![\"\"](\"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Noah.jpg\" "\\"Noah\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nDarren Aronofsky\u2019s film, Noah<\/em>, has caused controversy and consternation across the religious spectrum. Some professed atheists are none too pleased, either.\u00a0 Yet, the film racked up impressive box office numbers and has scored many positive reviews in both the secular and religious press.<\/p>\n Those who complain about the film criticize Aronofsky\u2019s visual style, the mass killings of flood victims, Aronofsky\u2019s straying from specific elements in the scriptural text, and adding creative elements not present in the original Bible story.<\/p>\n Whether you liked the film or not, Noah<\/em> is a great look at the adaptation process and the key elements in transforming a story from one medium to another.<\/p>\n The story of Noah, as it written in the Bible<\/em>, is episodic. One action simply follows another. Instructed by God, Noah has a goal.\u00a0 He sets about accomplishing that goal in a straightforward sequence of events.<\/p>\n There is lots of external conflict in Noah\u2019s Bible<\/em> story: the rigors of building the ark, gathering the animals, the danger presented by the rising flood waters, and the endless days of floating across a vast watery world not knowing where or when they would land. But the Biblical text provides very few relationship conflicts and Noah has no personal internal conflict.\u00a0 Much is missing or omitted from the original text that needs to be present in a successful fictional story.<\/p>\n Scripts fail when the protagonist only struggles with external obstacles.\u00a0 Our internal struggles and contradictions define what we do and what we do defines who we are.\u00a0 Character is action. \u00a0A character\u2019s internal conflict drives the character\u2019s actions in response to any and all external conflicts. Resolving that inner conflict is what creates a character\u2019s emotional or spiritual journey.\u00a0 No inner conflict no journey. As written in the Bible<\/em>, Noah has no conflicted interior life. He simply proceeds on his mission step-by-step.<\/p>\n Among the Nine Character Types, Noah is Power of Conscience character. Power of Conscience characters are propelled to act out of an innate sense of duty, responsibility, and righteousness.\u00a0 Noah is specifically described as \u201ca righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, one who walked faithfully with God\u201d.<\/p>\n Power of Conscience characters feel responsible for the greater good and for doing good. Internally, they wrestle with how far they should go in seeking justice or how much wrong should they do in the cause of right. They struggle with what is the higher duty. Is the precise letter of the law more important than the more generous spirit of the law? Which should prevail: justice or mercy? Is punishment or forgiveness the more righteous choice? What does the higher duty call them to do? \u00a0Please note: SPOILERS AHEAD if you haven’t seen the movie yet.<\/p>\n Power of Conscience characters fear failing in their own eyes or in not living up to their own high moral standards. They fret over how far they should go in promoting their deeply held personal beliefs or acting on their moral outrage.<\/p>\n Some of the best adaptations start with a question. \u00a0I don’t know him personally but I believe Aronofsky started by asking himself why, after fulfilling his mission, does Noah drink himself into near insensibility, to the point he doesn\u2019t bother to dress himself. Aronofsky\u2019s answer seems to be\u2014 because Noah thinks he has failed.<\/p>\n