Stories have been around for a long time. As such, it's no surprise that ideas have been covered multiple times in various ways shapes and forms. People clamor for originality while some wonder if there is such a thing anymore.
New Tellings of Classic Stories
One of the reasons that the early Star Wars movies were so successful was because they told a classic story in a new way. We'd seen a lot of these elements before, but they were presented in a unique way. The characters were archetypal, and yet grew into ones we could love and relate to.
Whether or not there is any originality in story telling is a bit of a trick question. Almost every story has been told. That's true, but that doesn't mean that you can't come up with something original via characterization and dialogue. Sometimes writers begin to rewrite an old story, but but the plot takes and unexpected turn for the better.
Using familiar plot elements is forgivable (within reason) and often times inevitable, but that doesn't mean that originality is dead per se, just shifted to a different form. If you want to come up with something original, it won't be found in the plot, but in the characters and their actions.Stories have been around for a long time. As such, it's no surprise that ideas have been covered multiple times in various ways shapes and forms. People clamor for originality while some wonder if there is such a thing anymore.
The Simpsons Did It
No matter what a person writes, someone, somewhere will be able to point to something else and cite a similarity. So many people have been telling stories for so long that it's near impossible to avoid.
That isn't to say that you can't do something new. Often times, the devil is in the details. A story or film may utilize similar tropes or plot elements, but it doesn't necessarily qualify it as a rehash. Look at District 9, yes a lot of people compared it to things like X-Men or Alien Nation, but as a whole it was a pretty original work. The characters were different and the story was different even if it did bear some similarity to the aforementioned franchises.
Characters Make the Story
It's for this reason that writers prefer to have their work be character driven as opposed to plot driven. A good plot is essential, make no mistake, but it's the characters and their interactions that make your work unique from others before it.
One of the problems is that people break things down into genre, and from there can give you a pretty solid story synopsis. Romcoms have a guy and a girl meet (usually while one is in a relationship), they'll get along great, get together, fight, break up and then get back together and live happily ever after. Horror movies have a psychopath terrorize a group of teenagers and kill them in sadistic ways; a superhero movie has some flawed human decide to dedicate his or her life to fighting evil and then duking it out with some villain before winning the day.
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