a while, to make up her mind. Breaking out of her everyday life, she starts to question the authority of everyone, especially her father.