If every major director has a singular story, theme, or message they tell and re-tell, what is the story your favorite director tells and re-tells?

After watching Nightmare Alley yesterday my husband and I got into an interesting discussion about the stories that directors tell and re-tell throughout their works. It's my theory that most artists have a single theme/story/message (which can be summarized in one sentence), and I summarized Del Toro's 'story' as "Monsters are human and humans are monsters"We then got into a lively back and forth about other directors and what story they tell and retell:James Cameron: "Be careful what machines you build and what you do with them"Wachowskis: "A mask or illusion both harms and helps you"Woody Allen: "Can you ever really be your true self around a lover?"Quentin Tarantino: "Storytelling itself is an art worth preserving"Spielberg: "The wonder and magic of childhood is the best part of humanity"Darren Aronofsky: "True art, love, and genius is a kind of transcendent torture"I would love to hear more ideas and suggestions on what message/theme/story your favorite director tells---especially ones with far-flung catalogs like Ridley Scott (my idea is "To find your inner hero, you must accept that you are truly alone in the world" but that's not quite perfect) via /r/movies https://ift.tt/3Hgfaue