Skip to main content

Unconventional = Good

Anyone who analyzes enough entertainment media quickly begins to notice a few patterns. Every story has a (usually white and male) protagonist who, along with his band of supporting characters, faces some kind of conflict, defeats the villain, and lives happily ever after. This is (an oversimplified summary of) the Hero's Journey, that pervasive force which consigns so many stories to the dustbin of sameness. This common theme makes all media somewhat similar, but within specific genres there are many more of these similarities, so much so that one quickly realizes that the vast majority of stories are just a bunch of prefabricated parts assembled in a predictable order with a new coat of paint slapped on to trick people into thinking its something different. For evidence of this, I direct you to go to TV Tropes, an incredible database of fictional tropes (common elements found in many different pieces of media). Once you're there, find the page of a movie you like and scroll down to the list of tropes. It will soon become clear that every character, event, location, or plot twist in that movie can be found in a host of other films.

In this depressing sludge of similarity, the definition of a good movie, book, or any other story changes. It is not enough for a show to be dramatic, well-acted, or cleverly written. It must be different from its multitude of of predecessors. In fact, being different becomes a primary measure of quality. My enjoyment of media is based in very large part on how unconventional they are. The protagonists of a story almost never die, so when the movie Rogue One ended with all of its heroes dead it greatly enhanced my opinion of the film. Almost all protagonists are ultimately fighting for good, so of course I love the anime Death Note, whose main character is a narcissistic, murderous psychopath. Homestuck is one of my all time favorite pieces of entertainment media in large part because it defies description. It isn't really a webcomic, or an adventure game, or a video series. It's truly unique. And in this world of copy-pasted stories, that's all I can really ask for.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Sebastian BabinJanuary 8, 2018 at 6:48 AM

    I think since Star Wars was bought by Disney, Disney has attempted to diversify the protagonists as seen in The Force Awakens. Hopefully they started a movement towards this so other producers will join in.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starman

(This poem may make more sense if you’ve seen what it’s about. If you haven’t, you can search for “Falcon Heavy Test Flight” on YouTube and skip to around 21:30 in the resulting video.) On the launch pad The first Falcon Heavy stands Fog flows from its three towering cores Jets of water rise in salute At the fire which kindles in their midst Surging smoke pours out from under, expanding outwards The rocket ascends Riding a tail of incandescent white Soaring into the wide blue Both boosters fall away Spinning and plummeting back Two pillars of steel pierce the sky from above And settle to Earth amid rings of flame Lines of glowing red stripe the upper engine’s smooth, wide nozzle The payload’s walls blast away In a blinding blaze of reflected sunlight A convertible drifts through the void Our planet’s reflection oozes across the car’s polished red surface A spacesuit is driving One arm draped over the side, it looks forward And flies off into...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is This Title Too Meta?

Let me tell you a tale of a land I once knew A land which was almost entirely blue A land which was not at all lacking heart But where, in the end, things fell apart In this blue land, there was too much disease So an alchemist said, “I will cure all of these” In his house of the spirits he mixed and he brewed And all the while on mangoes he chewed His concoctions bubbled and bubbled for years While the blue people kept on weeping tears “We want a cure now!” they begged at his door So the alchemist came and said with a roar “A new world we’ll have when I find the cure One that is brave , without weeping to hear So please stay patient, for I am working hard And do, if you would, get out of my yard” Longer and longer the alchemist worked And over his house a black cloud of soot lurked This darkness was rising up from his lab And blocking the sky like an old hardened scab “ Our beloved country is no longer blue!” Cried people as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Exult

What phoenix of fire and wires empowered our minds and sent forth our brains and imagination? Moloch! Civilization! Science! Beauty! Networks connecting, letters illuminating! Medicines sweeping away plague! Children safe in their laughter! People celebrating in the parks! Moloch! Moloch! Wonder of Moloch! Moloch who touches the stars! Moloch who sunders the atom! Moloch who banishes the darkness! Moloch who brings peace untold! Moloch who gave you a roof! Moloch who fed you, Moloch who clothed you, Moloch who taught you! Moloch whose memory gives us your thoughts! Moloch who caught your words from the very air and handed them through time! Moloch whose mind is pure humanity! Moloch whose blood is flowing words! Moloch whose eyes are a billion curious questions! Moloch whose cities shelter the artist! Moloch whose farms sustain the wonderer! Moloch who stands before Death, and strives against it, and drives the spectre back! Moloch who knits the nations! Moloch who slips the...
Post a Comment
Read more