Ophelia Muse

When writing I respond best to using a muse. Even if its just a song, or a picture, I can be inspired to create entire scenes around that item. With my characters I like to use amuse as well. I cast the character in my mind and the persona of that actor to help develop the character. It works very well for me.

For my Ophelia story, now set in contemporary times, I have a rough idea of who I wanted her to be, besides what Shakespeare had already written. Ophelia is a teenager, so she is complicated as teenage girls are. Still a child in some ways, but struggling with adult issues in other ways. And of course so much of what affects the self esteem of a teenage girl is boys. Her boy being of course the older and dangerous Hamlet.

Ophelia's life is complex. Her mother is not in the picture. We can assume dead. Her father has questionable morals. Her older brother wants nothing to do with the family and got away as soon as he could. She is in love with the much older troubled playboy son of his father's (now dead) boss.

She is an innocent young girl caught up in a world of deceitful adults. Just like any teenager, she just wants to live her life, and is confused by the world around her. But there are time when she does feel free and is happy. Her life is full of highs and lows.

So I was on the look out for a muse to use on Ophelia. To inspire myself I have created a soundtrack in an iTunes playlist with songs that I feel reflect her best and emotes the tone of certain scenes that I listen to as I write.

Originally I was using Winona Ryder's character from Reality Bites as a template. Winnie has that sweet, confused, strong yet innocent persona that is very appealing. There are elements of that character and that persona which I will keep and use.

However, flipping through youtube I have come across a couple of videos that capture elements of Ophelia very clearly. One youtuber I found is a girl called mememolly.

Mememolly plays Ophelia better than I could have written. She is Ophelia. A beautiful teenage British girl who loves music and being creative. She loves her friends and lives a rich fantasy life.
She makes little videos that are playful or moody or reflective. Ranging the field of emotions that makes some one interesting. Mememolly is a very smart girl. She has created this internet persona that has all the likable qualities about it. She is a youtube superstar in the youtube world with millions of views on her videos. I have never heard of her until now, but her popularity shows how appealing that 'character' can be. What is important to me is that it has all the elements I want for Ophelia. This girl (now a woman because the clips are old) could probably do a better job of writing the character of Ophelia than I could. So I will steal what ever I can.

The other is a clip I found that has a scene I want to recreate for the script. It is just a goofy 'girls having fun' moment that can show Ophelia in a good place of being happy. I am not sure if the clip is real or created. There are undertones that are a sexual, which plays well for Ophelia's coming of age and touches on her relationship with Hamlet. I don't think this second clip will play because you seem to have be logged in and over 18 to play. The content doesn't seem to warrant that restriction, but I don't make the rules.