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.
;)
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