What Does This Thing Do?


I've been interested in film for some time, now. I remember how my dad's truck had a dvd player with a small tv built into the roof, and I made liberal use of it. I would hear lines from these films and repeat them under my breath over and over again, and only later in life have I realized that it was because I was studying them. They resonated with me, and I needed to understand them, so I memorized them and repeated them until I did.

Talking about film came later for me, and writing came even later than that. Discovering youtube channels like the Nostalgia Critic and Your Movie Sucks as a young teen got me interested in film discourse beyond "I liked it," and "I didn't like it." In high school, I started to take film classes and writing papers about films made me realize that I love to articulate my opinions on film in the written word. 

Before I go on, why did I title this the Weekly McGuffin? What is a McGuffin? 

McGuffin, a term coined by Angus Macphail and popularized by Alfred Hitchcock, means an object in a movie that serves no purpose in the narrative other than to drive the plot. Even if it has a supposed purpose in the story, it's never used for that purpose, and is thus only relevant because the characters want it.

I have decided to name this blog after this writing convention because I have no idea what this thing is or what it will do, but I know that I want it. 

I know that I want to continue writing, and while the plot says that if I do so I will do well in a class I don't know that that's what it's really for. What I hope is that this blog will teach me how to better think and write about film. I invite whomever reads this to come along with me on this quest for the McGuffin.


Let us begin.

Comments

  1. Meg KordikSeptember 9, 2022 at 12:26 PM

    You had one of those DVD players in your car as a kid?! Man, you lucky duck!! I always wanted one of those.
    Also, I love that you started exploring other people's opinions on film via Youtube! My favorite film-discussion Youtube channel is called Cinema Therapy, where a filmmaker and a licensed therapist sit down to watch movies together and discuss. If you like those kinds of channels I definitely recommend it!
    I love the thoughtfulness you put into your blog title. Having the context for it is nice, but either way it has a really nice ring to it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. dr. kyburzSeptember 29, 2022 at 9:54 AM

    LOVE the Hitch ref as title! Looking forward to more!

    ReplyDelete

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