Monday, April 20, 2009

Venture

venture--a deliberate undertaking or plan; the action taken by characters based on a decision to proceed with an idea, opinion, or agenda; going forth with an agenda as goal, against possible risk; an action thought to provide some profitable outcome.

Some characters venture opinions or advice to others, the risk being they may be disagreed with or outright shouted down. Some characters venture forth, perhaps tentatively, perhaps even foolishly, hopeful of achieving an inertia or momentum that will carry them farther along the path to a goal.

One example of the venture-gone-wrong is the discovery by Llewellyn Moss of the botched drug deal in No Country for Old Men. Had Moss read the circumstances as he did, then left the money and the local, leaving the principals and perhaps the law to deal with the situation, there would have been no story. Seeing the results, as evidenced by a number of dead secondary players and the money, Moss undertakes a venture of his own, which in turn pushes the story beyond the tipping point and on into inevitability.

Yet another venture is the one organized by the character Sonny in the film story,Dog Day Afternoon. Sonny and two friends venture forth to rob a bank. One of his two accomplices experiences a combination of cold feet and enlarged conscience, and the venture is accordingly pushed beyond the tipping point.

Another venture still, young Romeo Montague decides to crash a party given by the Capulets, a family engaged in a feud with the Montagues. We all know how that venture payed out; thirty-six hours later both Romeo and Juliet are dead.

Ventures do not have to be doomed from the start; whether they are romance, adventure, or fanciful speculation, they may close on a theme reflecting the positive joys of making plans, then setting forth to accomplish them.

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