“Slap in the face”
One thing about teaching: It’s a great way to learn things.
This recent 1-week course I taught, “Screenplay Universe: The External and Internal Worlds,” is a case in point. The study script was American Beauty, a movie I thought I knew pretty well, but after we spent 5 class sessions digging into it, I think we all, myself included, came away with a far deeper understanding of the story and its characters.
I’ll probably bust out some of those insights over the next few weeks, but one thing came up on the Discussion Boards. One of my students Terry posted this analysis of the moment when Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper) kisses Lester (Kevin Spacey), then Lester pushes him away:
“The Colonel finally has the chance to take action and fulfill his need to be validated. When he is rejected, he is slapped in the face with the harsh reality that he will return to his dark, lonely world, unloved, untouched. Being a well-trained man of strong conviction, he reacts with aggression. The audience is then slapped in the face with a shocking course of action- Lester is killed.”
Interesting take. But I zeroed in on Terry’s use of slap in the face. And I was suddenly struck by this thought: There are a lot of moments in American Beauty where one character provides a (symbolic) slap in the face to another character.
* Brad (Lester’s boss) forcing Lester to write up a job description after Lester has been a faithful employee for 14 years
* Carolyn (Lester’s wife played Annette Bening) cutting off Lester when discussing his feelings re the job description affair by telling him he has to write it
* In Act One when Lester reaches out to Jane (Lester’s daughter played bt Thora Burch), she tells him that he can’t expect to be her best friend after he’s been so absent in her life
* Brad reads Lester’s job description, which completely derides his gig, then Lester threatens to charge Brad with sexual harassment unless Brad gives Lester a great severance deal
* Lester smoking pot and working out shocks Carolyn
* Lester arguing he can “whack off” anytime shocks Carolyn even more
* Lester buying his dream car is another shock to Carolyn
* Lester flinging the plate of asparagus at the wall shuts up Carolyn’s tirade
* Carolyn rejects Lester’s romantic overture, more concerned about spilling beer on the couch
* Lester busts Carolyn and Buddy (Carolyn’s lover played by Peter Gallagher) at Mr. Smiley’s drive-thru
* Lester telling Jane she’d better watch out or she’ll turn out like a “real bitch” like her mother
Then of course, Carolyn slapping her own face (after she fails to sell the house), Carolyn slapping Jane, and the aforementioned symbolic slap by Lester vs. the Colonel.
It’s almost like the movie is comprised by a series of ‘slap in the faces’, these moments where characters are shocked by behavior / actions of other characters.
Makes me wonder if that’s another potential angle to look at in terms of crafting a story. Could make sense because each of these beats carries with it conflict and that is a critical component in creating drama.
Do movies almost by nature have slaps in the face?
Is it helpful from a story-crafting perspective to look to create slap in the face beats?
Interesting…
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