{"id":212,"date":"2011-03-04T15:52:51","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T22:52:51","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2017-03-17T11:08:39","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T18:08:39","slug":"illiterate-filmmakers-last-man-standing-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/franklycurious.com\/wp\/2011\/03\/04\/illiterate-filmmakers-last-man-standing-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Illiterate Filmmakers: Last Man Standing<\/i> Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot of proper writing is not a matter of hard rules[1]<\/a>—it is just a matter of clarity and beauty. One of the best examples of this is parallel structure. As Janis Bell states in Clean Well-Lighted Sentences<\/a>, “When you write items in a series, you need to make sure they match each other in terms of form.” She gives the following examples of following the rule of parallel structure and of breaking it:<\/p>\n

I like bananas because they are delicious, nutritious, and conducive to sleep. [Good]<\/p>\n

I like bananas because they are delicious, nutritious, and they help me fall asleep. [Bad]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And it doesn’t matter what form the writing takes place in, either. Again, Janis Bell: “It also doesn’t matter whether the items are marching across the page or down the page.” Nor does it matter if it is page after page, slide after slide, or frame after fame!<\/b> However, it is in this form that I most often find this error and I believe it is one of the stronger forces driving me crazy. What I am referring to here are the opening credits of films. Let us take, as a purely random example, Walter Hill’s remake of YoJimbo<\/a>, Last Man Standing<\/a>. Here are the technical credits (after the cast):<\/p>\n