Here’s why JJ Abrams has Never understood The Mystery Box

I felt a nagging chasm of hollowness after watching JJ Abrams’s Ted talk on the Mystery Box. His explanation is fun, and the tactic is workable, but he’s not really digging deep into it. He’s only scratching the surface level on the value the Mystery Box hides inside.

The way he’s describing the power of a “Mystery Xox” is like someone saying Call of Duty MW2 is a great classic. The latter statement is also just a box with nothing in it, with infinite possibilities as to why each person thinks it’s a classic. But the thing is- hundreds of people slaved over wholly disparate aspects of MW2 to ensure each piece fit together before they released the game. Someone who says MW2 is a classic might not be able to discern the internal mechanics that make it one, but they can sense that it is.

A mystery, take a magic trick, can(and should) be designed in the same way. JJ giving the audience an illusion, an unopened box full of shadows, is an ingenious, quite filmic trick. It functions well and saves time if you’re clever enough to think of ones that do work. A quick analysis of JJ Abrams movies and shows on IMDb shows us he’s ingenious and successful in his prolific use of this strategy.

In the end, though, nothing beats knowing exactly how the box works, every single cog, even if all you present up front is the clock’s face. Understanding the mystery you’ve written is clearly optional but more subtly advantageous. It opens up the possibility to let the audience truly catch a glimpse of what’s behind it, what’s going on, rather than keeping them guessing constantly on the outside. It adds a layer. A layer that can be expanded with subtext and lore- a layer that can house a theme. As I said, it’s a filmmaker’s trick, quick and handy… but a writer’s, a story crafter’s… excuse.

A Second Half to the Equation.

Abrams goes on to explain the utility of the unopened box. You can give the audience something else in their never-ending search for answers. You can sneak by them your character moments, and character’s development as a whole. Ending the search, not necessarily with answers but with a character’s arc finished, their redemption, their growth. It’s natural for the quest, in this case, the mystery, to be the tread that doesn’t matter by the end. It’s the character growth that matters. That’s the iconic Mystery Box explained. As a storytelling tactic, using a Mystery Box to this end, without knowing what’s in it yourself, is a solid technique. This does become a problem… if your character’s growth does not see the end of your story, and your mystery journey needs to continue.

(JJ Abrams Lost above. One of JJ Abrams TV shows produced mostly by his company with the logo that goes “Bad robot!”, ah, man, good stuff.)

Here’s JJ’s TED talk. Great for filmmakers to watch. But if you’re a writer, don’t let him steal you away with endearing tales of how his granddad, don’t forget the catch. https://www.ted.com/talks/j_j_abrams_the_mystery_box?language=en

We have a blog set releasing soon on JJ Abrams ultimate inspiration- Steven Spielberg, the director effector. You’d probably also like to know why Rian Johnson is a better Star Wars director than JJ Abrams. Check em out.