The film's heavy dose of sexual realpolitik renders all the more startling an incident that occurred during shooting, when Parris, having tea at Chicago's Ritz with friends, was approached by an elderly white man who, referring to her hair, asked: "Is that yours or an add-on?" "Sir, that's rude," she replied and turned to resume her conversation.
Now, as the chosen authors were being encouraged to look relaxed and friendly for the photograph, a startling and uncharacteristic incident took place.
Iowa DHS documents record a startling list of incidents at the father's home in just a couple of years: Among many, the father pressed on the wheelchair-bound twin's nose until it bled, resulting in a founded-abuse determination.
He will introduce a startling break -- an incident or bit of speech -- that barely hints what is afoot, but will be amplified in a later sketch.
Plot and character mattered less to him than the ripe bit of regional speech, the fraught incident, the startling metaphor, the ingeniously shaped sentence.
The book swarms with startling characters and remarkable incident: it is art history made as vivid and vivacious as a giant canvas executed by a master.
Margaret Oliphant expressed anxiety about "the violent stimulant of weekly publication with its necessity for frequent and rapid recurrence of piquant incident and startling situation".
The Born Free Foundation said the incident was a "startling reminder" of the risks of keeping dangerous wild animals in captivity.
But this incident has highlighted a startling conclusion.
When I spoke to my mother about the incident, her reluctant advice was startling: maybe it was time to get a gun.
