CONFLICT.
There are four basic kinds:
- Inner Conflict (Man vs. Self)
- Relational Conflict (Man vs. Other Man / Woman)
- Societal Conflict (Man vs. Society)
- Situational Conflict (Man vs. Obstacle)
In other words, the main character(s) in a movie should be struggling to overcome *something* that he / she is up against. Audiences should be able to identify this in every movie that they watch.
And yet – some movies don’t have them. In these, the audience just watches the main character(s) enjoy a conflict-free life for 90 minutes or more…..and it’s boring as hell.
I call this the “Ferris Bueller Synopsis” because it’s the first movie I can recall seeing where this happens.
Don’t get me wrong – I *liked* Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when I first saw it. Hell, I’d probably still like it if I watched it today. But the premise of the entire movie is him and his friends having fun in the City.
That’s it.
He doesn’t overcome anything;
Or learn anything;
Or even really face any sort of enemy of any kind because everyone loves him.
(I *GUESS* his Principal / his sister count as ‘enemies,’ but they play such a minor role in the movie that I don’t really count them)
And yet, SOMEHOW, everyone (including me) loved this movie.
The only reason I can account for this is that it was the first of it’s kind? (Unlikely though) But since then, the movie industry has somehow gotten the idea that they should make more of these ‘feel nothing but good’ movies.
The most recent of these that I’ve
OTHER MOVIES GUILTY OF THE FERRIS BUELLER SYNOPSIS:
- Into the Wild
-The Lizzie McGuire movie
- I hope they serve beer in Hell
- Sex and the City 2
- The Darjeeling Limited
- Oceans 13
- Crocodile Dundee
- Outsourced (yes, it was a movie first!)
...and countless other movies shot “on location” where ‘experiencing an exotic culture’ is an essential plot point.
CAN YOU ADD TO THIS LIST?
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