Political pundits always ask the question, where is the beef? This is the standard discussion ender for any socio-political question. The same is true for character, story, plot and genre. Alternative writers that constantly use the socio-political approach in developing and managing a material, it is a never-ending question. Where is the beef?

A material is like a solar system. At the center of this solar system is the vision of the writer. Revolving around this vision are the elements that essentially contribute in deploying this idea into a workable concept. These elements are characters, story, plot and genre. Put them together and you either have an excellent recipe for an engaging material or have an honest to goodness piece of shit.

So what makes a material socially and politically oriented? When we talk about human rights abuses, is it political? When we talk about the lifestyle of prostitutes, is it social activism? When we touch on the unequal distribution of wealth, is it economic militancy? What if we talk about the marginalized Muslim population, is it a religious concern?

The socio-political approach in material development and management looks at the multi-dimensional persona of man & society. Encapsulated in this approach is the notion that society affects man and man affects society. This symbiotic relationship is the arena from which conflicts arise. And it is in these conflicts that the relationship is tested.

Observing, understanding & analyzing these conflicts and testing these conflicts are always within the framework of two colliding and opposite forces. What is and what ought to be. We always approximate what is ideal and we use this approximation as we try to explore the relationship between man & society. We then start to figure out what kind of animal we are dealing with. And figuring out the animal requires us to embrace a particular view towards it. A view that is shaped by our ideology, conscious or not, and begin to figure out what are the best possible solutions that will make the animal less violent so that it will not devour the writer in front of it.

Thus, a material is said to be political, social, economic or even religious when it begins to persuade or coerce man and society to manipulate their inherent symbiotic relationship to suit a particular ideology. This is, in its conception, the clash of what is and what ought to be. An eternal discourse in trying to come up with the best possible framework that will provide the most harmonious exchanges between man and society.

Karl Marx provided us an ideology that offers one possible explanation with regards to the relationship of man & society. He gave us a potential framework in terms of angle and attack as we try to figure out why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Das Kapital is like a long love letter that tries to persuade man & society to abandon capitalism and embrace a more communal way of life. You then begin to feel Karl's passion in trying to liberate man and society from the evils of capitalism. And his passion is reflected by the principles of what is said to be Communism.

Ideology, in this approach, is essential in coming up with a material that seeks to persuade or coerce man and society to re-evaluate their symbiotic relationship. Such re-evaluation may affect the relationship in three ways. First, when an agent is introduced in a system, the system will violently react to the agent. As a result, the system will reject the agent and destroy it. Second, the agent will introduce reforms in the system. Third, the agent will radically change and re-invent the system. And fourth, the agent will assimilate with the system.

The lack of ideology is equivalent to a writer's lack of vision. Vision, as I mentioned before., is important because it is the core component that directs the operationalization of a material into the final product, the screenplay.

Thus, we must be vigilant in understanding ourselves. This is the core principle of the approach. We must be certain in what we stand for and what we believe are the evils within the relationship of man and society.

But at the same time, one must be cautious and responsible in forwarding one's ideology. One must subscribe to the spirit of a free market of ideas. The willingness to engage in intelligent discourses and amenable debates. To make sure that there is a process as we begin to explore our ideas as well as the ideas of other people.

Man and Society offer us endless combinations of materials. It is up to us to select which are important and which are trivial. But it does not mean the former is correct and the latter is wrong. Selection is a subjective undertaking that reflects an individual's ideology. In this regard, the discourse is not base on whether or not your selection is correct or wrong. Rather, the discourse is measured by its ability to capture the hearts and minds of the public. In the end, the public is the one who will evaluate whether or not your discourse is valid.

The conception of this approach started when I realized the fundamental need to diversify the materials within the different media platforms. It seeks to enrich the existing collections of characters, plots, genres and stories. Depth and quality of materials is not the sole monopoly of this approach rather it offers an alternative way of developing and managing a material.