Overuse of the Macguffin plot device in HIMYM

What exactly is the Macguffin plot device?

It is a plot vehicle adopted by several writers to advance or propel a story forward, a fulcrum in certain cases but which is of secondary importance to the developments in the main story. The use of this plot device was mainly popularized by the famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, who used it in multiple creations of his. This device is mostly used in thrillers, detective fiction and suspense stories where the Macguffin is revealed at a critical moment. The same device has been used in several TV seriates where usually the Macguffins are restricted to one episode or to one season. But there are shows like HIMYM who use the Macguffin for the entire set of seasons as a single thread.

How does the TV series How I Met Your Mother overuse this plot device?

The entire set up of the show is based on Ted Moseby searching for his perfect soul mate, the mother of his two kids to whom he is shown to be telling stories in every single episode about how he met their mother. The show is a sitcom and is amongst the very few in the genre which use the Macguffin plot device for the entire stretch of its origin, from the very first episode to almost the last.

The show has reached it’s ninth (and hopefully final) season and it is only in the final episode of the eighth season that the eagerly waiting audience and perhaps the very bored Moseby kids get to actually know about their real mother after hearing hundreds of tales about Ted and his awesome friends. The thrill of waiting to know how Ted meets his soul mate has slowly faded with time as viewers slowly have started to get frustrated by hopelessly waiting for the mystery woman to be unveiled.

 

Continued here....

This post was written for Half Baked Beans blog. Check the link for the rest of the post and also to read other awesome entries.

On a different note, Subho Mohalaya to all our readers, it is pujo time again!!

Till next,

Why Harboring a Crush is BETTER than being in a Relationship

“That's why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they'd call 'em something else.”

– Sixteen Candles

Despite the line quoted above, I still think that it’s easier to harbor crushes than have an actual relationship. I know lots of people would disagree and dismiss the idea of having crushes to be something juvenile and something which can only find meaning if you’re a sixteen year old school girl. Oh well, I certainly beg to differ.

For one thing, you are not obliged to wake up at eight am in the morning to text your boyfriend/girlfriend, “Good morning! Have a wonderful day. J” I am not saying it’s a bad thing but you know, if you happen to forget sending that text once in awhile – all hell will break lose. And even if your sweetheart doesn’t say it, he/she might have nagging insecurities about this tiny detail.

Speaking of insecurities, when you’re simply crushing on someone finding out what they’ve been up to and who’ve they’ve been spending time with simply does not matter. In fact, what matters is that despite his/her extremely busy schedule they manage five minutes to talk to you…And if they happen to reply to your text or IMs with an, “hey! I am so glad you pinged/texted me today” – ah, is it possible to stay afloat on cloud nine?

source

With relationships come the added dramas of having to meet each other over the weekend, if you’re both busy with work, college or simply cannot find time to give time to one another. I personally know way too many people who couldn’t “make it work” thanks to their conflicting schedules. Just take a peek at the celeb world. So many of them say they have parted ways due to the fact they could never find enough time to spend it with one another.

The best part about having a crush on someone is that they simply have no clue about it – usually. Unless you’re friends keep teasing you in front of him/her. If only the guy/girl is totally clueless, they’d not realize why people are giggling, whispering and saying things with double meanings when they are around. And admit it – you do like it when people tease you about your crush. There’s something oddly cute and sweet about the whole deal.

Imagine if your crush suddenly asks you to hang out with them without any prior notice – well, is it truly possible to die of happiness? Because that’s the only reaction that comes to mind when I look back and imagine my crush asking to simply hang out. What’s the best part about hanging out with your crush? You can go just about anywhere, and not worry about anything… You don’t have to live up the usual standards of a typical date. Honestly, what more could one ask for? Do you still need me to convince you why crushes are way better than having a relationship?

The last thing that comes to my mind is, haven’t you often heard people say the best time in their relationship was right before it officially began? That’s the time they’re both crushing on each other. Psychologists say that if crushes last more than four months, it is love… No wonder my crushes last less than one month!

There are people who make it a point to keep their sparks flying in their relationships and hats off to them for that. but for the rest of us, I still say, harboring a crush is way better that trying to make a relationship work.

Guest posted by Aniesha :)

Sponsored Video: Help a Child Reach Five

In an exclusive video for Lifebuoy, Bollywood actress and mother, Kajol shares her opinion about a video featuring Gondappa which has gone viral. She explains how as a mother, she constantly worries about the health of her children and how a minor things like a cold or a cut can make her extremely worried about her child.

Gondappa's story is a heart breaking one. He walks the entire way from his house to the village temple on his hands on a hot summer noon, never putting his feet down before he reaches the deity's shrine. He does all of this to thank the gods for his child has turned five. His actions might seem bizarre at first but when we realize that Gondappa is one of those few unfortunate parents who has lost his children to diarrhea, his actions don't seem misplaced. This is his first child to have survived.

As a parent, one's child's health is the prime priority and as Kajol mentions even a sneeze and bruise can get mothers worrying about their child's health. And to imagine having to lose one's infant is unimaginable.
You might like to watch the original video about Gondappa where he tells his story. See it HERE.

" Every year two million (2000000) children under the age of five die of infections like diarrhea and pneumonia."

The most surprising aspect is the fact that these diseases which take such a huge toll of lives every year are diseases which can be very easily prevented. The only basic requirements of personal hygiene can keep these fatal diseases at bay. Washing one's hands before and after eating, after using the toilet, before cooking and handling food, and keeping the house clean are the basic few requirements which can help in prevention of the disease. Unfortunately, a large majority of parents are completely oblivious of these.

Lifebuoy as one of India's leading brands has come forward with the Help a Child Reach Five campaign to spread the importance of personal hygiene to the remote rural areas of India. They have set to focus on Thesgora, a village in India with one of the highest rates of diarrhea and have started to spread the awareness regarding the need for basic personal hygiene and bringing in real change to help prevent a large number of infectious diseases leading to child deaths. For every share of the video, Lifebuoy has promised to pay Re.1 towards the campaign.

Join Lifebuoy's campaign on their Facebook page, their Youtube stream and on their website to help reduce the number of child deaths in India due to diarrhea. Share Gondappa's story and if possible, donate to the campaign if you can and spread the word so that no parent has to go through the horror of losing their beloved child.

This post is sponsored by Lifebuoy but all opinions are my own.

Smelly Air to Smiley Air

What is the first thing that you think of when you read the title of this post?

For me, it immediately reminds me of Phoebe's epic song, Smelly Cat from my favourite TV show, F.R.I.E.N.D.S    

For those of you who have never heard of it, here it is for your hearing pleasure-

Smelly Cat

Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you?

Smelly cat, smelly cat, it's not your fault.

They won't take you to the vet.

You're obviously not their favorite pet.

It may not be a bed of roses.

And you're no friend to those with noses.

Now coming to what this post is actually about - Smell and memories associated with them.

Smell I believe is the most powerful way to rouse your memory. Just a waft of fragrance reminds one of an obscure and random incident from the past which you could never have remembered consciously. It is like this floodgate of memories which breaks with flashes from your past running one after another in a slideshow mode, beautiful ( and sometimes not so beautiful) memories fleeting like a film right in front of you as you stand still, eyes closed, inhaling the scent through your nostrils, taking it inside of you, into your lungs.

I, particularly have a very strong sense of smell. The smell of certain things evoke a very strong reaction. It gets so enveloping that sometimes I can feel the scent running through me, down my spine, giving me goose-flesh. There are so many memories that I can associate with an array of smells.

It was only last evening that I was coming back home when the bus stopped at a traffic signal close to the footpath which had a row of florists one after another selling all kinds of beautiful flowers and amongst all the mishmash of perfumes from those flowers, my nose caught one in particular- the smell of a rose. I despise anything artifically rose scented but I absolutely love the smell of a fresh rose bud. I have had this love for a very long time, as long as I can remember. My mom tells me how I used to be completely wonder struck at the sight and smell of roses, red ones in particular whenever I saw them. There used to be this particular florist's that was close to a shopping area where we used to live in Vizag. I (as mum tells) used to instantly get glued to the nearest light post to the shop, holding to it and stood there standing and smelling the rose for as long as I could before my parents would come and pull me from there. I faintly remember how the amused shopkeeper had many a times offered the four year old me a red rose. 

just replace the cat with a mini me :P

The smell of books is something I am completely addicted to. Every new academic year when my dad returned home with bags with my news books, I would hurriedly open the packet and smell each and every book and carry them everywhere with me. I love scampering around old bookstores, finding the oldest books and flipping through the yellow pages smelling the amazing romantic smell (yes, I can smell romance as well), older the book, yellower its pages and stronger the scent.   My maternal uncle has a personal library with books that are more than 50 years old and some even older, from his own childhood. Every time I visit them, I spend my entire time sitting in that old room with shelves containing books every where, reading some and smelling some. I love flipping through pages, caressing them and smelling them when I read books. Books are after all supposed to be absorbed in entirety, tasting them with all your senses (except maybe tasting them literally) and not just read with your eyes alone.

Yes, I am a book sniffer.

Another very favourite smell of mine (yeah I am that weird, I have favourites in odours as well) is the smell of baked food - cakes, pastries, cookies etc etc. Every time the smell of a freshly baked cookie enters my nostrils, it instantly takes me back to my childhood when my mom used to bake us cakes and "nan khatais" (it is a kind of eggless crispy cookie/biscuit) .Well my super sensitive nose was of course bad news for my mum for she had to always think of new hiding places for all these goodies she prepared or the little mouse that I was, I would sniff around everywhere in the house in search of them and gobble them as fast as I could. 

Freshly baked goodies ^_^

As a Bengali the Durga Pujo and the time associated with it is of special significance to us. Also during this time, the air has a magic about it. it smells of a hundred different things all somehow associated with the pujo. The faint scent of the fragrant shiuli flowers from the backyard early in the morning, the smell of chandan and incense from the pujo, the fragrance of the jasmine, mogra, marigolds and all other flowers from the garlands around the pujo mandap, the intoxicating smell of the dhuno from the dhunuchi dance in the evening, the aroma of the delicacies cooked during those four-five days all combine together for a sniffers' delight.

That is a dhunuchi

So what are your favourite smells, the ones that revive any special memory from your past?

This Post is written for the "Smelly Air to Smiley Air" contest at Indiblogger sponsored by Ambipur. Check out the Ambi Pur Facebook page for the amazing array of room fresheners available in different scents and different varieties to keep your rooms smelling like cherry blossoms whenever your want. Just a few sprays and you can easily get rid of any unwanted odour, be it the the musty stench during the monsoon or the despicable smell of discarded socks in an instant.

 Till Next,

P.S.- All pictures (except my signature of course) are google finds.