[Sliver]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I'm guessing you're talking about the Polti theory that there are 36 or so plots that every drama can be classified into, or a similar system? Same with Bookner's seven plots. I can accept that, but I think it's a widely misused idea. Let's separate out classification vs. differentiation. I can classify every animal into one of 36 different kinds of animals (phyla). But it's completely arbitrary to say that this is the only meaningful classification; it's just an easy number to get your head around. If I'm talking about animals, what's to say that phyla is a more meaningful classification than class, order, family, genus, species, or sub species. Just because you can classify all plots into these categories doesn't mean that plots are sufficiently described by the classifications.

Take an example like, say, No Country for Old Men; if you're using Polti's classification (and I admit, I had to look it up, it's been years since I've used it) it would probably fit the 'pursuit' category. But if someone asks me what NCFOM is about and I say, 'pursuit', I've done a pretty crappy job of describing it. And it also means that you don't feel a need to draw a distinction between, say NCFOM and say, North by Northwest, and about a thousand other movies. So we need to delve deeper. And I can say it's a movie about a villain pursuing a hero and a lawman pursuing the villain. This is a classification the plot fits into, but it still does not adequately describe the plot; not even close.

Or take Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now; based on the same story, but do they share the same plot? The protagonist killing Kurtz vs. the protagonist simply observing his death is a massive plot difference that completely changes the meanings of the two works.

I know that classification systems are useful for analysis and I've been on that side of it too. But don't confuse two stories fitting into the same plot classification as being the same as two stories sharing the same plot.

Fair enough. I concede that it can be argued both ways. My 23 year-old self would probably want to debate this, but my 33 year-old self is more like "meh."