Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Get your things

Sometimes a really small bit of dialog on a TV show or movie gets under my skin, something that passed the writers and everyone else on the production chain, but makes no sense and makes the character look like, well, like they are reciting written dialog rather than actually speaking. Latest example, from "Swingtown"(shut up, it's a slow summer for TV, I will watch practically anything that doesn't involve people thinking they can dance or wondering if they are smarter than a fifth grader):

Bruce finds his wife Susan has gone to a party without him, a party he told her he didn't want her to go to. He shows up and tells her to "get your things. You're coming home with me." He repeats this again a few sentences later. "Get your things." Susan refuses, and logically, what else is she to do? She has no "things." It's summer, she is wearing a dress and would have no need for a coat or wrap or hat or umbrella. She is clutching a small gold purse, so there is no bag for her to gather from the host's bedroom. She and Bruce live across the street, for god's sake, so there are no car keys to search for. What are these "things" of which he speaks?

Obviously, it's just a cliched line that the writers used to convey his anger and his need to control her. But it makes no sense, and I don't believe for one minute that Bruce the character would naturally say it. "Let's go, you're coming home with me" - yes. "Get your things" - absolutely not.

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