Now then.

The standard description of the midpoint (among other things) is that it is the moment in the story where the protagonist achieves a ?false victory?. He thinks he?s solved his dramatic problem, has achieved is objective goal or is well on his way.

And then things fall apart. His fortunes are reversed.

Two examples:

?L.A. Confidential? ? at the midpoint of the story the primary protagonist, Sgt. Edmund Exley, thinks he has achieved his objective goal, has solved the case of the ?Nite Owl Massacre?.

And then he discovers he hasn?t.

?The Martian? ? at the midpoint of the story, astronaut Mark Watney has resourcefully accomplished all he can to survive on Mars until he?s rescued ?his objective goal.

And then the airlock is breached. He loses all his potatoes plants. Now, he may not live long enough for the rescue mission to arrive.

In both these films, in spite of the midpoint reversal, the objective goal remains the same.

But in ?Dances with Wolves?, that does not seem to be the case. By midpoint, Dunbar has solved his dramatic problem. He has achieved his objective goal of ending hostilities with the Lakota. He?s so successful he?s been able to ?go native?, to fully assimilate into the tribe.

Then his fortune flips.

Not as the result of a discovery (?L.A. Confidential?). Not because of an accident (?The Martian?).

[Nor, btw, because of some ?character flaw that he hasn?t owned up to and overcome. On the contrary, Dunbar seems to have resolved his dramatic need by the midpoint, to have found peace of mind with the Lakota.]

Rather, Dunbar?s fortune flip is a matter of irony, because of the historical context of the story (well foreshadowed), the inevitable, encroachment of hordes of European settlers. By irony I mean:

After an army officer makes peace and joins the Indian tribe he was supposed to fight, he must make war against his own people to save his adopted tribe.
(29 words)

Indeed, for me this is the story hook.??And maybe it work as a logline.

A logline framed around around the midpoint?

But?but? I know,? I know.

Two points for your consideration:

1] I have come to believe that the most important element in a logline is a strong story hook.

2] Karel Seger in? a YouTube video mentions in passing that it?s nice to include a midpoint beat. But, of course, that is rarely possible given the word limit constraints.

I suggest this is a case where it is not only possible ? but perhaps necessary because, once again, I think the ironical twist is the story hook.

And if it?s doesn?t qualify as a bona fide logline, well, it?s my candidate for a teaser.

Just bloviating, brainstorming here. No firm conclusions or definitive answers.

fwiw