"Plots That Kill" ? Assignment

The plot of Slumdog Millionaire from 2008 is an example of the coming of age plot in the drama genre. The genre conventions used in the plot include the classic story of how when the main character, Jamal, was a little boy he fell in love with a little girl (Latika). Variations of this set-up are also used in other movies of this genre, for they create much "drama", but the older-brother-younger brother relationship is also used much between the characters to create underlying tensions about the "love story" plot, with the conflicting ideals of the brothers and their power relationship. Also, an important part of coming-of-age dramas is an event that changes the way that the main character (as well as other characters) view the world and makes them have to "fend for themselves" in some way; in Slumdog Millionaire, the boys actually had to live on their own when they were very young. The narrative can vary a lot, but it is often told by a speaker that is older looking back on their childhood or is told in flashbacks from some point in the future (like Slumdog Millionaire). Sometimes there is a nostalgic tone, but not in this movie; it is more about the goal of Jamal's youth, his complete coming-of-age, was not reached until the end of the movie in the "present-time" when he was 18-years old.

2. My idea is somewhat similar to that of Slumdog Millionaire due to the fact that I want to interweave the story with flashbacks while the main character is in the present doing something towards reaching the goal set in the flashbacks. The idea is that the main character is running throughout an area searching for someone, hoping to get there in time to tell that person something. Throughout the time that the main character is searching, he/she has flashbacks to why this he/she is trying to reach the person in time after he/she runs into a few people who help explain the flashbacks before the flashbacks start. It is a very similar plot on a smaller scale, but I would want to have the character be trying to reach a goal less "cliched' than love in this situation. I was thinking of having the character say "I've done my duty." after the person he/she is searching for leaves right in front of him/her. Maybe the character was trying to clear up the relationship he had with the other person due to a misunderstanding that everyone believes. I would like the theme to be able to learn how to move past what was hindering them before, to learn to change only what they can, and to know that some things cannot really be changed the way we want them to; we can only try our best or adapt. I think that that is an important part of the coming of age plot line, realizing both what one can do and what one cannot do, and living based off of that. Not being able to change the past is also important in a coming-of-age drama with so many flashbacks, and maybe, learning from the past as well. I want the character to have put off action for a long time until it was pretty much too late possibly, or try to help as soon as he/she gets the reason to "search". This plot is a little bit too similar to other coming-of-age stories and might be a bit complicated to orchestrate, but it is possible and a lot of great cinematic techniques for scene transitions between the present and the past with lead-ins from minor characters, as well as perspective while running and such.

There seems to be a lot to explore in the coming-of-age plot based on how many movies there are on it, so it is a bit hard to make it original and plausible for a 5 or so minute film, but since it has been done so much, there are very good example of what to do and what not to do. If I were to do a film based on this plot, there would be a good amount of material to learn from, and maybe learning what works would create a more original plot.