I like Dvonch's basic idea and utterly agree with his premise: it's impossible to write a story that does not have a moral stance or convey a moral message. So kudos to him there.

The article itself I found a bit simplistic, and while the issues he raises are well worth thinking about, I don't think I could sit down to write with them in the forefront of my mind. To calculate out, "Hmm. I need an immoral character to represent the moral evil I'm going to come out against," is far too mechanical for me, and my writing ends up very stilted when I try. I can apply that kind of logic later, looking back at what's been created (and it might even help me to make minor adjustments), but as a guiding idea I think it would kill of creativity pretty quickly.

Again, that may just be me.

Also, why use a bad movie to make your point? I think a far more provocative and worthwhile article could be written about, say, The Return of the King (though, admittedly, that would have required far more space to take in all the characters). And much as I don't like many (or even most) of his moral messages, looking at Moore's Watchmen would prove a fascinating study.

I suppose Dvonch is speaking more to writers looking for mainstream success, so perhaps his example suits.

Dunno—just some thoughts. Thanks for pointing out the article, though. Interesting stuff.

Also, why use a bad movie to make your point?

In this case, I think you need to justify your contention that "Jurassic Park" was a bad movie. It was financially quite successful, and is listed as 86% Fresh on RottenTomatoes.com.

So, you see, your opinion is wrong. It's a scientific fact.

The popularity and essential simplicity of "Jurassic Park" make it easy to use as an illustration for a brief article like this. It's something most everyone remembers seeing, and something most people think of as a special effects movie, so it makes a good model to point to and say, 'See, it's not just flashy FX; there's a moral being told here, too.' Based on his first article, I suspect that Dvonch would agree with you in saying that "LotR: Return of the King" would make an excellent source to study.

Anyway, the articles on that site are usually brief, so I don't think I went into it expecting a deep dissertation. I think I was just glad to read something on the topic of plot and moral theme from someone who had some commercial experience with it.

I think you're right about going into a story with the moral first, though. I'm with Lewis on this (like most things, drooling fan that I am) in that I think such an approach would result in something obnoxiously preachy, unpleasant to read as well as to write, and creatively stultifying. But it seems like a good thing to examine when you're going back over your first draft.