Basically a race of being on the planet Thra called UrSkeks came from another planet that severely looks down on moral impurities. They plan on using a very large crystal, the same one that brought them to the planet Thra, and its ability to focus light from Thra's three suns in an attempt to purify themselves of their sins. Well the event is called The Great Conjunction and the results are not what they expected. They are split in two, a species called the Skeksies representing their unrestrained, evil sides and another species called the urRu (or Mystics). I think it's quite obvious that the Mystics represented the disciplined, righteous side of the UrSkeks.
Anyways, the whole movie is about a young Gelfling who is prophesied to bring together the Mystics and Skeksies by finding the lost shard of the Dark Crystal - the same crystal that caused all this trouble in the first place - and rejoining it to the larger crystal in Skeksies territory. Yeesh it's weird writing Skeksies. The word is supposed to be the singular and plural form of the species, so I'm constantly feeling as if my syntax and grammar is totally off.
I digress however, because the main point of the story wasn't to introduce you to the plot of the movie. As I've said above, the whole story irks me. I'm not sure why. For a Muppet film, the movie is very dark in its tone and the Skeksies are incredibly unforgiving, paranoid, ruthless villains. Which is all very nice and good. You never want villains that aren't scary. But the story just irks me.
Maybe it's because I've finally found the Big Bang. Or at least, the Big Bang of my story. The Mags and the Howlas did not come from the same species of people - they have always been distinct. But they do originate from the same planet. And the first Magna Beast, as well as his counterpart the Howlamega, were each given their powers by a crystal. Whoa, right? I'm not positive as to when I watched this movie, but I am more than assured as of now that this film was the beginning.
Is that the cause of my annoyance? I hope I'm not that arrogant, but I cannot lie and say that I wasn't proud of my story's lack of origin. Fascination engulfed me. I was enamored with the idea that this story was a germ that spontaneously erupted in the creative nether regions of my mind. I wanted, so badly, to believe that this story was something more than just another conglomeration of past ideas. I will still press on, no doubt. Briok's tale is too far ingrained in my DNA now for me to not express it. But an itching will constantly reside in my head, something that tells me, whispers to me that this wasn't my idea.
Of course one answer would be that I have thus far steered away from outright copying Jim Henson's work and made the UrSkek story my own. But how did I steer away from it? Every metastasization since has been easily attributed to something or another. The fact that I had to create a purpose behind the story, a theme that resonated was due to Mr. Perkins my eighth grade english teacher. The darkness of the characters, their deep melodramas and their superficial joys were inspired by Battlestar Galactica's intrepid character portrayals. The restraint of my imagination in service of the reader hammered into me by my sophomore english teacher Mrs. Higgins. The mafias, a monkey wrench in the plans of my main characters, were yanked straight from the reels of The Yakuza Papers.
No artist since the dawn of man has painted without another's color. I justify myself thus. Anyways, no point in crying over spilled milk. Is that the phrase? I've got what I've got. It's made some people happy. Hopefully it'll continue to do so. I'll just keep writing, humbling myself with the knowledge that what I've been given I'll be giving back in a new way. And hey, what I've been given isn't so bad. Until next time then.
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