Little Round Mirrors

My screenwriter/teacher friend John has an interesting project going: Little Round Mirrors, a blog about watching his immense DVD collection in alphabetical order and reporting on the experience.

I'm enjoying getting to re-experience some favorite old films through his eyes. I have a generally good-to-excellent memory, except when I have a terrible memory, and I've been noticing lately that my recall of films and TV shows is...not so great. "Oh, is that the one where the guy goes into a coma and believes he's wearing a rabbit suit?" I might ask when somebody mentions a film title. And the reply, more often than not, is, "Uh, no. It was a girl, and it wasn't a coma but a trip to rehab, and she wore a donkey mascot suit. NOT a rabbit."

Details, details. If I can create a defense, or at least a reasonable theory for my lapses, I think it has to do with structure: while I may not get every detail of the plot right (or, OK, any detail of the plot), I can generally remember or discuss the structure of the film. Three-act, restorative, hero's journey, etc. etc. My brain needs a way to connect it to the way the script's been formed, to the writing itself. Other times, it's an image, a line of dialogue, or the way a character interacts with the world. All elements that would work their way into a script.

John's alphabetical system (there are rules; see the blog for more details) ensures even treatment of the collection. I can try to guess what's coming next ("Better Off Dead" was the latest), even as I have no idea what's next. Taxonomy is immensely appealing: my favorite local radio station, 92.3 WTTS, is in the middle of their annual World-Class Rock A-Z program. Today they're into the "E" section of the music library, and "Eyes Without a Face" by Billy Idol accompanied my drive home. I have a feeling the song appeared in at least one of the '80s movies from John's collection. I couldn't tell you which one, but I bet he could.