Yeah, not to yuck anyone’s yum, but this has been one of the reasons why I always thought fiction in general, but in particular superhero stories, anime etc., wasn’t that interesting.
Like, wow, you thought of some arbitrary description for how the villain is by far the strongest. Except for that other villain in the next episode, of course, who’s even strongester. Oh, and did I mention that our hero is a total weenie, but somehow also stronger than these guys? Crazy, isn’t it?
I know, you’re supposed to indulge these stories and not question them too much, but pattern-recognizing brain says no. 🫠
A super-powered character could have boring stories like that. What matters is the writers coming up with interesting questions that make readers think. Having super-powered characters simply opens the door to different questions.
“Holy Generalizations Batman! That guy just yucked our yums! Doesn’t he know fictional worlds allow writers unprecedented freedom to explore the human condition!?”
“No time for that now Robin! The Joker just broke out of Arkham again, and he’s practicing unlicensed dentistry!”
Most of the fiction I’ve been exposed to (which is a lot, I enjoy it very much and always have) isn’t like that. They don’t just describe someone as strong or evil, they describe actions and events and emotions from a specific perspective and let you come to your own conclusions.
I guess if you like stuff made for kids, teens, and young adults, you’ll run into that problem a lot more, but it’s not actually an overall problem with fiction as far as I’ve noticed. I’ve never really liked young adult fiction though, because it’s lacking in depth, much like you describe (some exceptions do apply of course).
Holy crap I was about to use the same yuck someone’s yum phrase to make the same point. Keep up the good work hive mind.
Edit: To clarify, in response to the shit storm of replies you got, I meant specifically that’s my issue with Marvel movies, and I assume that’s more what you meant, not all fiction ever.
Eh, I was kind of punting towards all of fiction there. With something like Scrubs (if we count that towards fiction), it doesn’t bother me, because the situations are realistic and then as many others said, it’s about the stories that unfold in that scenario.
But even copaganda or trash TV will play up each new case, e.g.: “Jeremias has not touched grass in 17 years. Will our team succeed in changing that?” and “The police has been on the hunt for this serial killer for 5 years. After 378 victims, will Shirley Holmes finally catch him?”.
I guess, yeah, it is also a matter of bad writers, though. It is far too easy to come to a point where you need drama and to then just make up big numbers with no credibility.
It’s not so much a problem plaguing fiction in general, but fiction that runs a long time.
If it’s a contained story with defined end that comes relatively soon enough, the stakes can be relatively fixed, arcs can run through to a logical conclusion, etc.
If you have unending, soap-opera like story, then you hit problems. Characters can never actually be fully realized, they have to have their development paused. Any romantic ‘will they/won’t they’ gets ludicrously drawn out. You usually get tougher plot armor because fans are really attached, or a revolving door of characters that you don’t get attached too, or people inevitably managing to be alive after having died. You have power creep where insurmountable challenges get overcome through progress and then something has to reset the new capabilities to table stakes.
Yeah, not to yuck anyone’s yum, but this has been one of the reasons why I always thought fiction in general, but in particular superhero stories, anime etc., wasn’t that interesting.
Like, wow, you thought of some arbitrary description for how the villain is by far the strongest. Except for that other villain in the next episode, of course, who’s even strongester. Oh, and did I mention that our hero is a total weenie, but somehow also stronger than these guys? Crazy, isn’t it?
I know, you’re supposed to indulge these stories and not question them too much, but pattern-recognizing brain says no. 🫠
A super-powered character could have boring stories like that. What matters is the writers coming up with interesting questions that make readers think. Having super-powered characters simply opens the door to different questions.
“Holy Generalizations Batman! That guy just yucked our yums! Doesn’t he know fictional worlds allow writers unprecedented freedom to explore the human condition!?”
“No time for that now Robin! The Joker just broke out of Arkham again, and he’s practicing unlicensed dentistry!”
This is basically the plot of all of Dragonball Z
You’re clearly trying to do this.
Most of the fiction I’ve been exposed to (which is a lot, I enjoy it very much and always have) isn’t like that. They don’t just describe someone as strong or evil, they describe actions and events and emotions from a specific perspective and let you come to your own conclusions.
I guess if you like stuff made for kids, teens, and young adults, you’ll run into that problem a lot more, but it’s not actually an overall problem with fiction as far as I’ve noticed. I’ve never really liked young adult fiction though, because it’s lacking in depth, much like you describe (some exceptions do apply of course).
Holy crap I was about to use the same yuck someone’s yum phrase to make the same point. Keep up the good work hive mind.
Edit: To clarify, in response to the shit storm of replies you got, I meant specifically that’s my issue with Marvel movies, and I assume that’s more what you meant, not all fiction ever.
Eh, I was kind of punting towards all of fiction there. With something like Scrubs (if we count that towards fiction), it doesn’t bother me, because the situations are realistic and then as many others said, it’s about the stories that unfold in that scenario.
But even copaganda or trash TV will play up each new case, e.g.: “Jeremias has not touched grass in 17 years. Will our team succeed in changing that?” and “The police has been on the hunt for this serial killer for 5 years. After 378 victims, will Shirley Holmes finally catch him?”.
I guess, yeah, it is also a matter of bad writers, though. It is far too easy to come to a point where you need drama and to then just make up big numbers with no credibility.
Yeah, I think you just might just hate formulaic genres. Let me guess, you also don’t like hero’s journey stories.
How do you feel about LeGuinn’s writing?
It’s not so much a problem plaguing fiction in general, but fiction that runs a long time.
If it’s a contained story with defined end that comes relatively soon enough, the stakes can be relatively fixed, arcs can run through to a logical conclusion, etc.
If you have unending, soap-opera like story, then you hit problems. Characters can never actually be fully realized, they have to have their development paused. Any romantic ‘will they/won’t they’ gets ludicrously drawn out. You usually get tougher plot armor because fans are really attached, or a revolving door of characters that you don’t get attached too, or people inevitably managing to be alive after having died. You have power creep where insurmountable challenges get overcome through progress and then something has to reset the new capabilities to table stakes.