There is a lot of subtext between the lines of this scene from sex, lies, & videotape, making for some interesting dialogue and interactions. At first, the scene appears to have a happy connotation, two old friends reunited for the first time since college, but as the scene progresses it becomes apparent that the scene is anything but pleasant. John passive aggressively attacks Graham throughout the scene, attempting to demean and debase him, while subconsciously planning to cheat on his wife. Hence, the conflict lies between John and the other two characters.
After dividing the scene into beats, I noticed a trend: John consistently changes the subject and puts Graham on the defensive – bringing up Elizabeth, talking about leaving in a hurry, and asking about taxes. He also takes shots at his wife’s cooking, Graham’s appearance, and the apartment search. John always resorts to negativity, constantly taking shots at his friend and then deviously tricking his wife into leaving so that he can pursue his affair with her sister. What we thought was a pleasant scene has turned into a very negative one.
After reading through McKee and Weston, I found McKee to be more useful in analyzing the scene. He presents a good method for identifying the events and changes that occur within a scene, whereas Weston presents a method without much structure or formula, though perhaps more in depth.
~Andrew Erdal
Discussion Questions:
1. Did you have a difficult time analyzing this scene? Why or why not?
2. In the reading, McKee describes setups and payoffs. How does sex, lies and videotape make use of these?
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