Hi, Scott,

I don't understand how "Rosebud" is exposition. Isn't exposition information that's needed to understand a story - like how the letters of transit work in Casablanca or how fast the Millenium Falcon can shoot through space? Rosebud creates a question in the viewer's mind, but doesn't clear anything up at all or make it easier to understand what happens next. Since we don't figure out what Rosebud is until the last scene, how does the word function as exposition?

(I know you must have a lecture somewhere filled with exposition about exposition.)

Annika W, I understand your confusion. Granted the mystery of what Rosebud means doesn't become clear until the very end, but it is a key fact underlying the entire plot. So a bit of a twist, but I would consider it exposition.

BTW, one of the best ways to handle exposition so it doesn't bog things down is to use it to create mystery. "I see dead people." That's exposition. What exactly does it mean? We can take it to mean one thing, but then once we learn that Malcolm Crowe is dead, it takes on another level of meaning.

I disagree Scott. Rosebud isn't really exposition. It doesn't explain anything.

"I see dead people" is exposition because he immediately follows with...

"Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead."

This actually gave away the movie for me. As soon as the character said it, I knew Bruce Willis was dead.

That's the difference imo. Expositional dialogue is dialogue put in place specifically to spell out what is going on to the audience.

A large majority of Billy Wilder's openings are exposition. What makes them noteworthy is they are good and entertaining as well.

@James: Okay, point taken. And I will admit to stretching the boundaries of what we mean by exposition to make a point by using "Rosebud": Exposition can be much more than the recitation of facts or data. It can, in fact, be used to create mystery, one of the many ways writers can handle exposition effectively.