13 / 13
Oct 15

I just feel like ranting a bit, because I've been getting so sick of it lately...I'm just now realizing that maybe there's a reason the first original comic project I've actually started working on in YEARS features a story where all the characters take everything so seriously that that's the comedy. Because I'm just so tired of the opposite...I'm tired of "so quirky" protagonists; I'm tired of the self-deprecating jokes; I'm tired of characters who will essentially stare point-blank into the camera and announce that they don't want their story to exist.

I'm sure most of you are thinking of the MCU, but I feel like this sort of writing predates that, and "he's right behind me, isn't he" just gave it new life, catapulting it into the mainstream. And although audiences are already getting tired of it, production cycles haven't caught up to that yet. AND, now we have a whole generation of young writers who basically grew up with it and have it ingrained in their skillset, despite their attempts to play with it or 'explore' it...

What initially got me thinking about this was, unfortunately, a popular artist I used to follow on Tumblr. I'm not naming names because I'm trying to put this behind me, and in any case they've done nothing wrong. They just happened to come up with a shiny new story idea where the central conceit is that the main character does not want to be there. They hate their special magical powers and they don't want them, and every aspect of their magical protagonist life is an annoyance to them, and that's the joke. Along with, y'know, actual jokes to prop up their opinion that are just weak and stupid nonsense.

I get that I'm supposed to be laughing at their goofy reasoning for wanting to be excused from their own story, but I'm just not here for it anymore. Like, y'know what, MC character? If you really hate being a protagonist so much, then don't be one. Just quit. Sit and do nothing and let the world get destroyed...or just admit that you actually do love everyone and everything and want to protect your friends and stop wasting my time. I cannot imagine sitting through a whole series watching this character essentially just blatantly lie about their values and desires for the sake of 'subverting expectations'.

And watching this artist's fans flock to this idea in droves; drawing fan art of their cute character designs and comparing it to MADOKA MAGICA of all things (tell me you didn't watch that anime without telling me you straight up did not watch it)...it legitimately made me furious. I was actually angry every time I saw them talking about it, and that's when I knew I needed to just unfollow. Last I heard, they're making an animatic pilot for the concept (because they're a professional storyboarder and they can just do that), and good for them, but I hope to God I never see it and never hear about it. Maybe in a year or two I'll cool off and I won't care, but right now I'm just done. Sick and tired.

A couple weeks after that debacle, I started thinking about this issue again, concerning two Netflix animated series I'd had on the edges of my radar for a while: Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld, and Tomb Raider: the Legend of Lara Croft. Both look pretty stylish, with good animation...but, based on artstyle and concept alone, I was much more interested in Jentry Chau initially. Cutely designed young protagonist with a FANTASTIC name, fighting demons with neon pink flames?? Sign me up. ^^
Lara Croft, on the other hand...I had no real interest in her show, or in the Tomb Raider franchise as a whole. Tbh it feels like something I'd be straight-up ideologically opposed to...and it seemed to have that 'grey-and-gritty DCAU' artstyle that I'm not particularly fond of...so why would I even bother?

After recently seeing the trailers for the shows, however, my opinions have completely flipped. '_'

Literally the first line of Jentry Chau's Netflix trailer is "Does this outfit say: 'I'm fun! Approachable! And definitely won't set fire to you'...??"
And my heart immediately sank like a deflated balloon. ಠ╭╮ಠ Especially after hearing the other character's lamely written (and honestly horribly delivered) response. There are only a few lines of dialogue in the whole trailer, and NONE of them are remotely interesting. "Fabulous. We're all dead" SO ARE MY HOPES AND DREAMS. IT SHOULD BE ME SCREAMING INTO THAT PILLOW.

So if all I can look forward to from the writing of the show is aggravating characterization tropes that have been regurgitated unchanged from 2005, all that's left is the monster fights....which don't look good enough to carry it, IMO. Despite the strong human character designs, the monsters all look really boring, as if each one was just copy+pasted from some horror movie without integrating THIS show's artstyle into their designs. The combat animation is fine but nothing special, and the FX are kinda lame. Her special powered-up form is just an ugly flame cape and flame hair? Assuming that sad-looking minidress and boots aren't also part of the look...what a letdown.

Meanwhile, the Legend of Lara Croft trailer actually...genuinely piqued my interest. '_' What's that you're offering me?? Character development? Introspection?? Real stakes outside of "I'm 14/15/16/17 so I shouldn't have to deal with this???"
The idea of Lara exploring a traumatic past and chasing someone down on a globe trotting adventure wasn't something I expected from my limited understanding of the franchise, and the way they presented it made it look kinda cool. Reminded me of Nikita and Noir, two mature action-heavy shows starring female leads that I've really been missing lately...it makes me feel like, even if I'm still ideologically opposed to the character after seeing her in action, I might be willing to stay and watch her adventure anyway, as long as there's a deeper story to tell.

Plus, the artstyle and combat animation look better than I expected. It's like all the issues I had with Castlevania Nocturne's animation, magically addressed in this totally different production. ^^ The compositing adds weight to the art instead of muddying up the movement. The animation is simple but well-paced and well-framed, emphasizing the action.

I'm seriously thinking about watching the show...and not just because of the low emotional stakes (i.e. if it does disappoint me, it's not like I was that invested anyway). I just miss that sincerity in Western animation...it's been so long since I've seen it. I pivoted to goofy comedy cartoons because it felt like swinging to the other extreme was my only option...but now, for the first time, I feel like maybe I could experience that kind of immersion again in a long-form series. I really hope so.

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This has been going on for a long time, at least 20 years now. Nothing is taken seriously. The people in the story know they are in a story, it's not real life to them. If you were attacked in real life by sparkly zombies that left glitter were they walked, you wouldn't make comments how "gay" it was. They are trying to eat you and that is your reality. When in the last Spider-man movie the three idiots were making fun of Dr.Oc's name, it takes away from the fact he just killed people on a bridge earlier that day. People do not act like this in real life, this is writers trying to say "I know you think this is dumb and silly, I agree with you." It's lazy writing. The other thing I hate is meta humour, which is everywhere. Having characters make jokes that only the audience understand or get, which in character they wouldn't get is getting very annoying. I watched the Dungeon and Dragons movie a couple weeks ago, and it was filled with that. As a fan, I played D&D when I was a kid, but this movie killed me. They couldn't just make a badass movie, they had to have stupid meta humour. Having the characters from the D&D cartoon running around in the maze made me roll my eyes. Nothing can be taken straight or serious anymore.

Fans of Tomb Raider are not happy with the netflix show at all. I'm not a big fan, and no little about it. But in today's market, I'll always default to fans if they don't like something, as I have seen what they have done to IPs I like.

Oh, I think I know who you're talking about haha. Is it the one that also did storyboards on Big City Greens?

If it is, who I think it is. Then I gotta say, the concept of it could work. Because they describe being a super powered person as "a job", you could play with the idea of the mind-numbingness of the 9 to 5. How turning your passion into a job risk the real danger of you losing that passion. Or how spending time with friends and family, is far more fulfilling than the corporate grind. It's just that the job in question here is a fantasy one.

That said, I doubt they're actually going in that direction, because that would actually be taking the subject serious. And I do think they're more likely to got the "haha, isn't it funny how subversive I am" route.

....Probably. ^^;

I had similar thoughts in the beginning, when I was still willing to see where it could go...like, ^that could be a smart way to go about it. Give real reasons why the fantasy job is unfulfilling; have the character state what they actually think is more worthwhile.

Or, y'know, actually explore the MC actively trying to get rid of their powers, and maybe regretting that decision later. A story where the character gives up their chosen one powers to someone else, later sees those powers used against the world with catastrophic results, and then willingly gets back in the fight using only their wits, creativity, and prior knowledge of their old power...that would be hardcore as hell.

But no, I guess stupid puns are better...just keep insisting that magic is lame and saving people is SO annoying, while forcing the character to do it anyway because otherwise there wouldn't be a story and we all know it...

Yeah, it does seem like they're just trying to go for an apathy fueled sailor moon sort of thing.

The thing that really did it for me was the description of the hero's magical being. Literally a character that goes through the motions and has completely given up. It could imply an arc where they get motivated again, but nothing indicates that it's going to be there. Seems like they're rellying on the idea that a bored cosmic being is just that funny.

I can't speak to the animation side of your post because if it's not Bob's Burgers, The Simpsons, or Scooby Doo, I have very little patience for animation.

But from the writing side, you're pointing out a trend I've seen happen more and more. People write to trope. Their characters aren't "real" people existing in their "world" and their life is the plot. The characters are designed to be as quirky and relatable as possible. This also means the "Jim" move is now super popular because it's "relatable".

Like I'm sick of female characters with knives. I love a good knife. I was raised to be prepared, so having a good pocket knife or multi-tool comes with the territory of being prepared. But there are so many annoyingly sassy, knife-wielding boss babes out there that it's not fun anymore.

I love comedy and meta-humor. But the cleverness of the story is sacrificed for reliability.

Wh-where :flushed:

...In all seriousness, I feel like this speaks to a different albeit slightly-related issue, about inexperienced writers thinking that giving a character a prop is the same as giving them a personality. You can do the hard work of building up a character as threatening and unhinged, having them say and do things that risk making the other characters and/or the audience uncomfortable...or you can just put a weapon in their hands and have them gesture with it while tossing out edgy one-liners. :T

I haven't seen much of this in professional work though; it's mostly in amateur webcomics/webnovels. And it can be irritating, seeing right through these shallow attempts at characterization, refusing to be 'forced' to see a character a certain way and waiting for the writer to 'prove' it, to no avail...but I don't spend enough time with work of that caliber to be truly bothered by it. ^^;

It's also related to the reason why I mentioned being tired of "so quirky" protagonists-- I define that as giving a character one or two unusual traits on top of a relatively milquetoast personality (or much worse, insisting that a life-alteringly unusual trait can coexist with a milquetoast personality by simply refusing to explore it) and then expecting the audience to immediately be intrigued by how they fit together.

I mean, I get it. But it's been done to DEATH. I'm tired of milquetoast and "ordinary teenagers" being the basis of these stories, and after spending my entire childhood and young adulthood with these characters, I have to assume that corporate meddling is the reason we're still getting so many.

Like, it's not enough that original stories are being strangled in infancy to make room for infinite sequels and reboots, but the few that actually manage to survive to the screen are so often filled with "Unique conflicts are such a pain, amirite?? You're probably wondering how I got into this incredibly interesting fictional situation...allow me to explain why it's nothing but a big stupid intrusion on my ordinary life, because even though you explicitly came to this story to be entertained by it, society dictates that going to work and school and being "normal" is the only point of human existence, and we need to reinforce that idea as often as possible...!"

I have mixed feelings about this, because on the one hand, I'm currently writing a comic that has some of these "this feels like fiction" themes, and a main character who bemoans having to skip school to save the world... so I feel like I have to defend it a little, lol.

On the other hand, 1) she ultimately cares more about saving the world than her grades, even if she complains about it sometimes, 2) the themes tie into the plot, and 3) it used to be a lot worse?? Like I look back at my old drafts and there's so much unnecessary "This feels like it's out of a comic book" dialogue, and it's so blatantly obvious that I was just self-consciously bashing on my own writing. Like I couldn't stop saying "Haha I know this is cringe, let's laugh at how cringe it is!" while ironically just making it more cringe. Eventually I decided to be kinder to both my readers and myself by letting myself take it seriously.

I guess what I'm saying is, to the entire entertainment industry: embrace cringe

Booktok romantasy. Two series come to mind where the sheltered FMC gets a "pass" from obeying her highly-trained, battle-proven ML's advice because she's good with a knife.

Yeah, it's an umbrella problem or rather a reverse umbrella problem. There are so many shortcuts one could take to write a story. But only an experienced writer makes it good.

Your point is exactly why I say that people LOVE to write to trend. I read once that the Mary Sue trope was originally created by a girl who wanted to insert herself into the fictional world she enjoyed and be "useful" in the story. The idea wasn't bad originally. When the Mary Sue became standard fare, people wanted to subvert it and still make the character likeable. That's why so many bland characters have a huge sweet tooth but never gain weight, are such nerds because they like X franchise, and are clumsy. They aren't perfect so by basic logic they aren't flat characters.

I must say, I've long since given up on modern American animation (most of it's outsourced to Korea anyway). These days, if it's not anime, I just say nope. :yum:

If I were to have it a guess on why such things are so prevalent now-a-days, I would say people are scared of writing sincerity.

I feel I don't mind goofy stuff or a bit of silliness as long as the story knows when it's time to put that stuff aside and really put forth emotion with sincerity. If the character is a bit whacky when things are going well, I'm alright with it, but the moment that seeps into scenes that should be serious or filled with danger or emotion it ruins it for me. Instead of being engulfed in the story's world and problems I'm slapped with the reality that this is fiction. It's nothing but a stark reminder I should not take anything seriously within the narrative. The author spitting in my face if I dare try and take a scene they built seriously.

Emotions are cringe or whatever, but it's way more interesting to have them explored than dismissed with a "Well THAT just happened" type joke. More so when it's the protagonist-- though it is incredibly annoying with side characters too. If they're a character I'm following I want them to struggle, I want them to be on the verge of breaking, I want to see them be mired in their feelings and situation-- I want to watch them get up and give it their all. I want to take people's worlds and narratives in but I can't do that without sincerity on their end.

I know that such humour is meant to make characters fun and relatable, but frankly I think it makes them dull and absurd. But I suppose I'm not a big comedy person. I'll write the odd joke into a comic, a small handful of characters with whimsy, but even a glance at my "novel" writing shows I'm not a big "ha ha funny" type gal. I always assumed that's why I wasn't a big fan, honestly. But that's all coming from someone who's writing style was born of reading gothic stuff from the 1800s and thus ruining any chance I can write a normal conversation between normal characters that isn't wildly embellished and flowery and perhaps a little over emotional. So perhaps I too am absurd.

@remiquise Totally agree! That's why I try to be as descriptive as possible when I'm dealing with my character's emotions. Chapter 2 of my series "From a Ruined World" hit pretty hard for me, because I was trying to understand how someone would feel after the death of their spouse. It's really difficult to put yourself in someone else's shoes, which is why I think a lot of authors these days tend to shy away from it.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of that kind of writing in many shows nowadays. It might've been subversive when it first came out, but since everyone's doing it, it just seems bland and boring, and it personally makes me groan.

Of course, the only comic I've posted online has comedy, but it's the traditional kind, you know. Like the kind you see in classic American comic strips. Then again, my comic is supposed to be a slice-of-life comedy.

I've been planning on writing a magical girl series where a girl gets superpowers after some kind of happenstance, but the girl is quite happy to get those magical powers and wants to defeat bad guys. Since it's still in its infancy, I haven't posted it online yet, but I will, if I get the chance, along with many other ideas I have in mind.