The Worst Plots in London
I'm listening to an old Creative Screenwriting podcast, and in it, Jeff Goldsmith says that one of the oldest complaints about Sweeney Todd is that it's predictable. I won't say what's predictable about it to avoid spoiling anyone.
My question is do you feel that predictability is necessarily a bad thing? It's a common complaint, and I known I've made it several times before, but I am really wondering why we view this as a bad thing. When studying the Greek plays, I'm told over and over again that the audiences already knew the stories. Same with some of Shakespeare's stories. People went to see those plays anyway.
So, then, why do we poo poo predictability?
My question is do you feel that predictability is necessarily a bad thing? It's a common complaint, and I known I've made it several times before, but I am really wondering why we view this as a bad thing. When studying the Greek plays, I'm told over and over again that the audiences already knew the stories. Same with some of Shakespeare's stories. People went to see those plays anyway.
So, then, why do we poo poo predictability?