You may remember this comic strip:
Linus is watching television. His older sister, Lucy, walks up and asks what he is watching.
He says "Citizen Kane."
She says that she has seen it "about ten times."
Linus tells her that he has never seen it before.
Lucy turns to walk away. As she leaves she lets drop what "Rosebud" means.
Linus's response?
"AAUGH!!"
I saw this "Classic Peanuts" strip in my Sunday newspaper. I was reminded of it again this week when I was reading a comment that one of my students had made in an essay about a movie that I have seen many times. The student wrote about having been in suspense ("edge of seat") during the movie and being "shocked" and "surprised" by the ending.
I was delighted that the student had enjoyed the movie.
And I was reminded of the need to be careful when I talk about movies and books to my students and other audiences (e.g., book discussion groups).
Some people -- many people -- don't want to know how it ends. They will put their fingers in their ears, shouting, "Don't tell me!"
On the other hand, I'm one of those people -- probably a minority -- who have no objection to knowing in advance who lives or dies or walks away together into the sunset.
Not only do I have no objection, sometimes I really want to know how it ends. No Country for Old Men? Yes, I cared about the characters. The Usual Suspects? I really enjoyed but could wait for the twist. Am I saying too much by revealing there was a twist?
If the level of tension is particularly high I like to know that the characters I'm invested in will survive -- or, at least, die well. In bookstores, I sometimes pick up a book, read the blurb, and flip to the last page.
I don't mind knowing the ending because I enjoy seeing how the writer gets there. But that's me. I need to remember that many other people don't want to know how it -- the movie or the book -- ends.
I need to keep my student and dear Linus in mind as I work on my historical thriller. My goal should be to write a book that an adult Lucy can read "about 10 times" and still enjoy. . . and that an adult Linus will close feeling satisfied that "The End" was worth the wait.
2 comments:
Totally. I do NOT want to be told that there is a twist ending.
Just the revelation that the reviewer or whoever was blown away by the twist ending is more than I ever want to hear. Now I'm waiting for it, expecting it. Knowing there will be a supposed surprise.
NO NO DON'T TELL ME THERE'S A TWIST AT THE END.
The only exception was one time a friend told me about a movie and the twist in the identities of two characters at the end. It turned out there WASN'T one. She had just misunderstood what was going on.
Hi Susan,
I will do my best not to give away anything here on Type M.
As you might imagine, I like to know there is a twist so that I can try to guess what it will be.
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