A little bit of storytelling lingo for you today: I’ve been thinking a lot recently about MacGuffins. Especially with the summer movie season coming and giving us the return of Indiana Jones, the ultimate MacGuffin hunter. MacGuffins are things, devices, that are pursued in a story – but they’re really not what the story’s about. They’re a misdirect. Like the Holy Grail, or the Ark of the Covenant. It doesn’t matter what’s being sought, just that it is and that it sets up the conflict. Indiana wants the Ark, so do Nazis. Instant conflict! We never watched those movies to find the Ark, we watched it to follow Harrison Ford as he whipped his way through his enemies, to see whether he got together with Karen Allen (which apparently, he did), how he got out of that snake pit. Which is why I forgive the next Indiana Jones movie its horrible title — Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I don’t care what MacGuffin they thought up this time, I’m just gonna enjoy the ride.
p.s. Happy Mother’s Day! (I would have written something more Mother’s Day appropriate, but come to think of it, I think my mom would have approved of my Indiana Jones dissertation. )