Save The Cat

I'm reading a screenwriting book by Blake Snyder called "Save The Cat," hoping to tease out some lessons for journalism. Found one I really like in the introduction: Save the cat.

I call it the "Save the Cat" scene. They don't put it into movies anymore. And it's basic. It's the scene where we meet the hero and the hero does something -- like saving a cat -- that defines who he is and makes us, the audience, like him.

In the thriller, Sea of Love, Al Pacino is a cop. Scene One finds him in the middle of a sting operation. Parole violators have been lured by the promise of meeting the N.Y. Yankees, but when they arrive it's Al and his cop buddies waiting to bust them. So Al's "cool." (He's got a cool idea for a sting anyway.) But on his way out he also does something nice. Al spots another lawbreaker, who's brought his son, coming late to the sting. Seeing Dad with his kid, Al flashes his badge at the man who nods in understanding and exits quick. Al lets this guy off the hook because he has his young son with him. And just so you know Al hasn't gone totally soft, he also gets to say a cool line to the crook: "Catch you later ..." Well, I don't know about you, but I like Al. I'll go anywhere he takes me now and you know what else? I'll be rooting to see him win. All based on a two second interaction between Al and a Dad with his baseball-fan kid.

I'm thinking this is incredibly important for anything longer than a thousand words. If I'm going to commit to a story, I need to feel emotion (love or hate, I'd argue) early for the main character.

I wrote a while back about a man who died violently. I was curious about why this story received such strong reaction. He didn't save a cat, but I think it worked because I gave people plenty of reasons up high to like him.

Any examples of this come to mind?

Thoughts?