Date
7-21-2026
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA)
Chair
Durrell Nelson
Keywords
internal conflict, catharsis, psychological coming-of-age, mental health, allegory, faith-based film, inspirational drama, Christian cinema
Disciplines
Creative Writing
Recommended Citation
Bixler, Heather, "The Truths Beneath the Story: Internal Conflict, Catharsis, and Psychological Allegory as the Catalyst for Transformation in Screenwriting" (2026). Masters Theses. 1521.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/1521
Abstract
The Tour is a psychological coming-of-age screenplay that constructs meaning through the interaction of the main character's internal contradictions, resulting in an emotionally and structurally driven transformation. The screenplay is an original feature-length screenplay that follows Claudia, a 17-year-old girl who finds herself in the Unknown World. There she meets The Heartmaker and discovers her heart is missing. She journeys to Pineville, a town that mirrors her life back home, where her late father is still alive, and the townspeople reflect hidden truths of those she loves. The Tour is a coming-of-age psychological drama with allegorical dimensions. The script explores grief, anxiety, depression, identity, and the danger of choosing a beautiful lie over a painful truth. Written from the perspective of a Christian Scholar, The Tour insists that the heart is not merely an emotional organ but a spiritual one, and that finding it again requires the courage to remember and to face the fear of the unknown.
