Trippin on Tropes
April 9, 2020 8:21 am Leave your thoughts
image: N. Stahl
“A literary trope is the use of figurative language, via word, phrase or an image, for artistic effect such as using a figure of speech. The word trope has also come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works.” – wikipedia
I like tropes.
A lot.
I don’t just mean the loosely-moulded ones eg: random boy meets girl but they aren’t really suited so it’s hard for them to match each other’s lifestyles…cue a bunch of crazy drama and a ROM-COM stamp on the Netflix release.
I mean the ones that are remakes of a tale we all know too. Think, Romeo and Juliet (and all it’s versions) and things like CINDER (Marissa Myer) and, it can be terrible and no one else in the world can like that version, but I will probably enjoy reading it. If the interpretation is different, or strange, even better. I like someone else’s interpretation of art or traditional/pop culture. Motifs and themes are the same but the intricacies of someone’s life and experience make it different enough for me to enjoy.
Isn’t it interesting how your background, culture, experiences, sexual preference, diet and other can dictate your opinions and interpretations? Your likes and dislikes can manifest in the way of creating fiction based on your perceptions and what you think might be important to showcase.
Mean.
The general attitude towards tropes seems to be that they are for lazy people and “the less imaginative.” I think it’s the opposite! History repeats, human are predictable and I think we’re always going to come across similarities in any story – fiction or real life. I think it’s harder to take a well-known notion and twist it enough to entertain an audience in an entirely different way.
KOS has tropes. *shrugs*
If you’re creating a book or movie, it’s probably difficult to come up with something truly original. I didn’t think about how I’d make my novels different, they would be anyway, because I did it and there is only one of me (insert some ‘be yourself/one in a million’ BS here.)
I didn’t think the Darkrose Novels were totally original or break-through…Come on, it started as a story about a kick-ass woman who did stuff and she wasn’t written as a sex symbol type. That seemed different enough at the time and was born of my frustration growing up. When I started writing Cleo, there weren’t too many female leads that I was aware of who didn’t have their ridiculously-sized racks out for any reason…and I digress, but to me the fact Cleo didn’t and that she was a capable person was all the difference I needed.
Two main tropes I see a lot recently:
Female MC trope; Now it seems Hollywood is really pushing “strong females” who are so strong they have to shove it in the audience’s face every ten seconds and remind them through bitchy digs at the male gender or reiteration on how said female lead doesn’t need anyone’s help. *BTW Where was this culture when I was growing up angry at a PE coach making us suddenly play “touch rugby” only because I was a pubescent girl in a team of boys? Where was it when I first wanted to watch MMA but it was just me and a group of 20 men at the bar, and their bored and bewildered girlfriends in the corner whispering about me? LOL #angst #timeschange.
It’s good to have a range of heroes and main characters of both genders -don’t get me wrong- but it’s not being groundbreaking and original. The only thing that might be is to have a female lead who doesn’t draw attention to the fact she’s a female or throw shade at everyone else who isn’t.
The sexual tension trope; will they/won’t they dynamic wasn’t the primary focus in KOS because it wasn’t very important to the story at that time but it does have that going on. The dynamic Starr and Darkrose have is not original either. It just flowed better than others they could have had in KOS. We all want a subplot or two worthy of being spared when you “murder darlings.” That type of subplot excites and makes me want to know more because there are so many obstacles that people like Agent Starr and Darkrose would have to deal with to have any sense of a “normal” relationship. There are a lot of avenues their subplot adventures could take and…*spoilers* those have already been chosen for those characters but…there’s always a chance for a twist.
img: H Rictcher
TV dramas tend to have the will they/won’t they vibe between main characters of the opposite sex because it drives interest and stretches things out for longer…
Oh no, there’s no murders to solve in this episode, let’s make them kiss and then fight about it! That’ll tide us over for two eps.
It’s kind of like when the ratings are tanking so some lady gets her rack out and more people watch for a few weeks.
I don’t think Cleo will get her rack out for ratings but maybe when she is drawn as fanfic/comic-style because that style is awesome. Hint, hint, yes. Somebody draw me something! 😛
*I’m going to time myself for 1 min and see if I can come up with types of tropes you can probably identify in movies and books and without a degree in English Lit:
“The Chosen One – Matrix Neo, normal person falls ass-backwards into a huge destiny”
“Luke I am Your Father, your family is evil AF but you didn’t know.”
“Virgin in a horror movie who runs but then trips over nothing and gets caught.” #disposableteen.
“Geek to chic – the ugly duckling becomes the hottie and teaches all the mean people a lesson”
“Star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet – these people shouldn’t be together but they are.”
“Vampires are regular people and they’re 438 years old but they fall in love with a 17 year old from present day who they have nothing in common with.”
“Someone returns to their small town and discovers something and fights people and saves the town.”
“Messed up guy who meets a crazy-fun girl who makes him see another side to life.”
“The Noble Savage, some otherworldly race of aliens whose leader understands humans/some guy who lives in the bush and helps people who are lost.”
“Robot, angel, puppet, alien or monster wanting to be human and have the human experience.”
How many can you come up with?
TLDR:
*Tropes can be satisfying, exciting and funny.
*It’s almost impossible to come up with a book or movie that is 100% original.
*Don’t make the lead female get her rack out for ratings, Mr Television Producer, it’s boring now!