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The story of religious fanaticism and its side effects on this week's Reign was bloody, but no more outlandish than usual. But the show did find one of my pet peeves, the convenient cliff. You know how it goes. The writers of the movie decide to make the fist fight between the hero and the villain or the car chase more exciting. So out of nowhere there is suddenly a cliff for someone to fall off or almost fall off. The worst offenders are like the first Indiana Jones movie when somebody is trying to push somebody else out of or off a moving car and suddenly without warning there is a cliff beside the road for them to fall off. Not just a steep slope to tumble down painfully but a cliff to plummet straight downward from. For general reference, it is abominable story telling to not at least let the audience know ahead of time there is a cliff in a near distance, even if the characters don't. You'd have a heck of a time passing such a thing off in print. Handsome Fred punched black-hearted Jocko again and again. But Jocko suddenly leg whipped Fred to the edge of the 100 foot cliff, which somehow I neglected to mention during this epic three-page fight. So why do we put up with it in movies and TV? The 1960s detective show Mannix added an additional treat. Not only would a car go off the cliff beside the road in episode after episode, but every one of the cars would blow in mid air long before hitting bottom.
Questions for you, if you've read this far. One: How close is the nearest dangerous cliff to where you live? Walking distance? A short drive (less than 10 minutes)? A medium drive (less than an hour)? A long drive (more than an hour)?
Question two: How likely is it that you would not be aware there was a significant change in elevation ahead, at your local cliff? You might not be aware of the cliff but you'd know the land/water ahead was a lot lower.
Question three: Do you enjoy driving on the edge of cliffs? How many times have you been on a horse or in your car with a sheer cliff immediately beside the road?
I'll give my answers in the comments.
Questions for you, if you've read this far. One: How close is the nearest dangerous cliff to where you live? Walking distance? A short drive (less than 10 minutes)? A medium drive (less than an hour)? A long drive (more than an hour)?
Question two: How likely is it that you would not be aware there was a significant change in elevation ahead, at your local cliff? You might not be aware of the cliff but you'd know the land/water ahead was a lot lower.
Question three: Do you enjoy driving on the edge of cliffs? How many times have you been on a horse or in your car with a sheer cliff immediately beside the road?
I'll give my answers in the comments.