Sigh.
OKAY, so strap yourselves in, y’all.
I went to go see this movie for a second time because I wanted to check if the storyform I identified held up, and also because (I’ll admit it) this movie has been stuck in my head and is currently driving me completely insane. I can’t stop thinking about it, ranting about it, etc, only moreso now because the storyform I identified did. not. match. the movie.
It was CLOSE. The domains all lined up: MC in Universe, IC in Mind, OS in Psychology, RS in physics, as did the progressions of the OS and RS throughlines. But the progressions of the remaining throughlines did not. In the storyform I identified, the MC throughline is Present-Past-Future-Progress. The movie is clearly Present-Future-Past-Progress. Similarly, the IC throughline I identified went Memory-Preconscious-Subconscious-Conscious. The movie’s progression is Conscious-Preconscious-Subconscious-Memory.
So either the movie was deviating from the correct storyform order, or I had identified the wrong storyform. In cases such as these, I tend to presume the error is on my part. I cleared the storyform and pinned down the progressions in the order that they happen in the film. Easy peasy! However, if you lock in all of the progressions and then then try to pick Temptation and Conscience as the Problem and Solution pairing of the OS (as we did before), you will find that they are no longer available.
So fine. Let’s try Temptation and Conscience as Symptom and Response of the OS instead. That seems plausible, as the characters are talking about Temptation and Conscience throughout the film, indicating that they are aware that these issues are causing conflict in their lives. Doing so also selects Temptation and Conscience as the Symptom and Response of Elio’s throughline. This too makes sense. Elio believes the solution to his problem involves overcoming his fear to speak his mind to Oliver, just as the knight does to the lady in the fable. He so but finds his problem still unresolved.
So far, so good. Let’s lock in those benchmarks we liked; Progress for Elio instead of The Past. But wait; if we do that, now the Story Judgement is implied bad! Somehow, the judgement became linked to the other storyform choices, which would rule out that ambiguous ending that the movie clearly has. And if we look up in the corner at the MC Problem-solving style, we’ll see why: Elio is now implied to be a linear thinker.
But in the movie, he’s definitely holistic. Take the scene where Elio masturbates with the peach both to assuage his horniness AND because he misses Oliver. A linear thinker would NEVER do this. It would make no sense. A linear thinker would identify a problem (I miss Oliver) and then go find the solution (pursue Oliver). Or, (I’m horny with nobody around) and (therefore, I shall screw a peach!) But a linear thinker wouldn’t see masturbating with a peach as a way to solve both of these problems at once. Elio, however, does. He decides to masturbate with a peach as a way of bringing his desire and loneliness in check without directly having to seek out Oliver to do so. And then, When Oliver comes in and discovers what Elio has done, why would Elio stop Oliver from eating the peach if he were a linear thinker? He’d have satisfied both of the initial desires that motivated him to masturbate with the peach: he’d have won Oliver’s attention, and he’d be sexually gratified. In other words, he’d be happy as a clam. But not our Elio. He’s mortified and distraught. He tries to stop Oliver from eating the peach instead, because, ‘yes, he wants me now, but not the way I wanted him to!’ His initial purposes were met, but not the fulfillment he was chasing all along. And thus, he breaks down in tears. Conclusion? Elio= holistic thinker (go ahead, fight me on this! I thirst for battle!).
So fine. Clear the storyform again, selecting for a holistic MC, and then plug in the appropriate progressions!
Except . . . you can’t. Those progressions imply a linear MC. You cannot have those 4 throughline progressions AND a holistic MC. It’s one or the other. The movie, however, has both, implying a storyform combination not allowed by the software (or the theory).
Ergo, this movie is broken.
(More to follow, including my guess as to what the closest possible storyform actually is.)
