The Big Words.

My filmmaking class sometimes seems more like a morality/psychology class... We often talk about things that affect us human beings. That's what we do as filmmakers and storytellers; we talk about the human condition. One thing that can always spike up a conversation, as my prof explained, are what she calls "the big words." They are words that have a powerful meaning, that are often associated with the terrible things that happen to us, like war and slaughter, but also the good things, like hope and faith. Things that can make any one of us start a heated argument.

An example would be the word justice: she asked us who was for or against the death penalty. Without started an argument, of course.

Here's the list we came up with in class:

-Seven deadly sins (Greed, gluttony, lust, sloth, vanity, envy, pride)
-Rage                     -Martyrs                    -Will                       -Duty
-Sacrifice                -Patriotism                -Redemption          -Valour
-Glory                    -Loyalty                    -Joy                        -Doubt
-Fraternity              -Courage                   -Grace                    -Equality
-Justice                   -Hope                       -Prudence               -Obedience
-Denial                  -Faith                         -Hypocrisy             -Forgiveness
-Jealousy               -Liberty                      -Honor

All of these can make for great subtext in a movie, or any story. My prof has over 80 of these words. Some of these, you can relate to right away, others you need to think about.

What are some of your big words?