Original lines written for actors and spoken by politicians appear to be on autopilot as if using something new to express the same intention would be a criminal act. The political example falls on the often dogmatic shoulders of U.S. Presidents who, for reasons unknown, fall back on the same phrase no matter what political party they represent. The mind-numbing "Let me be perfectly clear…" and "Make no mistake..." is a red flag to my brain not to listen to anything further from whatever the Current Prez is trying to impart because I have heard too many presidents say both lines too many times and, as with the "I swear…" liars mentioned above, most of the time whoever the president is, is not being clear, nor is he telling the full truth, which is a mistake.
However, truthfulness is not my point. Redundancy is. If you like old films from the 40's and 50's, you have, without a doubt, realized that most of the male characters' names were "Johnny". If you hadn't noticed the actor's screen name at the beginning of the film, by the end, you certainly have it embedded in your brain because all of the female character's seem to be in love with saying that name over and over again. "Oh, Johnny. Please don't go." "Johnny,I'll never leave you!" and the classic, "Johnny, oh poor Johnny, don't die, Johnny." They couldn't just say "honey" or something else. "Johnny" had to be used in almost every scene. How unoriginal! How ear-bending. How…dull. And annoying.
Then we have what I may have mentioned in a long-ago post ("speaking "of redundancy), which is the fact that I've heard enough of the "At the end of the day…" and "Having said that…" phrases by pundits in the midst of spewing interviews. One would hope that the English Language is not too difficult for supposedly well-informed commentators, presidents, and script writers to find new ways in which to say the same "thing" so that our eyes and ears don't glaze over at each utterance of the same old, same old's.
What, you might ask, would I suggest as a replacement for these innocuous but boring word-crutches?
Rather than a president doing the "Let me be perfectly clear" robot talk, I'd love to hear something akin to "Listen. Hear what I'm telling you because it is important that you understand." I know. It's a bit long, but it's different. I'd stop what I was doing and LISTEN. Isn't that their point? If so, then say so! Plain English. No Buzz Words. To the pundits, find new words to tell us that you've made your point and will soon stop talking – and then, DO STOP talking! Screen/script-writers, please cease with the cheesy "I swear" and earn your WGA Membership for a change.
One nice part of the film name redundancy is that "Johnny" is no longer the preferred male character's name. Diversity is alive and well in that arena…until whoever the character is goes missing. That's when writers once again love to use the obligatory search scenes to audibly bludgeon us with an hysterical searcher screaming the MIA character's name at least twenty times with no other dialogue in-between. "Sarah!!!!!" "SARAH?" "Sarrraaahhh!!!!!" Pause. "Sarah!!!!" Pause. You get it. They (the writers) don't bother to add a few extra words, either, such as "Where are you, Sarah? I'm looking for you!" Nope. It has to be the name and the name only until the audience doesn't give two twits in a twat about how lovely the visuals may be and just want the damn character to be found and the Screaming Searcher to STFU!
Make no mistake about it, having said that, I swear to Johnny that I will be perfectly clear at the end of the day.
Image via: http://themilwaukeedrum.com
One of your best this year.
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P
Thank you, P.
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