I was wondering about Home Alone the other day and whether it had a complete storyform. It’s certainly a favorite at our house and has some great storytelling. What would the story engine settings be for the storyform you came up with?
I haven’t sat down to figure out a storyform for it, but this is my first impression of what everyone is doing in all of the various Domains (keeping in mind I’ve not narrowed them down to any specific throughlines).
Situation - Kevin is the only one home alone, but he’s not the only one it’s a problem for. It causes a problem for the mom because her child is home alone because she forgot about him. It causes the rest of the family to miss out on vacation. It prevents the Wet Bandits from being able to walk in and take what they want. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem for Kevin. He seems to handle it pretty well other than one moment when he hides under a blanket.
Activity - Kevin is booby trapping his house to protect it from the Wet Bandits. Again, not so much a problem for him. He’s pretty good at it. Just an activity he’s engaged in. I guess the Wet Bandits trying to get in and get his stuff would be the problematic activity causing him to do that. The mom is trying to return home to get back to her son, waiting for an available flight instead of going on vacation, taking a van with a polka band, making phone calls, etc. The family helps make a few calls, but otherwise seems to be doing their best to enjoy what bit of vacation they can while the mom is trying to get back (I remember them eating shrimp and watching It’s a Wonderful Life in French). An activity that ends up being a problem for the Wet Bandits is Marv’s calling card of plugging the sink and turning the water on. It let’s the police know every house they hit. But that’s not a whole throughline Activity.
Fixed Attitude - The family doesn’t seem to think much of Kevin. “You’re what the French call Les Incompetent” and “Look what you did, you little jerk.” But to be fair, he is a jerk. Kevin’s attitude toward the family causes them problems, their attitude causes him problems. Once the mom decides that Kevin is going to sleep upstairs, she doesn’t back down (as an aside, she is punishing Kevin by making him sleep in the attic with Fuller. But when Kevin complains about Fuller wetting the bed, she says Fuller can sleep elsewhere. If sleeping in the attic is a punishment for Kevin, why was Fuller sleeping in the attic? Because he’d wet the bed? Pretty harsh!). Kevin’s attitude that I think causes the biggest problem for him is that he wishes he’d never see his family again. The mom even has him repeat it as if to make sure he means it and that the audience knows it. The Wet Bandits are set on getting into the McCallister’s because it’s the best house on the block.
Manipulation - Kevin has a change in attitude about his family and whether he wants to see them again. It only seems to be a problem in that he doesn’t know how to get his family back. It doesn’t feel like a Manipulation throughline, but an exploration of a Fixed Attitude. The mom has trouble trying to convince people to let her on the flight or to rent her a car. I’m not sure how the family or the Wet Bandits would fit into this one.