The Joy of Tropes

 

The Joy of Tropes

As anyone who has read my novels may be aware, I like to play with tropes. I like to try at least to puncture expectations and point out the kind of plots and characters a narrative tends to rely on with big fat signposts. I don’t like to let the obvious and predictable pass by without comment. Sad as it sounds, that’s my idea of fun. ;)

But – and here’s the thing – I point them out while trying to adhere to a satisfying narrative structure myself. Stories where the bad guys win and everyone dies horribly do exist, but they aren’t much fun for the audience – there needs to be the escape, the payoff, the triumph in order to leave the reader smiling and satisfied. There needs to be victory over adversity, a price or a heroic sacrifice to make the moment hard earned – an easy victory is no fun either, there has to be some drama or strife. That is what makes a tale worth telling.

So while I poke at tropes, oddly enough I don’t actually have that much objection to them being used in the name of telling a fun story. It doesn’t interfere with my enjoyment. Indeed, sad nutter than I am, predicting the plot to come – and being proved right – is just as fun for me as being surprised by an unexpected twist. And an absolute prime example of this?

The Jurassic Park/World films.

I have just seen the latest one and as we all must know, these are as tropey as they come. Like most of you, I suspect, I also accurately predicted the fate (and manner of fate in several cases) of every single character in said film by using the below simple predictions – because the formula is always the same.

Male and female leads always survive. However imperilled they seem, they ain’t for chomping.

Examples of this: Alan Grant, Ellie Satler, Ian Malcolm, Sarah Harding, Owen Grady, Claire Dearing and [SPOILER FOR JWR] Zora Bennett, Henry Loomis.

Anyone under the age of eighteen is also safe as houses, if probably scarred for life. Their guardians are generally also pretty safe, unless they are evil.

Examples of this: Lex, Tim, John Hammond, Kelly, Eric, Amanda & Paul Kirby, Zach, Gray, Maisie and [SPOILER FOR JWR] the Delgados and Xavier.

Anyone nefarious or greedy and self serving – especially if they endanger the kiddies - is not only doomed but will suffer the Ironic Death. You know they are dead from the outset and you can generally be pretty sure who or what or under what circumstances they will be taken out. It’s just a matter of time.

Examples of this: Donald Gennaro, Dennis Nedry, Dieter Stark, Peter Ludlow, Hoskins, Eli Mills, Wheatley, Gunnar Eversol, Rainn Delacourt, Lewis Dodgson and [SPOILER FOR JWR] Martin Krebs.

There will often be a secondary character, just below the leads, who will also be safe, although sometimes not before making an ultimately survivable Heroic Sacrifice (see below).

Examples of this: Ian Malcolm (first film only), Nick Van Owen, Billy, Barry, Franklin, Zia, Kayla and [BIG SPOILER for JWR] Duncan Kincaid.

There will also be what I call Character Disposables – they are decent, probably harmless (though occasionally gun totting), they get some character and a moment or two, but you know they are only there for one reason and is to enter the dinosaur food chain.

Examples of this: Muldoon, Mr Arnold, Eddie, Burke, Udetsky, Cooper, Nash, Zara, Mr Lockwood (though not killed by a dinosaur, he was killed because of them) and [SPOILER FOR JWR] Nina, Leclerc, Bobby

And then of course there are the Just Plain Disposable Disposables – anyone in a uniform generally falls into this category, certainly anyone in black body armour and/or carrying a gun or anyone doing less characterful nefarious things like chasing, buying or selling dinosaurs or shooting at them. They are literally just meat in clothing in the finest traditions of their kind.

And then of course comes the Heroic Sacrifice. This always happens but, despite seeming so, isn’t always fatal. Somebody will throw their life on the line, being willing to die generally to save a kiddie or the leads by lighting a flare (that one’s common, see Ian Malcolm, Claire Dearing and [SPOILER FOR JWR] Duncan Kincaid) or dying or seeming to die while trying to prevent others from doing so (see Muldoon, Eddie, Billy, Paul Kirby and strangely enough Blue the Velociraptor – twice).

Oh and there will always be a Tyrannosaurus Rex. That’s just basic. It may seem to die but it never will.

And I knew all that was coming before I even went in and identified each and every one long before it happened. Because sometimes it’s kind of fun to be in on the trope and get what you anticipate – there’s a satisfaction in that. Sometimes an audience simply wants their straightforward expectations met. Because at the end of the day, it makes one feel a part of things and where’s the harm in that?

Unless one is a Disposable, being chewed by a dinosaur. Obviously. ;)