Friday, September 18, 2009

Hollywood, I Thought of This First: Week III

Here's an idea for a major summer comedy for an A-list star and cast:

Our protagonist is married to a very charming wife, the sort that's easy for the audience to love, and they have a son--I haven't decided if the son is an infant or a toddler, you can help me out with that. They go to dinner at his buddy's house, his friend is a low level English professor at a minor college, he's got a wife too and probably a bunch of kids. During dinner they talk about his Introduction to Literary Criticism course, the professor friend starts going on about the various forms of literary criticisim (structuralism, poststructuralism [perhaps here I will insert my definition of postmodernism?], feminist criticism, etc.) until they get to psychoanalytic criticism. "Wait, what? Explain that more?" our protagonist asks--the professor gets into explaining Freudian readings of texts to our hero and explains the story of Oedipus and Oedipal complexes--the desire of the son to replace (kill) the father and take his place with (marry) the mother.

After dinner, the words of the professor friend stick with our hero and, wait, is he crazy or is this possible? Is his baby trying to kill him? No, couldn't be. But wait...the baby (or toddler) sure seems awful attached to the charming wife? Could it be? No...impossible...or maybe?

We watch our hero experience a comedic Rear Window/The 'Burbs style paranoid breakdown and hijinks until it all comes to a head in an overblown public situation where it's proven in front of police, firemen, nuns and schoolchildren that, Silly Young Dad, your baby isn't trying to kill you! BUT, as soon as this little resolution ends, just like Rear Window or The 'Burbs, that's when it turns out that OH NO! LOOK OUT! THE BABY IS TRYING TO KILL YOU SO HE CAN MARRY HIS MOTHER!! Oh no! Hilarious conclusion/battle ensues...not sure how it turns out, we're going to have to run a few different endings by some focus groups.

This project is yet untitled, but it is definitely NOT named "Oedipus Wrecks" or anything else punny. Also, it would be best if we could come up with a name that isn't "I Think My Baby (or Toddler) Is Trying to Kill Me!" or "I Have to Stop My Baby Before He Marries My Wife!"

2 comments:

Kristen said...

That was fun. Reminded me of the time I was riding in the back of the car listening to Matt and you tell about a book about some island where there was no record of history or something like that?

Brigham said...

That one's called Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously, but it's a imaginary book, not an imaginary movie.