Myth and World Building

[tashiro]

I've had a conversation with Cat (and others) about the Supernatural series, and world building.  Specifically, Cat feels that the creators of Supernatural 'didn't do their homework', and while this may be true, I think for the setting, it doesn't matter that much.  The other thing is, the series doesn't really explain where monsters come from, or

Comments

[shiftercat]

First of all, you should use LJ-cut.

On to exactly why you're wrong...

You know, you could use the exact same logic to say, "It's not that the writers failed in basic medical knowledge, it's just that in this universe, humans' pituitary glands are actually in the back of their heads, so that's why the critter kept leaving holes directly behind her victims' ears. And they wouldn't explain that because it's not the kind of thing characters would tell each other."

Um. No. There's "Okay, I'd handwave that," and there's "Are you fucking kidding me?" and that logic falls squarely into the latter camp

[brother_dour]

I'm not saying that I disagree with you, Cat, but Hollywood generally has their logic dial turned to about 3, while you generally operate at about 11...

[brother_dour]

Gah. Curiosity is eating me alive already. Given your criticism of Supernatural, I'm really curious to know what you think about Hellboy or The Brothers Grimm. And this sudden surge in folklore-themed TV shows (True Blood, Once Upon a Time, Grimm)...

[shiftercat]

From what I've seen and read of Hellboy, Mike Mignola & co. know their stuff. Take, for example, the animated feature Hellboy: Sword of Storms: as well as including some of the more well-known yokai such as kappa and kitsune, it has a scene in which some objects suddenly animate themselves and dance with the investigators. They never explained on-screen what those were, and I'm sure some viewers' reaction was, "Wow, that was random," but someone who's looked into Japanese folklore (as Kit had) would recognize that those were some inanimate-object-spirits (whose proper name escapes me).

As for Brothers Grimm, um, which one are you referring to? If it's the new TV show, I haven't had a chance to see much of it yet; if you're talking about the Terry Gilliam movie from a few years back, that was such an artistic mess that I don't think anyone involved had a good idea of what they were supposed to be doing in any respect.

The Canadian TV series Lost Girl is another example of a series doing its own thing with folklore, but showing that

Two Cents

[marinredwolf]

I find specific explanations are less important to my enjoyment than the feeling that there is a coherent, consistent explanation.

Revelations that come along the way because characters learn more are good for immersion, as the audience can see bits "behind the curtain" at the same time. Dresden Files does that over the course of the series. Predator offered interesting glimpses via character deduction and monster behavior without resorting to blatant a "here's how things work." On the other hand, it's jarring to go through a book or something (Geist comes to mind) where the audience is told constantly that supernatural rules are not working the way they have for known history.

Tangentially, this is sort of why I never liked your Furryfaire afterlife theory. You said, more or less, "what happens depends on what faith you belong to," which is pretty much saying everyone is right, even if their beliefs conflict. And if there's any ultimate cohesion to that, it wasn't apparent, instead leaving me with the distinct feeling that where

Note to all commenters...

[shiftercat]

FYI, anyone who might be thinking of posting, "They can't get their facts wrong -- none of this stuff is real anyway, so who cares! Hurr hurr hurr, I R so clever1!" ...STFU. Seriously. If you don't understand why mythology and such are important, or you don't care, then you have nothing useful to add here.