Recently, there have been several articles in entertainment magazines about the fact that movie box office returns go up when the economy goes down. These articles ascribe this interesting fact to people’s need for escapism.

Whenever indigenous tribes and cultures confronted times such as these, they looked to their storytellers to tell the archetypal stories that helped them face their fears. They would take heart knowing that others had faced similar hardships and life endured.

Movies are our modern day storytellers. People turn to movies during times of great change and distress, not only to escape, but also to find meaning, understanding, inspiration, hope and courage to face challenges.

In his book, The World Behind the World, Michael Meade says, “Stories are the oldest school for humankind. Genuine stories offer a living school where the only entry requirements are an active imagination, some capacity to feel one’s own feelings and a willingness to approach the world as a place of mystery and revelation. Genuine stories don’t prove anything. Rather they reveal things about the world that were already there, but were not being seen. … A real story is an installment of eternity.”

At a critical time like this, when our world is faced not only with many challenges, but also a deep sense of meaninglessness, we need more archetypal, mythical stories like: The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Star Wars, Casablanca and The Grapes of Wrath to help us recover a sense of the eternal.

I am a screenwriter who is moved to write stories that bring meaning to the present and hope for the future. Such is the story of Secret of the Crystal Skulls. If anybody out there is interested in joining me in making these kinds of movies, please contact me.

Please visit our main website for Secret of the Crystal Skulls.