Teague's different readings of What Are You Doing, Movie? on a recent episode led me to think on emphasis on words in statements. Here is a breakdown of how the podcast's title may be perceived in regards to different ways of saying it.
"WHAT are you doing, movie?" - implies that the movie may have an agenda, a goal, or an aim. This movie is up to no good or perhaps doesn't know what it is doing.
"What ARE you doing, movie?" - focuses more on what the movie is doing here and now rather than what it has done or will do. Indicates a sense of immediacy or urgency in what the movie IS doing presently.
"What are YOU doing, movie?" - isolates the movie from its fellow movies to ask of it and it alone what it is doing. Cares more about this particular movie than any other movie. May suggest the movie is exceeding or falling behind its peers in performance.
"What are you DOING, movie?" - pretty obvious, really. This query aims at determining the behavior of the movie. Is the movie being subversive, is it being predictable, is it ripping off Surrogates? This likely is the proper reading of the title in most cases.
"What are you doing, MOVIE?" - this is a tricky one. It is even somewhat philosophical as it seeks to determine the behavior of the movie qua movie. That is, how is this movie performing in so far as it is a movie. Compounding this question is the querent's relationship with the movie. Take for instance the questions "What are you doing, Doctor," or "What are you doing, Marine." Both questions may imply a level of trust or distrust. Is the behavior adequately medical or militaristic in each instance? How cinematic is the movie in so far as it is a movie? Has the movie virtue? In other words how well does it fulfill its role as a movie?