If you just want the background, all you need to do is not read the
summary. But if you are looking for a critical discussion, that would
presuppose knowledge of the plot.
On 6/21/07, William Pietri <william(a)scissor.com> wrote:
Anthony wrote:
I thought the whole point of Citizen Kane was
that the meaning of
"Rosebud" has absolutely nothing to do with the movie. It could have
been anything and the movie would have been exactly the same. But
maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about.
"It seems to me that we can write a perfectly good encyclopedia while
still respecting the both the artist's intent and the experience of
readers." Frankly, I disagree. If you want to experience a movie the
way the author intended it to be experienced for the first time,
*don't read an article on the story beforehand*. To write a
"perfectly good encyclopedia" article about Citizen Kane, or even
about the movie's impact on society, without first making sure the
reader knows the ending, is ridiculous.
Ridiculous? But we have an article that does that very well. Have you
read it? There's little chance that somebody will accidentally read the
bits that would give much away, even when reading the article for other
info. The plot section is clearly marked and the first sentence makes
clear that there's a mystery. The secret is only revealed in the middle
of the fourth paragraph of the synopsis, so anybody who wants to avoid
knowing the secret can do so.
There are plenty of films I want to know something about before I see
them. For something like Citizen Kane, it's worth studying the impact of
the film and the historical context. Why wouldn't I turn to Wikipedia
for that? And why wouldn't Wikipedia honor my desire to learn the bits I
want to know without spoiling a part of the experience that is precious
to me, especially if that's easily done with a bit of good writing?
William
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