Nothing New Under the Writing Sun

The realization that there is nothing new under the sun has hit me really hard the past few days. I've become obsessed with it.

I'm always looking for a new story to tell when in fact what I should be seeking is a fresh and entertaining way to tell an old story. Every storyline (whether you believe in three, five, ten, or more plot theories) basically shakes out to one--there's a dude with a problem, and will he overcome? Dude can be literal or symbolic--one or more actual dudes (or she-dudes) or a city of rabbits. It's all the same.

Even the core "problems" (those three, five, ten, or more plots) have become trite. It's the telling of the story that makes it fresh and entertaining--but the story itself is nothing new under the sun, ever.

Have you ever read any story or seen any movie where there wasn't a "dude" with a core problem?