The best one is the Maltese Falcon, "the stuff dreams are made of." The best part is that Sam doesn't really care about it; it's just a means to an end for him, giving him an edge on everyone else.
Regarding fridging, while kind of bad, it also kind of works as a traumatic event for a character arc. Expanding a bit, is it still fridging if in war films where a soldier starts talking about his girl back home, dog, blah blah, purely to deepen the impact of their death on their comrades later?
From my understanding, fridging is mostly a negative trope when the fridged woman has little to no character development beyond simply inspiring the hero to go on his journey. If she were to be well developed as a character (hopes, dreams, fears, conflict, etc) and *then* die, I (personally) wouldn’t consider it bad either. As for the war story, I’d say it doesn’t quite qualify as fridging, as by discussing his life back home, he’s showing some dimension to his comrades.
interesting video. I usually tend to try and avoid full on McGuffins that are so handwaved that they incidentally mean nothing but are only used to drive the plot forward. It's good to flesh out the plot devices more, but does that argue the goal of the story is no longer considered a McGuffin? Or has the term been more widely accepted to simply mean anything that drives the plot regardless of actual function (or lack thereof)?
That's a good question. Is there a point where a MacGuffin becomes too functionally important to be a MacGuffin? It would be hard to know where that point is... 🤔
@WorldAnvil I personally feel like calling it a McGuffin is basically a way of saying that isn't very functional at all, or what it claims to do doesn't make any sense, but I know the term has been stretched over time. By broadening the scope of what McGuffin means, it basically creates the theory that there is always a McGuffin in everything 😅
So anime Dracula going on a country wide slaughter because his wife was burned to death is a no no? I don’t see the problem here. Reverse the roles, still don’t see a difference.
The best one is the Maltese Falcon, "the stuff dreams are made of." The best part is that Sam doesn't really care about it; it's just a means to an end for him, giving him an edge on everyone else.
My favourite McGuffin is R2D2! George Lucas himself calls him a McGuffin and it makes total sense...
Though wouldn't the McGuffin actually be the plans for the death star that he was carrying?
It's a MacGuffin with a MacGuffin! MacGuffinception!
the maltese falcon, the mutant cure, pulp fiction suitcase, titanic necklace of course
The Heart of the Ocean! 💙
GREAT video! Educational as always!!!
Yay! Thank you!
Appreciate the shoutout to Gail "the Bear" Simone! Baby Yoda/Grogu is a fave recent MacGuffin! Also, love your hair, it's so red!
All hail the Groguffin! 💖
Excellent examples and solid advise!
Thank you!
Since it's that time if year, the star from Wakko's Wish would be my favourite MacGuffin.
The Exit Visas from "Casablanca!" Greatest! Movie! Ever!
Let's go with a classic: The Maltese Falcon.
Regarding fridging, while kind of bad, it also kind of works as a traumatic event for a character arc. Expanding a bit, is it still fridging if in war films where a soldier starts talking about his girl back home, dog, blah blah, purely to deepen the impact of their death on their comrades later?
From my understanding, fridging is mostly a negative trope when the fridged woman has little to no character development beyond simply inspiring the hero to go on his journey. If she were to be well developed as a character (hopes, dreams, fears, conflict, etc) and *then* die, I (personally) wouldn’t consider it bad either.
As for the war story, I’d say it doesn’t quite qualify as fridging, as by discussing his life back home, he’s showing some dimension to his comrades.
I like The Drinker's term for a bad MacGuffin, which is calls a magic bullshit device.
John Wick uses Fridging...
IS Hairy Cheese a MacGuffin?
Muenster with a Mustache
Swiss with a wig
Brie with a beard
All valuable McGuffins
The Nine Pieces of Eight in Pirates of the Caribbean
interesting video. I usually tend to try and avoid full on McGuffins that are so handwaved that they incidentally mean nothing but are only used to drive the plot forward. It's good to flesh out the plot devices more, but does that argue the goal of the story is no longer considered a McGuffin? Or has the term been more widely accepted to simply mean anything that drives the plot regardless of actual function (or lack thereof)?
That's a good question. Is there a point where a MacGuffin becomes too functionally important to be a MacGuffin? It would be hard to know where that point is... 🤔
@WorldAnvil I personally feel like calling it a McGuffin is basically a way of saying that isn't very functional at all, or what it claims to do doesn't make any sense, but I know the term has been stretched over time. By broadening the scope of what McGuffin means, it basically creates the theory that there is always a McGuffin in everything 😅
So anime Dracula going on a country wide slaughter because his wife was burned to death is a no no? I don’t see the problem here. Reverse the roles, still don’t see a difference.