BQB here.
Have you ever had a scene appear in your head so vividly and yet, you’re not able to come up with the words that do it justice?
Have you ever changed your story from what was in your head to what will work on paper?
Here’s an example that popped out at me while I was watching Fast and Furious 7. Yes, I’m going to use an example from a car racing movie to discuss writing. Shut up.
SPOILERS.
OK THE SETUP – Lettie, an amnesiac, remembers she used to be married to Vin Diesel aka Dom.
LETTIE: Why didn’t you tell me we were married?
DOM: Because you can’t tell someone that they love you.
OK, so what’s the problem?
“They” is a word used to refer to multiple people – plural.
EXAMPLE:
PETE: “Fred, did those hula dancing penguins steal my cheese sandwich?”
FRED: “Indeed they did, Pete but don’t worry. They’ll bring it back.”
Yet, a limit of the language, when you talk about “someone” or a singular individual where the sex isn’t stated in the sentence, your main option is to use “they.”
EXAMPLE:
PETE: I can’t believe someone stole my cheese sandwich.
FRED: Don’t worry, Fred. They’ll bring it back.
See? In this example, Fred has no idea who, how many, and the gender(s) of the culprit(s). “They’ll” becomes an option, though I have no idea if it is proper or if it is just something that has become common in our vernacular.
What say you, fellow scribes? What should Dom have said?
DOM: You can’t tell someone she loves you.
ANALYSIS: Eh, it’s ok but Lettie is right there holding him. Seems odd to refer to her in the third person.
DOM (to Lettie): I couldn’t tell you that you love me.
ANALYSIS: Well, that becomes a whole other kettle of fish, doesn’t it? Was he unable to tell Lettie she loves him because he wanted her to figure it out on her own or because he was choked up about the issue or some other reason?
So that brings us back to:
DOM: You can’t tell someone that they love you.
Ahh! I get it. That great free-thinking mind inside Vin Diesel’s brain has come up with quite a concept. The takeaway for the viewer is that Dom did not tell Lettie that they were married because Lettie, who remembers none of the past, would feel obligated to pretend to love Dom and Dom didn’t want that. He wanted her to fall in love with him naturally like she did in the past.
And you thought the seventh sequel to a special effects saturated car chase movie couldn’t be deep and meaningful…for shame!
Bookshelf Battle 