What? How in tarnations can a Christmas carol influence pulp science fiction? Well, inspiration can come from the least likely of places.At a Christmas Eve midnight candlelight church service in 2007, while singing O Holy Night (one of my favorite Christmas carols and the very first song to EVER be played over radio), a single lyric jumped out at me. At the time I was in the middle of writing the screenplay for The Mercury Men and was trying to figure out what the story was REALLY about. Sure, it's about glowing men shooting lightning, space heroes, and all that fun stuff, but what is the story REALLY about? The lyric that laid it all out for me?
"Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth."
That single line was a key driving force in the screenplay. Edward is worthless. He is irresponsible and unreliable. And while Jesus will not be showing up in our series to change Edward's ways, the appearance of Jack (along with another character I must leave as a surprise), will most definitely challenge Edward to discover his worth.
So what is YOUR favorite Christmas carol? And please don't say it's that Christmas Shoes song :)
Little Drummer boy. Simple story told well.
ReplyDeleteCarol of the Bells. For a Christmas carol/song, it's got a pretty dark feeling to it, but it just has a tone that doesn't leave you.
ReplyDeleteSilent Night! Brings back all those childhood memories and what Christmas is all about...Jesus
ReplyDeleteJenni, you're right on with Carol of the Bells. It does have a dark tone to it. Didn't John Williams use it in that manner on the Home Alone soundtrack?
ReplyDeletewe three kings - about the star and the travel to jesus birth place.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty awesome story, Chris, and you nailed it with "O Holy Night." That's absolutely my favorite Christmas song. In fact, it's probably one of my favorite songs, period.
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