We rarely say exactly what we mean, so why should the characters we write do it?Not everyone is super emotionally intelligent, especially in the moment, so in the middle of a fight, we probably wouldn't say, "I'm feeling angry with you because you betrayed my trust."Instead, we'd say something like, "You left the toilet seat up again," while slamming the door. The subtext is still about a kind of betrayal, but the root hurt is not what we can articulate in the heat of the moment. It's easier to fight about the bathroom than betrayal, after all.This is why great dialogue rarely has characters saying exactly what they mean. Real people deflect, avoid, and talk around their feelings. Subtext is the tension bubbling beneath surface conversations. It's where the emotional truth lives. These five stellar scenes from films and TV let audiences read between the lines, where characters reveal themselves through what they're afraid to say directly.Ocean's Eleven: "He doesn't make me cry." This is a scene that always stops me in my tracks and gets my full focus, because it's so tense on several levels. When Danny Ocean asks Tess if Terry Benedict makes her laugh, her response cuts straight to the heart of their issue: "He doesn't make me cry." This is really about emotional safety. Tess sidesteps Danny's real question ("Do you love him?") while revealing everything in her answer. This relationship might not be what she really wants, but she's chosen security over the danger and...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Today