Plot

“Aristotle says that plot is the most important factor of a play but I’d rather have a bad plot with interesting characters than a good one with a bunch of stooges.”

— Tennessee Williams, college paper

This entry was posted in Theatre and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

9 Responses to Plot

  1. Cullen says:

    /Moe Howard walks away in despair.

  2. mitchell says:

    i soo agree with tennessee…too much plot…bores me.

  3. JessicaR says:

    I have to agree. I’m blanking on titles but there are some movies I know are messes but I love hanging out with the characters so much I’m forgiving. Wait, I think Three Kings falls under this. Yeah, it’s a mess, it wanders around, it starts and stops, but I love the characters enough not to care.

  4. red says:

    Mitchell:

    Amen!!

  5. red says:

    Jessica – I totally agree about Three Kings. It’s not the plot that makes that movie – not at all. It would be in big big trouble if that were the case. It’s those 4 guys.

    Plot without character is soulless. When it relies only on cliched characters, I feel insulted that I am supposedly expected to swallow the cliche and not go, “Hey – isn’t this so cliched?”

    Give me a movie like Carnal Knowledge or Five Easy Pieces or pretty much any Robert Altman movie over any plot-driven film any day.

    Ain’t nothing wrong with telling a good story – but there’s no need to sacrifice character. Look at Chinatown. Look at Reds. Look at Only Angels Have Wings.

    Big plots. But it’s the characters that make the movie. They aren’t a bunch of stooges.

  6. tracey says:

    Cullen — Hahahahahahaha.

  7. Non Art School Critic says:

    I respectfully disagree with the legend

    I believe this is a self serving comment that foreshadows Tennessee Williams career.

    The statement is true for most of the story telling genre, save for Robert Ludlum/Alister MacLean/etc. fans (perhaps I am one). But let’s be honest, Eugene O’Neil, Arthur Miller, etc. during this phase of American theaters are not only simple plots but they are DOWNERS. YES, their characters are wonderfully three dimensional and intriguing to all theater goers, but, if they were really honest they’d say, “Nothing really happened.” They don’t care about the characters after the show, because, despite getting to understand the character, or perhaps because the DO, there is no plot for the character to DRIVE them to change themselves.

    I believe, the majority of the public would much rather attend a play that has an interesting plot and relatively flat characters than the opposite. (See the run of Mousetrap in London as a perfect example)

  8. red says:

    My interest is rarely in what the majority of the public would like. I honestly don’t care. I like it if it’s good. Period. You have never commented here before, so you might want to click around, if you’re interested.

    I have never found popular opinion to be all that illuminating, actually, and don’t think it’s indicative of anything. Mitch Albom and Nicholas Sparks are repeatedly on the NY Times Bestseller list, for example, and they write pandering trash. If those are best sellers, then I certainly will feel free to disregard what “most people” think, in regards to literature. Some of the best literature in the world would be considered a “downer” – Hamlet, King Lear, Moby Dick, Great Gatsby – not a happy ending among them, but I consider that to be an accurate description of those works rather than a criticism.

    God bless Eugene O’Neill for being a “downer” – he told the truth as he saw it, which is all that any artist can do. We’ve also got Noel Coward and Philip Barry, Neil Simon, Terrence McNally, and more for lighter fare – they’re also awesome – so there’s something out there for everyone. John Patrick Shanley, Tracy Letts (another playwright who writes “downers”), Brian Friel, Martin McDonough (yeah, big downer dude there) – Tony Kushner – and then the giants of our American tradition – Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, William Inge, Tennessee Williams … each one following their own star, and each one providing something different. But they’re all marvelous. I prefer some over others, but that’s the way it goes with personal taste.

    And of course it’s a self-serving comment. Tennessee Williams was an artist. An artist can only serve himself!

    I dislike the insinuation in your comment that those who profess love for these playwrights are somehow not being honest. “If they were really honest …” Presume much? What a condescending superior attitude!

    Many of us on this planet (and in this comment thread) prefer good character to plot – and yeah, we are being “honest” about our preferences.

  9. red says:

    Also – why don’t you drop the sneer in your anonymous moniker? It doesn’t serve conversation, at least not on a site like mine, which is eclectic and friendly.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.