As someone who writes screenplays – for myself and for others – I know the hardest thing to write is dialogue. Incidentally, it is the one thing producers and writer/directors always need re-written or polished – and right away! I can’t say I blame them. Good dialogue is a difficult commodity to come by. (A luxurious item most want at a discounted price – if not for free.) In a perfect world, good dialogue would be worth a lot more.

So when I come across a line of dialogue I find remarkable I jot it down to remind me what good dialogue sounds like. As a general rule – and there are no real rules in scriptwriting – good, solid dialogue often reveals the history of a character in an instant.

In a novel, an author has room to delve into a character’s background; explore his entire biography in intimate detail. A luxury cinema/television cannot afford. Thus, it falls on the shoulders of screenwriters to give the character’s biography through action and dialogue.

When I say dialogue, I don’t mean a monologue. And, for the love of everything that is good and holy, I don’t mean exposition. I mean a single line. A statement or question – the equivalent of a gesture – that functions in the “off” and “on” mode. Once the line is said, a slew of information is revealed to the audience implicitly adding another layer of texture to the film’s universe.

One such line can be found in episode thirteen, “Go God Go XII” of South Park‘s tenth season.

In the episode, which is the second part of a two episode story arch finds Eric Cartman in the future, exploring an abandoned city, atop a domesticated ostrich. His companions/captors, are a race of talking sea otters intent on destroying their arch enemies with Cartman’s help. The so-called “time child.” As they ride, one of the otters mentions that the ostriches are spooked, to which Cartman replies, “Sure. This is monarch land now. Probably jarvis probes everywhere.”

The line has three primary functions. The first is to ridicule a staple of science-fiction television and cinema known as “technobabble.” Made up terminology and technology meant to show the audience how strange the future is in vague terms. (What the hell is a “jarvis probe”? Exactly!) In many series/films technobabble often serves as a means of resolving conflict quickly (deus ex machina).

The second is an additional criticism/mockery of a common trope found in time-travel sci-fi that dates back to the work of H.G Wells; that time-travelers, from the future or the past, are always revered/feared by the society in which they find themselves. Often elevated to the status of kings, saviors, or gods. This is further emphasized by the otters calling Cartman “time-child,” etc.

The third is the most important in terms of character. It demonstrates to the audience how well Cartman has adapted to this strange future world – and by extension how much time he has spent in the future since last we saw him. It shows how confident – read: arrogant – and aware he is of his surroundings. His status as a person of importance within the otter civilization is also understood not only by the line itself but how Cartman says it and how the otters respond to him. No one, for example, tells him “Keep your mouth shut, fat-ass.”

That this is one of the few times that Cartman actually has anything resembling actual “authoritah” makes it that much funnier and relevant.

Dialogue – good dialogue – illustrates a point by revealing something, which in turn helps our understanding of the story while underscoring the action on screen and furthering the plot. The opening scene for “Go God Go XII” does exactly that without having to waste precious minutes explaining everything to us as if we were brain dead. With one line they tell us everything we need to know.

Not an easy task. Especially in television.