Thursday, January 24, 2008

Not another former-spouses team saving the world from disaster!

I'm beginning to think that it's some unwritten prerequisite for disaster movies! Enough already! How many disaster movies have you seen where the two scientific experts called in on the disaster (man-made or otherwise -- usually the former) are ex-spouses? I tuned in to the SF channel after an especially long day, thinking a disaster flick would be okay if I'm working on the lap top while I'm watching. Then she says, "We're not married anymore, remember," to the other scientist and I yelled at the TV in protest. It's as bad as large mutated (fill in the blank) movies. How are these done-to-death themes still getting produced, viewed and, presumably, making money?

Okay, I'm done ranting. I feel much better now. :)

2 comments:

Linda C. McCabe said...

Ann,

The convention of former lovers/former spouses having to work together when they don't want to has built in conflict. It allows the writer to have the ability to throw in nasty baggage for back story at a flagging point in the drama.

However, anything that has been overused to the point of being trite should be avoided. Or done in such a new innovative manner that you forget how much you disliked the premise at the onset.

BTW, you should check out this post:

http://www.quidplura.com/?p=53

Jeff Sypeck actually calls for giant scorpions serving as a steed for Charlemagne.

I think you'll enjoy the tongue in cheek suggestion for the Sci Fi channel.

Linda

Ann Wilkes said...

Linda,
Yeah, I get the reason they use the device. I've just had enough. Enjoyed Jeff's post. Thanks.