Comments on: Don’t Compete With Your Own Viewers Over Twists and Mysteries

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:26:43 +0000

In reply to Fraser.

Excellent point, Fraser. Obviously, Hitchcock’s views about “MacGuffins” have become a key aspect of film history, but I never really thought of it from this specific angle before.

By: Fraser

Fraser — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:03:24 +0000

I’m reminded of Alfred Hitchcock, who said he preferred to make his reveals before the end of the film. That way, even if the audience guessed it or didn’t guess it but hated it, no problem — he could get onto the cool parts of the tale.
In North by Northwest, for example, the spy stuff is resolved before the ending (though Hitch being Hitched, we don’t hear the explanation) so he can concentrate on Cary Grant struggling to save Eva Marie Saint from the killers on top of Mt. Rushmore.

By: Riccardo N

Riccardo N — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 13:47:54 +0000

I totally subscribe, Brian.
I think about Lost: it was the mother of all twist business. Since it was mostly made out of twists, people started to post guesses about the final explanation all around the web, and, of course, somebody likely guessed what was in the authors’ minds right. Or, the other way round, whenever the authors came up with something, it had already been explored by someone, so they had to go for something nobody had thought already.
And, rest assured, if nobody among millions of viewer has envisioned the same idea, there is a huge chance it may suck, just plain statistics.

By: Brian Perler

Brian Perler — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 23:50:01 +0000

Well then, I’ll await that installment. 🙂

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 22:20:21 +0000

An upcoming installment is basically that, “Having a plan is good, but not if your plan is bad.”

By: Brian Perler

Brian Perler — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 17:25:58 +0000

I suppose the biggest irony of the HIMYM ending is that it probably would have been better off if they had gone the Westworld route. It seemed that pretty much everyone had figured out during the season that the mother would pass away, freeing Ted to end up with Robin. Had they changed the ending, they actually COULD have surprised the audience, AND they would have given an ending that more people liked. (Heck, it seemed at that point that the twist was so expected, that it wasn’t even a twist any more. The real twist would have been doing ANYTHING ELSE.)

(I suppose that could be a clause in the Cronin Theory: if people figure out the twist, and they HATE it… THEN it might be okay to change it.)

By: Martin Gray

Martin Gray — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 15:19:40 +0000

And of course, comics have been harmed by changing endings because readers guessed them, such as Armageddon 2000.

By: Cletus Ganschow

Cletus Ganschow — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 15:15:47 +0000

What I want to know is this:

Are there any examples of the writers using audience guesses to influence their own writing?

Some of the theories and ideas regarding Lost were significantly better and more thoughtful than what the show runners ultimately gave us. Game of Thrones also had some really great, “Wow, I never thought of that, but it makes a lot of sense” predictions too.

By: Toasty

Toasty — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 14:57:10 +0000

In the eventual history of Pop Culture References, this will be the first of many mentions by Brian on how self-destructive Bays and Thomas were with their series.