Unplanned Flattery

My first major project after deciding to start writing again was a screenplay. There was something about the visual format associated with screenplays that appealed to me. In analyzing the statistics of number of scripts written to number of films that are green lighted each year, I have since learned that the odds are strongly against me successfully getting a screenplay produced, that I would be better off trying to write a novel and getting that published. But that was neither here nor there. The idea I had was a movie, not a book. And I had to execute it that way.

So what was this idea?

In a nutshell, it was a story about a district attorney who happened to also be a serial killer, taking down criminals that the criminal justice system somehow failed to convict. I think I was inspired quite a bit by the Star Chamber, a movie from the 70's or 80's. It also involved the detective work involved in capturing him and bringing him to trial. There was a love angle -- two actually. There was a metaphysical element, as he was motivated to do these deeds out of a sense of revenge for his wife who had been killed years earlier, and yet still visited him and talked to him. The FBI was brought in to try to solve the case. And ultimately, they did get him, but only because the ghost of his dead wife convinced him to turn himself in.

The execution of the story had a lot of problems. I don't need to get into them, suffice it to say this is not a movie you will be seeing on the big screen. Ever.

And yet...

I have been watching the Showtime series Dexter on DVD. If you don't know anything about Dexter, let me give you a rough synopsis. It's about a forensics technician (blood spatter expert) who works for the Miami police department, but who is also a serial killer, preying exclusively on other killers, who have somehow slipped through the cracks of the criminal justice system. There is a love interest (or two). He is a serial killer due to a childhood trauma involving violence against his mother. He is guided by memories of his dead foster father. And in the second season, the FBI has been brought in to try to capture him.

In both Dexter and in my script there is a bizarre May/December romance between a wizened older cop and a younger woman.

I'm not suggesting that I think that they ripped me off. In fact, I know that they couldn't have. Dexter is based on a novel that was published in the same year that I finished my screenplay. I just think that it is a bit uncanny how similar some aspects are between my screenplay and this television show. And, honestly, I think it's a little cool to see some of my ideas being executed, even if they're not executing my ideas, per se.

And the areas where I didn't know what I was talking about and was just kind of faking my way through -- they didn't fake their way through. So it's also pretty cool to see it done right.