Wednesday, October 10, 2007

draft

Sitting in the warm spring air you think about your three best friends. Samantha, oldest and dearest is what you could call futuristic, modern women. She has sex when and where she wants, and has just about no reservations about with whom she has sex. She praises herself for having the ego of a man in the body of a woman. Charlotte is from Connecticut. She is an Upper East Side type of girl. She works at a photo gallery, selling high priced artwork to people who can afford it, but might not understand it, she doesn’t mind though. Miranda, she is the successful lawyer. She is perfectly content with success and chooses to live void of male influence, on occasion.
But thoughts continue to wonder, and now they rest on your love, Mr. Big, the rich man that swept you off your feet, and has captivated you in every sense. He wines and dines you, and despite your effort has buried deeper in your heart than any other. It is easy to say things you love about New York, but it is hard to say I love you Mr. Big.
The next morning, you and Big sit in his expensive kitchen and watching him eat his toast it becomes even more clear that she loves him. You gesture to him to wipe the crumb off of his face, and after you remove it for him he takes another huge bit, replacing the crumb that you so deliberately moved.
To Say you love Mr. Big right now because you cant bare to keep it in any longer turn to ___
To Say you love Mr. Big at a time that you think would be picture perfect, and more appropriate turn to ___
You leave Big’s place shortly after lunch to go home and freshen up, by now time has passed and it is early evening. You think longingly how fast time flys when your with Big. It seem like just ten minutes about the word I love you almost left your lips, now 8 hours later you run to the door after you hear is knock, anticipating another special moment. You open the door and see him standing, perfect as usual. You invite him in and tell him you need to change your shoes. He follows you into the room and pulls a small bag from behind his back. Eagerly looking into the bag, you are horrified. You pull out bejeweled goose purse. It was all wrong, ugly, gaudy, and way too up town for you. Nothing in the world seemed right now besides; “I love you” it spilled out of your mouth like a waterfall.
The next day you eat a casual lunch with the girls and the story can’t come out any faster. “You told big you loved him over that!” Samantha says in disbelief. “I think my mother has on of those” chimes in Miranda sarcastically, “Maybe he thought you said, I love it” say optimistic Charlotte. You think for a moment, how that harsh encounter went, you recall his cold response. “Uh..I’ll just wait outside he said”. You wonder, was it the wrong time after all.
The conversation whirls around you but you cant help but to be distracted. You ask yourself over and over agin, if there is anytruth to the fairtale relation. The perfect I love You with the perfect guy, at the perfect time, and you kick your self for possibly ruining it. “So he just pretentended you didn even say it?” says, Miranda. “Sort of.” you say “..so now I’ve laid down a gauntlet, either he has to sau it back or im going to be forced to break up with him.” “ How long are you going to give him?” Charlotte asks. “Well I don’t know, I think it has the shelf life of a dairy product, after about a week its going to begin to curdle.” “You know its funny, you tell a man you hate him and you have the best sex of your life, but tell a man you love him, and you’ll probably never see him again.” Says Samantha. “Wait a minute, says Miranda, Did you ever think at this very moment they guy is thinking about his own discrete way of saying I love you back?”
You know you want to tell him how you feel, but you are keeping hope alive, that love can be fairytale. You tell him you’ll see him later and hurry home. Seven that night, you answer the door. Standing before you he seems even better than usuall, you just know that tonight will be the perfectly romantic fairytale you hoped for. After all, he’s taking you to the ballet. You know now deep in your heart that this small gesture is huge, for Big, mainly because he hates the ballet.
. He pulls out a bag, and when you see the name on the bag a smile can’t help but to run across your face. You pull out a bejeweled purse, shaped like a goose. It was all wrong. The goose, the gems, the shape, as your head spins confused, looking lovingly at the purse you fall into his chest, after all it’s the thought right? “ I love you, you manage to say.” He looks at your face and for what seem like a years stairs blankl;y. “ Uh, I’ll be outside.”

As you leave the theatre you are woozy with happiness. Making your way home you barley make it in the door before you’re wrapping his strong arms about you and passionately kiss him.

2 comments:

Adam Johns said...

I think I might have been in the room for part of the episode you're working with - I'll need to ask my wife about that.

I'm happy to see that you've found a project that interests you, and it's a clever idea, to add interaction to an existing narrative which doesn't have it.

Maybe I missed it when we talked, but I'm wondering what purpose the interaction serves here. Let me give you an idea of what I mean.

There's obviously a debate about whether Sex and the City and its ilk are ultimately empowering or disempowering for women. At the end of the day, is the show feminist or does it just want to endlessly return to traditional gender roles?

You could explore issues like this in a unique way through interactivity. Think that it stereotypes gay characters? Have a version in which the gay guy (I can't remember his name) acts more realistically in parallel with the one where he acts like himself. Or have an authentically feminist version in parallel with a faux-feminist one.

In other words, think about what the interactivity is for, what it adds beyond the show itself.

p.s. I liked the little sketches you had within your notes - including a visual element would be interesting.

Nik said...

*shoves Adam for commenting before she got a chance to*

Alright. You and I already talked about what I think in terms of what directions you go. You said it was difficult to put together a CYOA, especially following the skeleton of pre-existing narrative and trying to come to the same conclusions. My suggestion was that in some cases, you need not come to the same conclusion as the show did. I understand your desire to keep everything canon, but in the vein of my own project (yes, this is slightly self-centered of me and I apologize) I think it might be easier, by far, to create multiple endings. That's what a CYOA narrative emphasises, right?

If you choose NOT to break from what the show lays out (at least not insomuch as chaging the endings) then what are you trying to say there? Is it a comment on the predetermination of certain choices? Or on fate, as it were? And what might that have to do with the entire idea of CYOA narratives as a whole? What are you trying to teach, or determine by choosing Sex in the City as your medium?

I'm just asking questions, you don't have to answer them. I like your idea and I think you could really push it futher. When we talked before I said that you could maybe use your knowledge of the entire series to help you write different interactive endings that would still coincide with what happens eventually in the show. It would certainly be more extensive, and arguably, more interactive. Also, it might be a fun idea (and I don't know if it would even be possible) for you to watch an episode with someone else and then ask them what they thought should happen, or might have wanted to happen, and then use that as well.

Lemme know if you have any questions about my suggestions!