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> How sure are we that these so-called title drops are what this article purports them to be What does the article purport them to be? Right at the top I see:

by latexr 2y ago

> How sure are we that these so-called title drops are what this article purports them to be What does the article purport them to be? Right at the top I see: > A title drop is when a character in a movie says the title of the movie they're in. That makes no distinction if the title or the script came first. The article does call out movies who do that in a cringe or obvious way (like Suicide Squad, which had prior art) but also includes movies where that is unavoidable, such as Barbie. More importantly, it doesn’t matter which came first. As soon as you make a line and a title the same, the line becomes a title drop. The audience sees the final product, not the process. > An analogy That analogy doesn’t work. Songs are typically repetitive and a few minutes long. Everyone expects them to name the title. A movie, on the other hand, is an experience that asks suspension of disbelief from you, it tries to engross you in its world over the course of multiple hours. When a character title drops, in a second you’re suddenly and forcefully pulled back from the illusion and reminded you’re watching a movie.

nkozyra 2y ago
> What does the article purport them to be? Right at the top I see: It seems to imply a concerted effort to mention the title of the movie in the script in a meta, fourth wall breaking sort of way. In some cases that's obviously true - Hot Tub Time Machine, Suicide Squad from their examples - but other times an untitled script just needs a title and it's plucked from the script. I think there's a distinction there, because the latter is less of an Easter Egg sort of thing and more "ok now we need a title."
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- latexr 2y ago
  > It seems to imply a concerted effort to mention the title of the movie in the script in a meta, fourth wall breaking sort of way. It makes zero difference to the movie watching experience if the script line came from the script or the other way around. While you’re watching the movie, the effect is exactly the same. So even if you took a line of dialog to make your title, it becomes a title drop nonetheless because the audience doesn’t know (nor should they care) which came first.
  - metabagel 2y ago
    I don’t think anyone would regard using Barbie’s name in the movie as a title drop.
    - latexr 2y ago
      The article does: > Unsurprisingly, movies named after one of their characters have an average of 24.7 title drops, more than twice as much as the usual 10.3. And this thread started exactly with the point of what the article considers title drops. The article also highlights the interesting case of “movies named after a character with single title drops”. I’m willing to bet that in those movies, if the name is proffered late enough in the runtime, it may feel like a title drop because the the audience suddenly becomes aware the name had never been said before. When the name is said all the time or once but too early (so you’ll be primed to expect it more often) then the effect is bound to be lessened.
  - nkozyra 2y ago
    > It makes zero difference to the movie watching experience if the script line came from the script or the other way around. I disagree; if it's a quote that serves the narrative and isn't jammed in as a reference it doesn't have the same effect as the meta examples. Less of a fourth wall break.
    - latexr 2y ago
      That’s just called good writing. You could decide on a title first then skilfully add it as a quote that servers the narrative. Again, as an audience member you don’t know¹, except when it’s glaringly bad. It’s the toupée fallacy. ¹ I hope it’s obvious I’m excluding cases where someone deliberately seeks behind-the-scenes information. We’re talking about having only the result of the work as context.
      - cgriswald 2y ago
        It’s like anything in film. The viewer can speculate how it was constructed based on evidence in the work itself. The writing divide is certainly not the only source of evidence. More generally we are not limited only to the film when trying to categorize based on this distinction. The distinction exists even if it is not always discernible. That said, I think trying to construct separate lists based on this distinction would be nearly impossible.
- darepublic 2y ago
  The movie "It" neither uses title drops, nor was the title plucked from the script.
jsbg 2y ago
> it doesn’t matter which came first imo it does matter and is the difference between cringe (sometimes intentional) and not
- latexr 2y ago
  It’s not the order of the writing that determines that, but the quality. Yes, the order can influence it, but it’s not the determining factor. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42062800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42062800

by latexr 2y ago

nkozyra 2y ago

> What does the article purport them to be? Right at the top I see: It seems to imply a concerted effort to mention the title of the movie in the script in a meta, fourth wall breaking sort of way. In some cases that's obviously true - Hot Tub Time Machine, Suicide Squad from their examples - but other times an untitled script just needs a title and it's plucked from the script. I think there's a distinction there, because the latter is less of an Easter Egg sort of thing and more "ok now we need a title."

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
latexr 2y ago
> It seems to imply a concerted effort to mention the title of the movie in the script in a meta, fourth wall breaking sort of way. It makes zero difference to the movie watching experience if the script line came from the script or the other way around. While you’re watching the movie, the effect is exactly the same. So even if you took a line of dialog to make your title, it becomes a title drop nonetheless because the audience doesn’t know (nor should they care) which came first.
- metabagel 2y ago
  I don’t think anyone would regard using Barbie’s name in the movie as a title drop.
  - latexr 2y ago
    The article does: > Unsurprisingly, movies named after one of their characters have an average of 24.7 title drops, more than twice as much as the usual 10.3. And this thread started exactly with the point of what the article considers title drops. The article also highlights the interesting case of “movies named after a character with single title drops”. I’m willing to bet that in those movies, if the name is proffered late enough in the runtime, it may feel like a title drop because the the audience suddenly becomes aware the name had never been said before. When the name is said all the time or once but too early (so you’ll be primed to expect it more often) then the effect is bound to be lessened.
- nkozyra 2y ago
  > It makes zero difference to the movie watching experience if the script line came from the script or the other way around. I disagree; if it's a quote that serves the narrative and isn't jammed in as a reference it doesn't have the same effect as the meta examples. Less of a fourth wall break.
  - latexr 2y ago
    That’s just called good writing. You could decide on a title first then skilfully add it as a quote that servers the narrative. Again, as an audience member you don’t know¹, except when it’s glaringly bad. It’s the toupée fallacy. ¹ I hope it’s obvious I’m excluding cases where someone deliberately seeks behind-the-scenes information. We’re talking about having only the result of the work as context.
    - cgriswald 2y ago
      It’s like anything in film. The viewer can speculate how it was constructed based on evidence in the work itself. The writing divide is certainly not the only source of evidence. More generally we are not limited only to the film when trying to categorize based on this distinction. The distinction exists even if it is not always discernible. That said, I think trying to construct separate lists based on this distinction would be nearly impossible.
darepublic 2y ago
The movie "It" neither uses title drops, nor was the title plucked from the script.

jsbg 2y ago

> it doesn’t matter which came first imo it does matter and is the difference between cringe (sometimes intentional) and not

latexr 2y ago
It’s not the order of the writing that determines that, but the quality. Yes, the order can influence it, but it’s not the determining factor. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42062800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42062800