Comments on: That Mid-Point Thing

By: Karel FG Segers

Karel FG Segers — Sun, 23 Feb 2020 01:02:41 +0000

In reply to C Brown.

Thanks, C. Sorry about the distress caused. I’m not a native English speaker, and I’m equally allergic to similar mistakes, so I am grateful for the correction.

On the other hand, the piece is 12 years old, and we’ve grown older and wiser. If you want more and better examples, perhaps check out my YouTube channel where I have a few videos about the topic: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheStoryDepartment.

The Queen is indeed cruel and obnoxious, but if you rewatch the film, you will see that her transformation is visible after the encounter with the stag.

It went over your head, and that’s fine. Symbolism is not supposed to be noticed, or it would pull you out of the story.

I did rewatch the film only recently, and I believe it holds up very well. Peter Morgan is a rare talent.

By: C Brown

C Brown — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 22:27:52 +0000

Do proofread your writing in the future. It’s distressing to read a piece by a “Writer” who thinks that a deer is a dear. Otherwise interesting. Not great examples though. The episode with the DEER in The Queen certainly went right over my head when I saw that film. I would never have noticed much of a reversal or epiphany in that sequence without it being pointed out. The Queen is such an obnoxious and heartlessly cruel woman, it doesn’t really appear that the dead stag changed her much. A little too recherché, that one. The character did not really act on the reversal.

By: dpg

dpg — Sat, 07 Apr 2018 22:18:08 +0000

Lots to think about.

The MPR in “The Queen” is an instance of what I like to call a moment of emotional truth, a moment of emotionally charged private insight (internal) or a confession (external) to a significant other. It can be subtle, understated as in “The Queen”. Or overt, blurted out as in “An Officer and a Gentleman” when Zack breaks down and confesses to the Sgt. Foley, why he won’t, why he can’t quit by submitting his “DOC” (Drop on Request) .

Another feature I have discerned in the MPR is that it can entail a reversal in the central personal relationship in the story. If it’s been negative in the 1st half of the story, it shifts to positive. As in “Chinatown” where the adversarial relationship between Jake Gittes and Evelyn Mulray begins to reverse when she hires him to find out who killed her husband.

If it’s been a positive in the 1st half, then it shifts to negative. As in “Master and Commander” when Captain Aubrey refuses to linger at the Galapogos Islands so his friend, the surgeon Mautrin,
can investigate the wondrous fauna. Their relationship is ruptured until Captain Aubrey must return to the Galapagos so Mautrin can be operated on for his wound.

By: Glenn Fraser

Glenn Fraser — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 05:18:09 +0000

Thanks, chum! I’m in the middle of a new work and needed a rethink on my mid-point. Just the curry I needed :D