Jan

31

There was a Spencer Tracy movie on this evening: 1954's "Bad Day at Black Rock".

Besides being engaging in regards to prejudice against japanese americans during wwii in the USA, there was a really good line:

"A man is defined by what makes him angry".

T.K Marks replies:

Having never seen the film I don't know the context in which it was used, though it would certainly appear able to stand alone almost anywhere. A great, informative line.

Come to think of it though, the consequences of it's use remind one of a fundamental principle of dramaturgy.

That is, if a gun is shown on stage in Act 1, no matter how fleetingly or incidentally, that gun should be used before the curtain comes down on Act 3.

Or else the audience has been meaninglessly distracked by its appearance in the first place.

Similarly, I would imagine the same precept would extend from stage to screen. That is, if a character says early on that, "A man is defined by what makes him angry," then somebody at some point is going to "express" themselves in a most unabashed fashion.

It's almost guaranteed. The forces of proper structure would be cross otherwise.


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