When I mention the movie The Dark Knight and dialogue, which quotes first come to mind?
Is it this one?
Or perhaps this one?
Or perhaps any one of the many other most meme-able quotes like this one?
Ever wonder why these quotes stick out to us? What makes them so memorable? Sure, they're well written, but so are a dozen or so other lines from the film. I think the reason we remember these quotes is because they have a deeper meaning. They're tied to the other elements in the story like character, plot, and, most importantly, theme. This connection, it works almost like a rhyme. It gives the brain two reasons to remember something, not just one, and thus makes the story element stronger.
There's a reason everyone knows the Stark family's motto from Game of Thrones, even if they've never seen the show or read the book. And there's a reason you probably can't quite remember the Greyjoy family's even if you are a fan. It's because "winter is coming" is thematically related to the story itself. It's not just the Stark family's house words, and it doesn't just sound cool. It captures what the story is about on a fundamental level: something bad is coming, and there's nothing we can do about it. That's why we remember it.
The same goes for the lines from The Dark Knight, and it's really quite masterful how much theme the writers were able to cram into it. Writers run the risk of writing "on the nose" dialogue if they're too direct or obvious with their message. Audiences don't like to be told information too directly (except when they do, see my other post on telling in Fleabag), so here are a few tips we can take from The Dark Knight to make our thematic dialogue seem natural.
Setup
Set up your dialogue so that it flows naturally and logically follows what comes before it. If you have a line that you need your character to say, think about what context is needed to make your character say it. Don't be afraid to reverse engineer. Start with what you know you need and work backwards. And as always, kill your darlings. If you have a great line that isn't taking your dialogue where you need to go, cut it (but maybe put it to the side and save it. It might come in handy later).
Conflict
Remember conflict is the engine of all stories. When you need your character to talk about something, try to get them on opposing views so they can explore the issue more deeply. No two characters should agree 100%, and this conflict will allow them to talk about their differing views on a topic and give you an opportunity to address your theme. The dinner table scene from The Dark Knight does this very well.
Character
Don't forget your character's point of view or voice. Whatever they say should be colored by their perspective. If you want them to talk about the story's theme, make sure it sounds authentic to them and their life experience.
Theme is one of the trickiest elements in storytelling, so check out these resources if you'd like to know more about how to incorporate it in your screenplay:
John August's blog post Writing from Theme
K. M. Weiland's Writing Your Story's Theme
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