Movie Plot Paradigms and Life

Movie Plot Paradigms (MPPs)

Your life as a movie? Ever thought of such a thing?

(From time to time, I have thought of my life as a sitcom.)

But be careful for what you wish for. Not all movie plots are happy ones.

Actually, there are only two MPPs in the world – Eastern and Western.

Western movie plots (WMPs) go like this:

Boy meets girl (one or more of them falls in love with the other one)

Boy loses girl (or some variation of this – always some problem to fix)

Boy gets girl (depending on your generation – ATALHEA)

Eastern movie plots (EMPs) go like this:

Boy meets girl (one or more of them falls in love with the other one)

Boy never gets girl (through some prohibitive moral or political action)

Everybody dies (EBD – through some fatalistic, predetermined ritual)

Think about it.

Every movie ever made has followed one of these formats in some form or fashion. WMP or EMP.

Musicals are like this too. It is just that everyone sings and dances the plot.

(Mostly WMPs – Think of American musicals and Bollywood movies)

Martial arts films, Westerns, and Action films do the same, except they fight.

(EMPs – Sin City, the Blind Swordsman, and movies by Tom Cruise)

Science fiction? (Don’t ask – replace one of the characters with a monster)

(Trek – WMPs. Horror, and Battlestar Galactica – EMPs)

Documentaries? (Replace one of more of the characters with an issue)

(TV docs – WMPs. Michael Moore’s docs – EMPs)

Have you ever thought of your life as a movie plot? WMP or EMP?

Have you ever thought of your work, or your hobby as a movie plot?

Pick some other paradigm in life, and play it as a movie plot.

Economics? Politics? Business? Sports? Engineering? Computing?

(Economics? Engineering? Its all EMPs)

(Western politics – WMPs, Eastern politics – EMPs)

(Sports? Western – WMPs, European – EMPs)

Computing is a good one to look at (considering we are Mac fans here).

Which MPP do you think most journalists use for the Mac?

You are correct – Many use the EMPs on the Mac. (Except Dvorak).

Here is how most journalists see the Mac – EMPs:

Boy meets Mac (could it be love?)

Microsoft is better

Apple dies and TALHEA

Here is our version of the Mac, in excellent WMP fashion:

Boy meets and love the Mac

Microsoft (or the RIAA) tries to Intervene

Boy gets Mac and Microsoft dies

John Dvorak’s version:

Boy meets and likes the Mac

Microsoft takes over the world

Everybody dies

So? How is your computing experience? WMP or EMP?

Your life as a movie? Already written? Can’t change a thing?

Nah. Life is still what you make it. Make it a WMP, not an EMP.

EMPs are just for entertainment. Keep EMPs only for the movies and out of your life.

Regards,
Roger Born
“Always drink upstream from the herd”