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wildfire393 t1_ja11b8a wrote

It doesn't make sense to explain an entire plan and then execute it exactly the way it was explained. That's just poor storytelling. There's a lot of redundancy and no real tension.

If the plan is going to fail, it makes sense to spell it out beforehand, as you can then see more clearly where the breakdown of the plan happens and what goes wrong, without having to take you out of the action to elaborate.

If the plan is going to succeed, the tension comes from trying to figure out how they're going to beat the impossible odds. If everything goes according to plan as they laid it out, that tension is lost. So either you'll get the dialogue of explaining the plan playing over it actually happening, to preserve some mystery, or there will be a surprise reveal that goes counter what it seemed like the plan was supposed to be.

These are obviously tropes, but they're tropes for a reason.

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foxxytroxxy t1_ja1cf00 wrote

I can think of a lot of films that pretty much do the opposite of the shower thought. One example is The Interview, where for comedic tension James Franco's plan to shoot the helicopter down is pretty much what happens.

Pretty sure a lot of successful heist and action films also work as counter examples

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TheGrumpyre t1_ja1u5y7 wrote

I can't think of any, but I'm curious to see one now. Just some extremely skilled people pulling off the heist exactly as planned with no big twist surprises. There's something satisfying about watching people in their element being super competent at what they do.

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foxxytroxxy t1_ja22d2z wrote

Okay so it's never exactly as planned to the T. So maybe I was a bit hyperbolic. But I can think of a few where I seem to remember that there was no huge twist or anything.

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Karibik_Mike t1_ja17m59 wrote

Obviously. But they are also bad writing, because they destroy any tension by spoiling the plot.

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Hunky-Munkey t1_j9zppsg wrote

This is a trope that is so over used and no matter how hard some may try to flip it on it's head they end up proving it again unintentionally

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wakingup_withwolves t1_ja0ls73 wrote

if they promise to do something “next time” or “another time”, they’re gonna die.

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lygerzero0zero t1_ja1gjbc wrote

Unsurprisingly, there’s a TVTropes for that:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnspokenPlanGuarantee

> Admittedly, the reason for revealing only failed plans to the audience is obvious. There's no drama in something going wrong if no one knows what was supposed to happen. Conversely, where's the drama in seeing exactly what you were just told would happen? The only exception is when the plan is Crazy Enough to Work; when every bullet point could Go Horribly Wrong, then each success is a big, suspense-building deal. As a general rule of thumb, if things do go according to how the audience is told, you can expect that the characters are walking into a trap.

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Ramulus14 t1_ja0rt4j wrote

Unless it’s oceans 12, because their plan was to make an awful film

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TerraByteTerror t1_ja0wgzp wrote

I call it the "Bond Syndrome" the antagonist had the protagonist by the balls....starts his spiel...gives the protagonist nuff time to eff up his plans lol like whyyy 😭

Edit: plot armor 🤣

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eladiododo t1_ja17b32 wrote

That’s not the case in Night of the Lepus (1972), where the climactic giant bunny-slaying plan is explained and then carried out without incident.

I readily summoned that fact though I routinely forget my online banking account password; thanks a lot, brain.

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Kareongames t1_ja1i6x4 wrote

lesson learned: dont plan shit or you will get dissapointed, just... have a vague idea of what you wanna do, thats when your skillset starts to shine

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Showerthoughts_Mod t1_j9zohm1 wrote

This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.

Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"

(For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)

Rule-breaking posts may result in bans.

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jakbrtz t1_ja2meyo wrote

This is why I like it when a character has multiple plans. They get the opportunity to explain a flawless plan that doesn't occur, and then execute another flawless plan that they didn't tell.

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schajee t1_ja2szgr wrote

I enjoyed The Great Raid (2005) only because of how James Franco's character planned the raid and escaped exactly how he said they would.

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Willsmithsdignity t1_ja39g2q wrote

A Few Good Men is a counter example. He absolutely says exactly what's going to happen and then goes and does it. The only thing we're not told is what the special witnesses saw. Which turns out to be nothing.

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StrawberriesandSleep t1_ja1elon wrote

An assemblage of words so gregariously at leisure within themselves that, one barely need raise an eyelid to read them.

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