Movie Material: The Captain's Wife

Here's a post that reinforces what we all know as writers: Write What You Know...or can research and know second hand. 

On Instagram I follow HistoryHustleOfficial, which posts short blurbs about fascinating but forgotten (or nearly so) events in history. Being a recreational sailor, with two ship builders in my ancestry, I've had a fascination with the age of sail, the ships and the men that risked their lives to make nearly impossible passages and establish worldwide trade and communication. 

When the post at right from History Hustle appeared in their feed, I immediately went on-line, found and purchased two books. One was the non-fiction account of the large clipper ship Neptune's Car by Paul Simpson. It was well written and included the story of Mary Patten (below). The second was a meticulously researched, well-written, edited, and dramatic novel The Captain's Wife by Douglas Kelley.

For the last several weeks Pam and I read Kelley's book to each other after dinner, a few chapters at a time. It captured our imagination and often we didn't want to stop reading. Not only is the story amazing, but Douglas Kelley, who seems to have disappeared from the Internet after this book was published by Penguin/Dutton, did a fantastic job researching the story, the era, and the working of the ships. He rarely tacks or wears from the true story documented by Simpson.  

Yes, the book held our attention because we are sailors on the Great Lakes and have been through some storms and bad weather aboard our 41-foot Islander Freeport ketch, which is a heavy, blue-water vessel. But the story appeals to both to men and women since the characters are mostly men (of the roughest breed). Yet it's a quiet but resolved woman who saves them from death on the high-seas while rounding Cape Horn in the winter. Who would do such a thing? Well, many did, and others died trying. 

Pam and I have often read to each other aloud rather than watching movies. We love both. But books last longer than a movie. LOL!  And since I'm working on a novel right now (which includes a couple chapters aboard a 1788 square rigger in a storm) it's good to read well-written material similar to what you're trying to write.

Here's the brief story about Mary Patten from History Hustle:

When the Captain Fell Ill, His 19-Year-Old Wife Saved the Ship and Faced Down a Mutiny

In 1856 the captain of an American clipper collapsed of illness, leaving his 19-year-old wife to navigate. Mary Patten commanded for 56 days while pregnant, faced down a mutiny, and studied medicine to keep her husband alive. She earned fame and was awarded $1000 for her heroics. She said she was doing “only the plain duty of a wife.”

In 1853, Mary married a sea captain named Joshua Patten. His ship would take people and cargo from New York to Boston.

When Joshua Patten took over for a captain on another ship bound for San Francisco in 1854, he took his new wife, Mary, along with him.

Mary, was determined to be of help on the ship and she read up on how to sail a ship, and how to navigate, so she could be useful. She also learned “meteorology, the ropes and sails, stowage of cargo, and many other ship’s duties”. And next time, on the second voyage to San Francisco, she again joined her husband, this time pregnant.

As was common in those times, Patten could receive thousands of dollars if he got there in under 100 days. So the captain was pretty angry when his first mate was caught sleeping. He locked him up as punishment. But the second mate was not a great sailor and so the captain had to do the work of multiple men himself.

But he ended up getting sick with a fever. So Mary Patten, in true fashion, read medical books on board and learned how to treat him. She also now had to captain the ship.

The first mate asked her to let him out, but she wanted to respect her husband’s wishes, so she refused. He tried to get the crew to mutiny against her, but she was able to convince them that she could lead the ship and secure the reward money.

When she finally finished the successful voyage, she became a celebrity. She was awarded $1,000, and a fund was created to help out with some costs.

According to Mary Patten she was doing, “only the plain duty of a wife towards a good husband.”

By the way, Douglas Kelley isn't a sailor, but is a corporate pilot, or at least was when he wrote and researched this book. So, the case in point is that if you can't write what you know, you CAN research the topic until you DO know it. Kelley proves the point with The Captain's Wife.

Are Super & Myth Movies Only about FIGHT v. FLIGHT?

A Screenwriter Asked:

Hey, Stan, 

I find myself thinKing about your stuff; the thing I like best about “Moral Premise” is it’s the book to turn to when you’re suddenly asking, “Why am I writing this again?”   

It seems to me that all the “myth” movies, from Superman to Spiderman to Batman to Iron Man to Gladiator to Matrix all are about the responsibility of saving everyone when you have the power.   

I just read an outline for Gladiator, and I could see that Maximus (Russel Crowe) wants “nothing to do with politics” but gets pulled into a battle with evil.  It’s like the Edmund Burke quote: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  Is this the point of all these movies?   

Is my moral premise: 

 “Running away from evil leads to disaster and isolation; but  

Facing and fighting evil leads to victory and freedom and togetherness”? 

I guess my question is, do I have no wiggle room here?  Should I embrace that moral premise, and stop wondering why I’m writing this??? 

Thanks,  Mike

Dear Mike:

I think most of the “super” stories can be defined by a moral premise that you articulated. But in such clear cut hero/villain stories I think there are dual moral premises that are related to a foundational one, like what you suggest. We might call these “secondary” moral premise statements, which are organically related to the foundational one. But it’s the secondary premise that is more likely to connect to non-super human audiences.

But in both cases the values in conflict must be universal … if you want to avoid niche audiences.

What you wrote:

Running away from evil (isolationism) as a value to find happiness vs. Fighting evil (engagement) as a value that leads to happiness...

...is the proverbial FLIGHT v FIGHT dilemma. It is definitely a universal concept that appears at all levels of the humanity condition.  It's evident in (a) a confrontation I witness on a street corner between a pimp and a whore, or (b) the Bush Foreign Policy Doctrine vs. the Obama Foreign Policy Doctrine. Fight or flight is everywhere and the answers are not easily answered.

You are perfectly safe keeping this simple and direct moral premise as the heart of your story, if that is what you focus on.

But you can give your story more personal and human death by looking deeper into the “human” story that exists in the “super human” diegesis.

For instance:

THE INCREDIBLES is also about:

Battling adversity alone leads to weakness and defeat; 

but Battling adversity as a family leads to strength and victory. 

BLIND SIDE (yes it’s about fight vs. flight) is also about:

Courage to do what is difficult but foolish leads to dishonor;  but

but Courage to do what is difficult and wise leads to honor.

SUPERMAN II (1980) is also about:

Pretending to be someone we’re not leads to fragility; but

Being whom we were made to be leads to superlatives.

DARK KNIGHT (2008) is also about:

Revengeful, self-service leads to nihilistic  desperation; but

Sacrificial public service leads to purposeful hope.

And there are manny other examples.

So, I think your fight or flight is a good place to start, but I think you can also go deeper, to another layer, that will give the basic “super” movie an even more “human” connection that everyone in the audience will get. Not everyone will get “saving the world” because they can’t. But the secondary moral premise (exampled above) are value dilemmas we all deal with.

This moral identification is one of the  20+ techniques filmmakers and authors use to get audiences/readers to identify with their characters on a physical, emotional, and moral level.

Since you have been writing "short" stories for years, and your material is well accepted by the mainstream public, (if I were you at this point), I’d just write it and see if a moral premise (at the secondary level) doesn’t pop out later on. Don’t feel you have to figure it out beforehand. That can be a hinderance. Trust your instinct.

stan