re: Convoluted Plots: Abrams and Modern Film and LOST

quote:

---

And frankly, I find his argument against convoluted plots a lot more convoluted than the story which was LOST

---

I don't know what to tell you, he actually does an excellent job of making extremely hard to grasp ideas much more simple. That's the draw of his persona and his writing.

He boils it all down right here:

quote:

---

TO BEST EXPLAIN WHY THIS MATTERS, LET’S GET HYPOTHETICAL: IF YOU (THE REAL YOU READING THIS NOW) WERE WALKING DOWN THE STREET AND SOMEONE CAME UP TO YOU AND YELLED, “Quick! I'm your long-lost brother you never knew you had! Someone's after me! We have to run!!!!" YOU WOULD BE COMPLETELY TAKEN OFF-GUARD, WOULDN'T YOU? NOW, WOULD YOU BE CURIOUS? WOULD IT BE CRAZY? WOULD IT BE EXCITING? SURE! BUT YOU WOULDN’T EXACTLY BE INVESTED. YOU WOULD BE SUSPICIOUS. YOU WOULD DISTANCE YOURSELF. MEANWHILE, IF YOUR ACTUAL BROTHER THAT YOU'VE KNOWN AND LOVED YOUR WHOLE LIFE SHOWED UP AND SAID “Quick! Someone's after me! We have to run!" YOU WOULD BE MUCH MORE INVESTED! IT’S YOUR BROTHER, AFTER ALL. BOTH ARE YOUR "BROTHERS" BUT ONE IS A PERSON WITH WHOM YOU HAVE A SHARED HISTORY AND LOVE. YOU HAVE ALL THE RELEVANT INFORMATION TO YOUR BOND THUS THERE WOULD BE A SUBSTANTIAL ROOTING INTEREST. AND BETWEEN THESE TWO SCENARIOS, THE MORE DRAMATIC AND COMPELLING SITUATION SHOULD BE OBVIOUS, RIGHT?

SO WHY DO SO MANY MODERN BLOCKBUSTERS OPT FOR THE FIRST OPTION?

---