Musings and a Meme
A lot of people have been mentioning that season 5 of Doctor Who is more plot-heavy, while seasons 1-4 were more character-heavy. Some people love the changes, while others are not exactly thrilled. And that's started me thinking about which is more important to a story... character development or plot development?
I read an article recently by someone who took the position that plot is more important, especially for Doctor Who. Thats how the series started out, after all. The author said the Doctor and his companion should be mysterious figures who show up and save the day in various ways without getting bogged down by emotional issues. We don't really need to know about anyone's family or backstory, other than an ocassional reference, and if you're interested in drama you should be watching a soap opera, not a sci-fi show.
That's not how I see it though. I mean, there has to be a plot for there to be a story at all, but in order for me to care about what's happening I first need to care about who it's happening to. I want to see how people change because of what happens to them. And I enjoy seeing that development under the extraordinary circumstances available in sci-fi shows more than under mundane circumstances in soap operas.
For me, at least, it's the characters that drew me to Doctor Who in the first place. The first episode I ever saw was Parting of the Ways, and I came into that half-way through. It was late at night, I was sick, and I needed something to watch. The plot was familiar, an alien fleet about to attack a space-station and a small band of rebels attempting to hold them off. But it wasn't until the Doctor sent Rose away that I started to feel invested in what was happening. The hologram message to "Have a good life," and Rose's desperation to get back made me curious about the relationship between the two characters, and where they had come from. Then of course Rose became Bad Wolf and the Doctor used the line, "I think you need a doctor," and I thought it was about the cheesiest thing on the planet... but I still wanted to see more. I went back and watched the entire first series, and by the time I got back to PotW I forgot about how cheesy it was because I'd come to care about the characters, probably more than I should, lol.
Although I do understand how overattention to characters can sometimes undermine the plot. There were were a million emotional/goodbye scenes in both Journey's End and End of Time. I loved those parts, but it left very little time for actual plot, which ended up being, "Something threatens to destroy the entire universe and is stopped with the flick of a switch." Lots of buildup and angsting, but not much action- kind of like the last Twilight novel. ;) Then again, lots of exciting things have happened in the S5 finale so far, there's been a huge mystery built up about the series arc, the crack in time, and yet I am not quite as excited because I care less about the people involved. So is it possible to emphasize characters without sacrificing the plot in the process, and vice versa?
I think so. Of course no show is perfect, but I think LOST did a fantastic job of developing meaningful characters while still blowing the audience's minds with bizarre plot twists. And Firefly was great at balancing a colorful cast of characters with interesting and exciting situations. (Should never have been canceled. >:( ) Even so, the first few seasons of Doctor Who managed to top both those shows for me personally, mainly because of the characters.
Anyway, which is more important for your enjoyment of a show- plot or character?
Also, I have a little meme.
Tagged by danaems
1. On which continent do you live? North America
2. What color is your hair? Brown, but I dye it blonde
3. What is your favorite color? Blue
4. Who on your LiveJournal friend list are you friends with offline? None. All my offline friends are on Facebook, not LJ.
5. What is your favorite videogame? The Sims 2 and both Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPGs.
6. What kinds of animals have you had as pets? Fish, a hamster, a bird. I want a cat but I'm allergic. :(
7. What are your top 3 favorite television shows? Doctor Who, Quantum Leap, LOST
8. How many siblings do you have? Two younger sisters.
9. Mathematics: yea or nay? No way. I am finished with math classes forever.
10. Will you tag anyone? _thirty2flavors :)
I read an article recently by someone who took the position that plot is more important, especially for Doctor Who. Thats how the series started out, after all. The author said the Doctor and his companion should be mysterious figures who show up and save the day in various ways without getting bogged down by emotional issues. We don't really need to know about anyone's family or backstory, other than an ocassional reference, and if you're interested in drama you should be watching a soap opera, not a sci-fi show.
That's not how I see it though. I mean, there has to be a plot for there to be a story at all, but in order for me to care about what's happening I first need to care about who it's happening to. I want to see how people change because of what happens to them. And I enjoy seeing that development under the extraordinary circumstances available in sci-fi shows more than under mundane circumstances in soap operas.
For me, at least, it's the characters that drew me to Doctor Who in the first place. The first episode I ever saw was Parting of the Ways, and I came into that half-way through. It was late at night, I was sick, and I needed something to watch. The plot was familiar, an alien fleet about to attack a space-station and a small band of rebels attempting to hold them off. But it wasn't until the Doctor sent Rose away that I started to feel invested in what was happening. The hologram message to "Have a good life," and Rose's desperation to get back made me curious about the relationship between the two characters, and where they had come from. Then of course Rose became Bad Wolf and the Doctor used the line, "I think you need a doctor," and I thought it was about the cheesiest thing on the planet... but I still wanted to see more. I went back and watched the entire first series, and by the time I got back to PotW I forgot about how cheesy it was because I'd come to care about the characters, probably more than I should, lol.
Although I do understand how overattention to characters can sometimes undermine the plot. There were were a million emotional/goodbye scenes in both Journey's End and End of Time. I loved those parts, but it left very little time for actual plot, which ended up being, "Something threatens to destroy the entire universe and is stopped with the flick of a switch." Lots of buildup and angsting, but not much action- kind of like the last Twilight novel. ;) Then again, lots of exciting things have happened in the S5 finale so far, there's been a huge mystery built up about the series arc, the crack in time, and yet I am not quite as excited because I care less about the people involved. So is it possible to emphasize characters without sacrificing the plot in the process, and vice versa?
I think so. Of course no show is perfect, but I think LOST did a fantastic job of developing meaningful characters while still blowing the audience's minds with bizarre plot twists. And Firefly was great at balancing a colorful cast of characters with interesting and exciting situations. (Should never have been canceled. >:( ) Even so, the first few seasons of Doctor Who managed to top both those shows for me personally, mainly because of the characters.
Anyway, which is more important for your enjoyment of a show- plot or character?
Also, I have a little meme.
Tagged by danaems
1. On which continent do you live? North America
2. What color is your hair? Brown, but I dye it blonde
3. What is your favorite color? Blue
4. Who on your LiveJournal friend list are you friends with offline? None. All my offline friends are on Facebook, not LJ.
5. What is your favorite videogame? The Sims 2 and both Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPGs.
6. What kinds of animals have you had as pets? Fish, a hamster, a bird. I want a cat but I'm allergic. :(
7. What are your top 3 favorite television shows? Doctor Who, Quantum Leap, LOST
8. How many siblings do you have? Two younger sisters.
9. Mathematics: yea or nay? No way. I am finished with math classes forever.
10. Will you tag anyone? _thirty2flavors :)