Why is some fiction endowed with reality repellant?
This may just be a me thing, but I find it far too easy to get sucked into the reality of a fictional situation. Some fiction actively encourages this - Joss Whedon, George RR Martin, and other writers who subscribe to the "happiness sucks" school of writing do their best to make it clear that, in reality, X would really, massively suck. But there's also plenty of fiction that probably wasn't meant to be like that, but is for me - see why I haven't found a TV show I could get into in forever. Somehow the background (massive) suckage of the character's situation just overwhelms any chance the show has of being fun. (Alias, Burn Notice, new Doctor Who, etc, etc...)
And then there are fictions that are immune. Even if I recognize that there's rather a lot of suck in the characters' actual situation, it... has no effect. They are reality repellant fictions. Star Wars (at least the original movies, some EU stuff, and SW:TOR), at least one incarnation of James Bond, some Disney animated movies, some non-Disney animated movies, I think Pratchet's Ankh-Morpork Watch books manage it, and I'm fairly certain there are others. I can't decide if there's some inherent unreality about the fiction that manages it or what. I just know that these fictions are somehow inherently optimistic and/or very clearly run on narrativium. Even when they shouldn't be optimistic. At all.
The Watch books are comedies (and really do run on narrativium), but there are plenty of comedies I find horrific instead of funny, so it's not that. Likewise, there's plenty of awful stuff that seems awful in other kids things, including other Disney animated movies (that don't have reality repellant on them). So it's not about being funny or for kids. Besides, no James Bond movies are meant to be that - making them the odd things out.
But somehow, despite Goldeneye being intended to be more realistic - at least until we have tank chases and other over the topness - at least half the movie* and all three of the following Pierce Brosnan Bond movies (even Die Another Day) are covered in reality repellant. Bad dark things happen, mayhem happens, supervillains want to control/take over/whatever the world (or at least do considerable damage and kill lots of innocent people) and...its somehow all good fun. When it objectively should be setting off my "wow, that would be awful" detectors, it... isn't.
Star Wars is an even more bizarre case. Seriously dark shit happens in all three of the original movies, and yet, as I've noted before, they don't seem dark. At all. Even Empire isn't really all that dark feeling, and it's the darkest of the three. The rebellion isn't doing well, Luke is stuck in a swamp, there's betrayal and torture and maiming and... it's somehow all good fun? I don't get it.
Star Wars: The Old Republic takes it a step further and yet is still slathered in reality repellant. The Sith Empire is Eeeeevil, to ludicrous degrees at times, racist speciesist, slave keeping, dark mad science using, and filled with Sith, most of whom seem to find torture and death to be a bit of light entertainment. The Republic is a disaster, filled with corrupt officials, more speciesism, illegal prisons, homicidal military officers, and scientists and engineers working on horrible weapons of mass destruction that they then lose. Organized crime runs rampant throughout the galaxy and over all, it's a universe that should be really freaking dark. No one in their right mind would want to be a citizen of either government - even if the Republic, sadly, reminds me of modern America - and the class stories are full of betrayal, terrible (in multiple ways) leaders, and being asked to do bad, bad things. (As well as bad things being done to you.)
And yet, I'm merrily writing SW:TOR fan fiction specifically because my oh-god-this-would-actually-be-horrible alert that's kept me from writing does not kick in. Any time I try to contemplate creating a universe to write space adventure in, I get oh-god-that-would-actually-be-horrible. The same thing in SW:TORverse? Just fine.
WTF!?
Where do I purchase a large dose of reality repellant?
And, no, I can't figure out what causes the reality repelling. I don't think it's just that the characters have damn good plot armor - to the point of surviving doing terribly, terribly unwise things like refusing to bow to Sith**. I don't think it's just the music. I don't think it's just that one can generally say "no" to doing bad, bad things. I don't think it's just that it's Star Wars (after all, Star Wars has plenty of need of reality repellant itself).
You're wading through this galaxy that is phenomenally messed up. Neither government is good enough to side with (which is the very thing that inspired me to write fan fic in the first place: this universe so needs the A-Team***). A disturbing number of people (npcs) are varying degrees of untrustworthy, jerkish, or evil. The only space adventurey universe I can think of that's darker is freakin' 40K. It is objectively worse than the Vorkosiganverse. While seeming far lighter. How is this possible?
I couldn't create a universe so dark and write lighthearted adventure stories in it. The horrors would crush everything to darkness. I couldn't write lighthearted stories in any other universe. The horrors therein would crush everything to darkness. I don't get it. Is it as simple as my feeling responsible for the darkness if I create the universe? Did Lucas sprinkle magic pixy dust on all things Star Wars? What is going on in my weird, weird brain?
When I did write space adventure, it was in a much lighter universe. Though nearly every story could just as easily have taken place in Star Wars. And I can't even recreate my space adventure universe because the world building was all over the place. (And several parts Star Trek, Star Wars, and Vorkosiganverse.) And because of oh-god-that-would-be-horrible.
I guess I'll just keep at the fan fic until I stop getting oh-god-the-horror sinking feelings when I try to create my own space adventure universe.
*sigh*
I wonder if I could get Lucas to share the pixy dust...
*Basically everything but the bit where he drives wildly down a mountain and seduces the woman who's supposed to be evaluating him. That's icky.
** Note: I said surviving. Sith dislike insubordination. A lot.
*** Funny thing is, I've only ever seen a few episodes of the show, and watched the recent movie. I like the idea of the A-Team, but I don't like that it's intentionally lacking in women. Awesome idea and theme song, though.
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/124382.html.
And then there are fictions that are immune. Even if I recognize that there's rather a lot of suck in the characters' actual situation, it... has no effect. They are reality repellant fictions. Star Wars (at least the original movies, some EU stuff, and SW:TOR), at least one incarnation of James Bond, some Disney animated movies, some non-Disney animated movies, I think Pratchet's Ankh-Morpork Watch books manage it, and I'm fairly certain there are others. I can't decide if there's some inherent unreality about the fiction that manages it or what. I just know that these fictions are somehow inherently optimistic and/or very clearly run on narrativium. Even when they shouldn't be optimistic. At all.
The Watch books are comedies (and really do run on narrativium), but there are plenty of comedies I find horrific instead of funny, so it's not that. Likewise, there's plenty of awful stuff that seems awful in other kids things, including other Disney animated movies (that don't have reality repellant on them). So it's not about being funny or for kids. Besides, no James Bond movies are meant to be that - making them the odd things out.
But somehow, despite Goldeneye being intended to be more realistic - at least until we have tank chases and other over the topness - at least half the movie* and all three of the following Pierce Brosnan Bond movies (even Die Another Day) are covered in reality repellant. Bad dark things happen, mayhem happens, supervillains want to control/take over/whatever the world (or at least do considerable damage and kill lots of innocent people) and...its somehow all good fun. When it objectively should be setting off my "wow, that would be awful" detectors, it... isn't.
Star Wars is an even more bizarre case. Seriously dark shit happens in all three of the original movies, and yet, as I've noted before, they don't seem dark. At all. Even Empire isn't really all that dark feeling, and it's the darkest of the three. The rebellion isn't doing well, Luke is stuck in a swamp, there's betrayal and torture and maiming and... it's somehow all good fun? I don't get it.
Star Wars: The Old Republic takes it a step further and yet is still slathered in reality repellant. The Sith Empire is Eeeeevil, to ludicrous degrees at times, racist speciesist, slave keeping, dark mad science using, and filled with Sith, most of whom seem to find torture and death to be a bit of light entertainment. The Republic is a disaster, filled with corrupt officials, more speciesism, illegal prisons, homicidal military officers, and scientists and engineers working on horrible weapons of mass destruction that they then lose. Organized crime runs rampant throughout the galaxy and over all, it's a universe that should be really freaking dark. No one in their right mind would want to be a citizen of either government - even if the Republic, sadly, reminds me of modern America - and the class stories are full of betrayal, terrible (in multiple ways) leaders, and being asked to do bad, bad things. (As well as bad things being done to you.)
And yet, I'm merrily writing SW:TOR fan fiction specifically because my oh-god-this-would-actually-be-horrible alert that's kept me from writing does not kick in. Any time I try to contemplate creating a universe to write space adventure in, I get oh-god-that-would-actually-be-horrible. The same thing in SW:TORverse? Just fine.
WTF!?
Where do I purchase a large dose of reality repellant?
And, no, I can't figure out what causes the reality repelling. I don't think it's just that the characters have damn good plot armor - to the point of surviving doing terribly, terribly unwise things like refusing to bow to Sith**. I don't think it's just the music. I don't think it's just that one can generally say "no" to doing bad, bad things. I don't think it's just that it's Star Wars (after all, Star Wars has plenty of need of reality repellant itself).
You're wading through this galaxy that is phenomenally messed up. Neither government is good enough to side with (which is the very thing that inspired me to write fan fic in the first place: this universe so needs the A-Team***). A disturbing number of people (npcs) are varying degrees of untrustworthy, jerkish, or evil. The only space adventurey universe I can think of that's darker is freakin' 40K. It is objectively worse than the Vorkosiganverse. While seeming far lighter. How is this possible?
I couldn't create a universe so dark and write lighthearted adventure stories in it. The horrors would crush everything to darkness. I couldn't write lighthearted stories in any other universe. The horrors therein would crush everything to darkness. I don't get it. Is it as simple as my feeling responsible for the darkness if I create the universe? Did Lucas sprinkle magic pixy dust on all things Star Wars? What is going on in my weird, weird brain?
When I did write space adventure, it was in a much lighter universe. Though nearly every story could just as easily have taken place in Star Wars. And I can't even recreate my space adventure universe because the world building was all over the place. (And several parts Star Trek, Star Wars, and Vorkosiganverse.) And because of oh-god-that-would-be-horrible.
I guess I'll just keep at the fan fic until I stop getting oh-god-the-horror sinking feelings when I try to create my own space adventure universe.
*sigh*
I wonder if I could get Lucas to share the pixy dust...
*Basically everything but the bit where he drives wildly down a mountain and seduces the woman who's supposed to be evaluating him. That's icky.
** Note: I said surviving. Sith dislike insubordination. A lot.
*** Funny thing is, I've only ever seen a few episodes of the show, and watched the recent movie. I like the idea of the A-Team, but I don't like that it's intentionally lacking in women. Awesome idea and theme song, though.
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/124382.html.