After all, we're usually dealing with a "crazy. The story details the pros and cons of "putting the group ahead of ourselves." It honors the group - yet exposes "the problems of losing one's identity to it."Īccording to Snyder, there's always a "breakout character whose role is to expose the group goal as a fraud." But there is also, often, a newcomer to the group, through whose eyes (and questions) we come to understand the dynamics of the group. This is the tale of a group: the mental patients of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the doctors of M*A*S*H, the Mafia family of The Godfather. The essential ingredients are a life problem that must be dealt with, a wrong way to attack the problem, usually a diversion from confronting the pain, and a solution that involves acceptance of a hard truth, and the knoweldge that it's the hero who must change, not the world around him.įor the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the enemy was said to be "Life" (as opposed to the trio or even Dark Willow). Also compare Booker's Rags to Riches plot. The hero has to come to grips with the realization that everybody goes through stuff like this, and surrender to reality - accept that there are aspects of reality that he "cannot control or comprehend," yet continue onward with a level of peace about the whole affair.Īny sort of "life transitions" story fits under here. Here, the hero undergoes "pain and torment" from a vague force that turns out to be, well, Life. The essential ingredients are a road, which is the journey that must be made, and will provide signposts that indicate growth the team or buddy the hero needs to guide him along the way, and who represents things the hero lacks, such as skill, experience, or attitude and a prize to be won-going home, obtaining a treasure, securing a birthright, etc. Snyder then lumps in "all heist movies" along with "any quest, mission, or treasure locked in a castle" plot.
Which explains why this sort of movie has always seemed a little disconnected. He may never reach the goal he set out for, but he does reach a different goal: self-discovery.
Here's Snyder's version of The Quest, which he connects with the Road Movie, a series of seemingly unrelated encounters that cause Character Development for the hero. The Whydunit isn't about the who so much as the why, and the secret that the detective seeks ultimately forces him to take a dark turn somewhere, breaking the rules, even his own, in order to get to the bottom of the mystery. This sort of tale makes us take a long look at ourselves and the things we're capable of. dark and often unattractive" about human nature. Snyder points to Chinatown as "perhaps the best Whydunit ever made." It's a walk on the dark side of the city, and once we've unraveled the mystery, we discover "something unexpected. The three important ingredients are: A wish asked for by the hero or granted by another, and the clearly seen need to be delivered from the ordinary the spell that sets up the situation, and which has "rules" that must be followed and the lesson that is to be learned from the experience. And, eventually, because he's finally worthy of it, the hero gets what he wanted all along (in Liar Liar, it's "the respect of his wife and son"). There " must be something redeemable" about the hero, because he's going to have to change his ways in order to survive. On the curse side, we have the " comeuppance tales." Liar Liar and Groundhog Day both count. Then we get a classic Wish-Fulfillment tale, although of course there's going to be problems. Or, less directly, perhaps he needs some help and gets it from an unexpected source - Snyder points out The Mask as being another tale following this plot. On the wish side, we have a hero who makes a wish that gets unexpectedly granted.