Going beyond just character names in the Wikipedia plot description

They say elephants never forget a face. And dogs never forget a name. Scratch that… I think the latter isn’t true.

In any case, it turns out that humans are a lot more varied in their ability to remember faces, names or context. Personally, I’m terrible at remembering names, especially after I’ve just been introduced to someone. The other place where I really struggle to remember names are while watching movies or TV series… I know the characters as whats-his-face rather than whats-his-name. And it’s been so for as long as I can remember. Thankfully, I can find solace in the fact that I’m not the only one in this world who can’t remember names to save his life.

Which brings me to the point I’m making – which is that crowdsourced movie/tv series plot on Wikipedia are great, but they’re still not awesome. Before you wonder, let me state for the record that I love Wikipedia, the same way that I love all things which are wholesome, meaningful and bring joy and wonder to our lives.

But Wikipedia plots have a tragic flaw – which is that they’re designed for people who remember names, not faces.

But anything that is poorly designed can be improved upon, right?

Let’s take Game of Thrones as an example and see how a snippet might work out –

Original Text-based Plot for Season 1

In the continent of Westeros, Warden of the North Eddard “Ned” Stark becomes “Hand of the King” (chief adviser) to King Robert Baratheon. When Ned’s son Bran stumbles upon Queen Cersei having sex with her twin brother Jaime Lannister, Jaime attempts to kill Bran but only succeeds in crippling him. Ned moves to King’s Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, and discovers that Robert Baratheon’s heir Prince Joffrey and his siblings were in fact incestuously fathered by Jaime.

Revised Visual Plot for Season 1

In the continent of Westeros, Warden of the North (Eddard “Ned” Stark) becomes “Hand of the King” (chief adviser) to (King Robert Baratheon). When ‘s son (Bran) stumbles upon (Queen Cersei) having sex with her twin brother (Jamie Lannister), attempts to kill but only succeeds in crippling him. moves to King’s landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, and discovers that ‘s heir (Prince Joffrey) and his siblings were in fact incestuously fathered by .

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… and by the looks of it, I’d be hard pressed to find a place of more relevance for pictures than in the plot descriptions of moving visuals (aka video).