Submitted by Robin on Sat, 01/12/2008 - 11:41.
From the title of the Chuck Jones short "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics," the audience can already make a number of assumptions about the plot of the narrative. Cultural knowledge of what constitutes a romance in Western civilization tells us that two characters will fall in love and live happily ever after, but only after overcoming some obstacle separating them.
But the genre label does not only inform the story; it also dictates the kinds of characters that will appear. This narrative stars a dot and a line, characters that (Freudian symbolism aside) have no presupposed gender identity. Even without the help of the narration, however, the audience can identify the line as the male character and the dot as the female by virtue of their actions. The line is the pursuer, the dot the pursued; the line is persistent, the dot fickle; the line must improve himself and impress his intended, the dot need only exist and be aesthetically pleasing to attract the attention of her suitor. read more »
