This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Rename launched as Halfway Plot Switch: From YKTTW
discussion moved here by housekeeping
Q: Is this just an egregious form of McGuffin?
Um, I'm not sure you understood the definition of a McGuffin. A McGuffin is the the thing that drives a plot without being particularly important in itself. The uranium in Notorious was a McGuffin - it was the single reason that everybody did everything in the movie, but as Roger Ebert pointed out you could substitute almost anything for uranium: maps, codes, diamonds, what have you. As Hitchcock put it, the McGuffin is not important, what is important is how the characters feel about it.
So how is that the same thing as a plot which completely changes into something else halfway through?
Document N: I don't know, but I've seen that definition of McGuffin given elsewhere. I don't remember where, but I'm pretty sure it was more high-profile than just a forum post, so Q might've encountered it too.
Darmok: Would the movie Full Metal Jacket count?
Thanks for spoiling Grindhouse/Death-Proof there, asshats. - Craw
Passerby: Would Man of the Year count under this? It started off as comedy/satire, then halfway through turned into a conspiracy "thriller"
Big T: Cummon, Craw. Let's play nice. Fix it and move on. No need to add another word to the profanity filter... There isn't one here, I just have one on my computer.
