[…] Part 16: …read more […]

This section reminded me of two favorite moments of recognition during Odysseus' homecoming in "The Odyssey" - both involving memory, both actually involving a double recognition, and with one also involving reasoning. My favorite moment is when Odysseus shows up at his home at last, disguised as a beggar, and recognizes his ancient hound, no longer the pup that he left behind; and as soon as that ancient hound hears Odysseus speak, he wags his tail in recognition of his master's voice (and dies almost immediately thereafter, having waited faithfully until his master's return). And then when Odysseus goes to Penelope to reveal himself, she tells the nurse to make up the master's bed, and move it outside the chamber. Penelope knows the true Odysseus will react with outrage at this false instruction, since their bed platform is the stump of an enormous olive tree, rooted in place; her little test, then, is both a demand that he prove he is indeed her husband by knowledge of that detail, to confirm her visual recognition (after all, they haven't seen one another in twenty years), and also a sly demand that he in turn recognize her fidelity, since she won't allow any man into her bedchamber who can't provide that intimate bit of knowledge about their marital bed. And just this weekend in "American Hustle" I watched another wife, faithless and feckless, provide another character with a moment of recognition that involved reasoning; I don't want to give a spoiler here in case anyone hasn't seen it yet, but it was such a delightful little visual moment, watching recognition dawn on the other character's face as he took in what she said and then realized what it meant. Thank you yet again, Scott, for leading us through this discussion of "The Poetics" - I look forward to digging even further into Aristotle's work in 2014.

Oh yes, The Odyssey. And there's a 3rd great recogntion scene in the homecoming. The housekeeper, the old nurse, Eurycleia, recognizes the scar on Odysseus' thigh from a boar hunt. To the Big Four listed by Aristotle, I would like to suggest a 5th: emotional recognition. It's hard to achieve in movies-- to sell it as an authentic moment-- but then is it any easier to achieve in real life? The best example that comes to mind is the crisis and climax of the therapy of Conrad Jarrett , the suicidal teenager in "Ordinary People". Conrad is continually prompted by the memory of his brother's death in the boating accident. That's no help -- it's pure hell. And all the logical reasoning in the world from his parents, his teachers, his friends and his shrink is of no avail in relieving his burden of guilt and quelling his suicidal impulses. He has to discover an emotional solution to his problem, discover it himself, discover it from within. Guided and supported by his therapist, he fights his way through the pain of memory and guilt to the life-saving emotional recognition in the most powerful and authentic session of therapy I ever seen dramatized in a movie.

Oh, yes, pgronk, the boar scar is another wonderful recognition moment. And I love your concept of emotional recognition, and the example from "Ordinary People"; another example of that kind of painful emotional recognition, I think, is the dishwasher scene from "Rachel Getting Married," when the gut punch of seeing the dead little brother's plate brings the up-until-then hilarious dish-loading competition to an abrupt, silent halt.

Melanie: Yes. Moments of quiet but significant emotional recognition -- epiphanies -- that trigger turning points. I just saw another one while re-viewing "Titanic" for a group discussion. While obviously miserable being engaged to Cal, the heir to a steel fortune, Rose rejects every one of Jack's logical arguments and appeals to break off the engagement. After Jack's most direct and earnest intervention -- she know he's speaking the truth -- she goes back to the 1% crowd. To a small scene, a quiet moment, where she sees a young girl being coaxed by her mother to fit into the manners and decorum, the straight jacket of how the 1% are supposed to act. Not a word is spoken as she has a transforming moment of emotional recognition. In the next scene, she finds Jack on the bow of the ship. The Big Midpoint/Turning Point Musical Moment. She's changed her mind and the course of her life.