I judge both sets of people, and both of those characters where my favorites, but I am okay with them not being around anymore, it is just entertainment...
I wouldn't read too much into him not writing about happy people, because as far as action/adventure and drama writers go, he is really not alone. Tons of writers only ever seem to writer miserable people. Because he's right, there isn't much of a story with happy people. Happy people belong in comedies where nothing bad ever happens.
Plus some of his characters really are happy, they are just happy for a certain period of time until something bad happens and reality smacks them in the face. It makes his characters more realistic, especially when we are talking about worlds like Buffy's where demons are everywhere and you are constantly fighting for your life, sometimes people are going to die and stuff is just going to suck. Personally I'd rather see that then a character reacting like, "Well the world is about to end, all my friends are dead but who cares let's be happy LOL" or my least favorite action/adventure stories where despite all the fighting no one ever dies and you start to wonder WHY.
"Happy people belong in comedies where nothing bad ever happens."
Yeah, you know actually in real life, people are usually happy and sad at different times, usually according to different situations? Happiness and sadness are not mutually exclusive. Sadness is not "reality". Sadness is part of reality, but it is no more "real" than happiness. If sad things happening to you is reality smacking you in the face, then getting over sad things and becoming happy again is also reality smacking you in the face.
I don't see what's so hard about writing the character being happy for a period, then miserable for a period, then working to get over their misery and all the shit that happened to them, and being happy for a while again. Ugh there was a great Doctor Who quote, which paraphrased is basically "the good things in life don't always make the bad things better, but the bad things don't ruin the good things either."
Just my take on it . . . because Fry needs to be saved from his own stupidity quite frequently, and Leela is strong and kicks ass? If their genders are reversed, it just feeds into stereotypes of women being moronic and helpless and need the strapping men to save them? (Not to mention how Fry feels for and pursues Leela romantically.)
I think you are overthinking this, because the characters were not originally designed as a bumbling woman who can't take care of herself, and a big strong man who can. Changing their personalities just because their sexes changed, now that would be insulting and problematic.
I'm watching it on overseas tv right now. It's the ep where so and so (not saying cause it's a spoiler) gets shot in the head, goes into a coma, vists his memories and dies. What season is it? I haven't seen this series from the beginning but just watching that ep gets me teary eyed. I really need to marathon it.
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Plus some of his characters really are happy, they are just happy for a certain period of time until something bad happens and reality smacks them in the face. It makes his characters more realistic, especially when we are talking about worlds like Buffy's where demons are everywhere and you are constantly fighting for your life, sometimes people are going to die and stuff is just going to suck. Personally I'd rather see that then a character reacting like, "Well the world is about to end, all my friends are dead but who cares let's be happy LOL" or my least favorite action/adventure stories where despite all the fighting no one ever dies and you start to wonder WHY.
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Yeah, you know actually in real life, people are usually happy and sad at different times, usually according to different situations? Happiness and sadness are not mutually exclusive. Sadness is not "reality". Sadness is part of reality, but it is no more "real" than happiness. If sad things happening to you is reality smacking you in the face, then getting over sad things and becoming happy again is also reality smacking you in the face.
I don't see what's so hard about writing the character being happy for a period, then miserable for a period, then working to get over their misery and all the shit that happened to them, and being happy for a while again. Ugh there was a great Doctor Who quote, which paraphrased is basically "the good things in life don't always make the bad things better, but the bad things don't ruin the good things either."
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I may have read too much into / overthought this.
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