[Perry] The Power of a Good Threat

The following post contains some instances of harsh language. Those who would be offended should immediately escape to this safe corner of the internet which will show you why you never to say ‘no’ to panda.

Do you know why the movie Taken was so popular?

It wasn’t because it was a completely revolutionary idea because it really, really wasn’t. The plot was serviceable but nothing spectacular.

Similarly, the characters were fairly one-dimensional and none of them actually grow or change throughout the course of the movie.

The reason why Taken was so popular was because of this scene.

They put that scene in the trailer and suddenly with the use of a fantastic threat, the movie vaulted in popularity. Everyone wanted to watch Liam Neeson’s transformation from the more dramatic roles that he’d done before into this ass-kicking icon.

All this, on the strength of a good threat.

See, a good threat’s like a punch in the gut when you’re not expecting it. A good threat can add that vital pinch of spice that hooks the audience…or it can unintentionally turn the movie into a comedy.

A good threat can be the only thing you need to turn your main character into an intimidating force of nature that no sane person would dream of messing with. It could be something to keep in mind if you find that, while writing, your main character isn’t coming across as scary enough or isn’t being taken seriously by the other characters in the story.

A good threat sticks with you. It echoes through your head and it makes you imagine situations you can deliver that same line and watch your enemies back away with ball-shrinking fear…

…No? It was just me?

…Okay >.>”

You can’t tell me that good threats don’t stay with you, though.

C’mon.

Dirty Harry? When Clint Eastwood delivers the line, “Did he fire six shots? Or only five?”

Man, I only wish that I could be that bad-ass.

Or how about Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction? The whole “Say what again, I dare you,” line followed by his bastardized Bible quote? You can’t tell me that didn’t get to you. That kind of writing will put hair on your chest, no joke.

I have to say though, one of my favorite threats ever…I still get chills right down my back every time I hear Daniel Day-Lewis waving a bloody knife in the face of his would-be assassin, screaming “You see this knife? I’m going to teach you to speak English with this fucking knife!”

*shivers

Those were some of mine.

So tell me, if you have them, what’re some of your favorite threats?

 

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