When you're a kid, there's nothing more exciting than magic; it's the only thing allowed to break the rules. Our entire lives are restricted by laws, but imagination is totally free. If you want to read minds and fly above traffic, it's as easy as snapping your fingers and saying the secret words. What could be cooler than that?
Spells are not subject to science or logic. They don't need risk or permanent consequences. It seems like there are negatives to almost everything, but magic can be all upside. Nothing looks better than power without limits, but then you realize that it's missing limitations.
Classic Movie Trailers - Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)
Superman can do anything. He can lift a train off the tracks and hurl it into the sea. He can fly without a plane, freeze criminals solid and destroy all of their guns, just by looking at them. What's more important than any of those abilities, is the fact that he can't do them around Kryptonite.
Green Lantern had a funny and novel weakness; the power ring wouldn't work on anything yellow. All you had to do is dip yourself in paint and you could rob a bank right in front of him. It's seems a little silly and a lot of comics are, but without checks and balances the ring would be too powerful. We want our heroes to fight for law and order; no one wants to read about an all-powerful judge.
Doctor Strange is arguably lesser known, and his lack of popularity is a case worth studying. This is a guy that wields actual magic spells, so he's mightier than Superman in almost every way. A magician doesn't need to be strong or tough; he can turn bullets into smoke and levitate a building.
That isn't to say that he doesn't have challenges. There are mystical forces that leave him stupefied. The problem is that we don't understand the struggle. All they're doing is gesturing and talking gobbledygook.
Where does he get the energy for these amazing things? Are his resources limited, and in what way? What can he not affect with spells? When does he have to run, or throw a sucker punch?
So we come to the problem with abilities without problems. They're tools for every job and all at one time. More importantly they are ill defined, which means that they're a bear to understand. Ironically, omnipotence is an insurmountable obstacle, for any would-be superhero and any working author.
If you're writing about something without an explanation, you don't have to explain it so you don't. The situation creates a product without polish and a story unable to reach its potential. It also promotes laziness and deception; a similar thing happens when a character has amnesia.
You don't have to write a history that isn't remembered; a past clouded in fog can hide a blank canvas. The trick is obvious and obviously dull, but then there is the problem of duration. When will they regain what they've lost? When they do get their memories back, will it be at a perfect or convenient time?
If everything is planned and known by the author, there is no cheating and no confusion to worry about. We can ponder a mystery that's actually there, and we can sweat it out when magic falls short. Drama has a prerequisite and it's understanding. No amount of footwork will hide the lie behind the curtain.
Trailer here.
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See "Escape to Witch Mountain" on Netflix!
Next week: CMT - The Usual Suspects
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