I have a very good friend with whom I share a lot of TV and books and movies who once described watching Torchwood as being like crack: you know its terrible for you, you know its not amazing TV, but you have to keep watching, and when you don't, you go through withdrawal. I thought the part about having to keep watching and withdrawal to be apt (I have not examined Torchwood closely enough to decide whether its really terrible or not, I think its because I'm scared to). But the point is, some shows are like crack, and I think a prime example is Glee.
Glee's pull is the music. A show where people sing? Its like having a musical every episode and that's awesome. I love musical episodes -- they tend to be my favorite episode in a series. I love musicals in general, and so I decided to try Glee.
The major problem with Glee is not the characters (though they could use some work), nor is the plot (hackneyed and cliche in some places), its the pacing. I know I have already discussed pacing -- but that was the good kind of pacing, the kind that draws you in and compels you to keep going. Glee either is attempting this and failing, or the writers have no idea what's going on.
I started Glee after four episodes had aired and felt the compulsion to tear my hair out. They stuff so much plot into those four episodes that it feels like a full half season. Rachel and Finn happen far too quickly, the emotional pull of Emma and Will is too rapid for me to love them. Quinn is pregnant and its really Puck's, but she makes Finn think its his, and Terri is faking a pregnancy. Too much stuff is going on in four episodes for one season, let alone four episodes. The problem continues as the show goes on.
The central plot at the beginning of the series -- that glee club has to succeed in order to continue -- fizzles and dies as the series gets its back nine and so we lose the suspense that could have been built. Terri has an outrageous plan that is so stupid it hurts and degrades Will's character to a chump. Seriously? He wasn't aware that his wife was being really weird about her pregnancy? The plot meanders in and out, and attempts to be interesting, but because it was blown too early, you lose that chance.
The other thing you lose is emotion. I found this particularly jarring in recent episodes when moments that are supposed to be heartwarming just didn't make sense. I am bothered by the Rachel finding her mother storyline. Yeah, it could be interesting eventually to find out about Rachel's mother -- but leave that for another couple of seasons! You have another two already ordered, why bring in something that forces emotionality on the audience when it hasn't been built too? I was confused, sincerely confused, as to why Rachel would want to find her mother. She explained at the beginning that her "two gay dads" had found a surrogate, and yet when the mother thing came up, she suddenly wanted to know why her mother had given her up.
Well, because your mother was a surrogate, and your two gay dads wanted you and had paid money to have you.
The sudden jump to finding her mother happened in two episodes -- and herein lies another problem. This show seems to not understand the concept of time. Terri has been faking her pregnancy since after Quinn got pregnant, and yet Terri had to start padding right away while Quinn still looks like she's not in the slightest pregnant. Additionally, Terri's plan to have Quinn give her the baby during Quinn's spring break seems to be all wrong, as spring break for Jesse already happened and Quinn still doesn't look pregnant. We also spend so much time waiting for sectionals/regionals and get told its coming up so soon, yet because of that we lose the urgency that the writers were looking for.
I suppose the point of this is, Glee is an example of a show that has pacing problems. Its not a good show as a result, and is therefore like crack -- you have to keep watching it because maybe there will be a time when the writers realize what their doing and the show will become good. And in the meantime you get to listen to music. Yes, fast paced is good, but there is something to knowing when too much is happening in a show for its own good.
So take the lesson from Glee. Pacing is important. Work on it, and you might have something that is worth it, instead of just addictive (and will eventually make you lose your teeth).
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Characters (Avatar)
Last night, summer staff got together and watched Avatar. I had watched it when it was in theaters and had been thoroughly disappointed by the movie. I was really excited to go see it -- the graphics alone were exciting -- but also because I thought "Well, this will be entertaining." Unfortunately, TVtropes ruined my life, and it made enjoying the movie much harder. When I say TVtropes ruined my life, I don't mean that it made things worse -- in fact I love that TVtropes ruined my life. I can see the intricate web of story that entangles movies and novels and its a new level of enjoyment that I have found in being a consumer of entertainment. But it does mean when something cliche comes out -- it had better come at things in a new way, or with compelling characters, or with some modicum of understanding that they are taking a previously done story and need to do more then give it a face lift.
I am, I'll admit, a character person. I spend most of my energy in writing on characters because without them, you don't have much of a story. I like character driven pieces, where the fate of the world may be hanging in the balance, but its not the world people are concerned about -- its their friends and families. And the friends and families are people I know. So when I say that the major failing of Avatar was the characters, you must keep in mind, that for me, characters are the only story, which is to say, I didn't like the movie. If you liked it, congratulations on not getting caught up in the trope ridden, one demensional, cliche stuffed, 3-D blockbusterness of the whole thing. I was not so lucky.
For a moment I'll put aside my rage at the problem of characterization to point out a few things about the plot of the movie to assure you that the plot of this movie is not the problem, and to draw your attention to the fact that while you can have a solid plot, without good characters, you can destroy the good parts of your narrative.
There is a school of thought that states that there are seven stories in the world: Man v. Self, Man v. Man, Man v. Society, Man v. Nature, Man v. Supernatural, Man v. Machine and Man v. Destiny. I would say that most good plots employ a few of these in order to accomplish a multi-faceted world of story. It is not necessary, if you're playing with layers of each story, to have multiple stories, but it can help to have more then one. There are several at play in Avatar: Man v. Man, Man v. Society, Man v. Supernatural -- they all come into play in some way and in some ways there are so many interesting interactions that could come about because of these stories. The interaction of these stories are the most interesting and compelling parts of the movie, in my opinion: when Colonel Mile Quaritch and Sully go up against one another there is real drama and it feels fresh and interesting in a way it shouldn't because we've seen this scene before. Why? Not because its in a magical, color filled world, but because its a mixture of Man v. Man, Man v. Machine, Man v. Nature, Man v. Society and all of it together is a new lens through which to view the scene.
The movie can illicit the right feeling, is the point.
Why then is there such a failure in illiciting any feeling from other parts of the film? My explanation is the characters. There is a flatness to most of the characters that has nothing to do with the characters. You've got Jake Sully who is solider boy, strong and dumb. You've got Neytiri, the warrior princess who's all cold at first and falls in love with a dofus for some reason. Grace the scientist lady, and Tsu'tey the proud warrior guy. These are the only sides of each character we see.
Jake Sully is the main character. You've got three hours to explain who he is and to make it clear why he is going to go native. Instead you get a convoluted idea that Jake Sully is a solider guy who is strong and dumb. There is no depth to his character. Events slip off of him because he's a flat surface. Look at the scene where he is shown his brother, and the lack of emotional response it gives you. He never once mentions his brother again. Could this mean they weren't close? Sure. And no, you aren't supposed to be too emotional about the brother -- but as the viewer you're not to be upset. Sully should be and it should be in his actions, but it seems like the five years of hibernating sleep makes it possible for him to just forget he had a brother who died. We never get to see the moments that make him emotional. Instead he comes off as a cliche without redemption. He might not be emotional -- fine -- but from the indications, he just has no emotions in general.
Neytiri also has a huge role in the movie and rather then go into her world, we get this cliche bullshit about how she's to be the new spiritual leader of her clan and mate Tsu'tey. Imagine the wealth of character that could be drawn from that -- the fight within herself about falling for Jake, for letting down her people, for being forced into something she might not like, or maybe she does? We are lost because we have no emotional hook. Instead she is one-dimensional and stiff. And I should note, these faults are not faults of the actors, who did well, its a fault of the writing.
The single facet of each character is focused on and what you get is a cliched story about a guy who goes native. Its a weird mixture of a Disney Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves with a heavy handed conclusion. If the characters had been more developed, beyond the single feature that separated them, then the movie would have transcended its base, and become a truly good movie. Instead its a gimmicky (creatively gimmicky, with fantastic scenery porn, but still gimmicky), cliched piece that is, at best, merely passable as entertainment.
I am, I'll admit, a character person. I spend most of my energy in writing on characters because without them, you don't have much of a story. I like character driven pieces, where the fate of the world may be hanging in the balance, but its not the world people are concerned about -- its their friends and families. And the friends and families are people I know. So when I say that the major failing of Avatar was the characters, you must keep in mind, that for me, characters are the only story, which is to say, I didn't like the movie. If you liked it, congratulations on not getting caught up in the trope ridden, one demensional, cliche stuffed, 3-D blockbusterness of the whole thing. I was not so lucky.
For a moment I'll put aside my rage at the problem of characterization to point out a few things about the plot of the movie to assure you that the plot of this movie is not the problem, and to draw your attention to the fact that while you can have a solid plot, without good characters, you can destroy the good parts of your narrative.
There is a school of thought that states that there are seven stories in the world: Man v. Self, Man v. Man, Man v. Society, Man v. Nature, Man v. Supernatural, Man v. Machine and Man v. Destiny. I would say that most good plots employ a few of these in order to accomplish a multi-faceted world of story. It is not necessary, if you're playing with layers of each story, to have multiple stories, but it can help to have more then one. There are several at play in Avatar: Man v. Man, Man v. Society, Man v. Supernatural -- they all come into play in some way and in some ways there are so many interesting interactions that could come about because of these stories. The interaction of these stories are the most interesting and compelling parts of the movie, in my opinion: when Colonel Mile Quaritch and Sully go up against one another there is real drama and it feels fresh and interesting in a way it shouldn't because we've seen this scene before. Why? Not because its in a magical, color filled world, but because its a mixture of Man v. Man, Man v. Machine, Man v. Nature, Man v. Society and all of it together is a new lens through which to view the scene.
The movie can illicit the right feeling, is the point.
Why then is there such a failure in illiciting any feeling from other parts of the film? My explanation is the characters. There is a flatness to most of the characters that has nothing to do with the characters. You've got Jake Sully who is solider boy, strong and dumb. You've got Neytiri, the warrior princess who's all cold at first and falls in love with a dofus for some reason. Grace the scientist lady, and Tsu'tey the proud warrior guy. These are the only sides of each character we see.
Jake Sully is the main character. You've got three hours to explain who he is and to make it clear why he is going to go native. Instead you get a convoluted idea that Jake Sully is a solider guy who is strong and dumb. There is no depth to his character. Events slip off of him because he's a flat surface. Look at the scene where he is shown his brother, and the lack of emotional response it gives you. He never once mentions his brother again. Could this mean they weren't close? Sure. And no, you aren't supposed to be too emotional about the brother -- but as the viewer you're not to be upset. Sully should be and it should be in his actions, but it seems like the five years of hibernating sleep makes it possible for him to just forget he had a brother who died. We never get to see the moments that make him emotional. Instead he comes off as a cliche without redemption. He might not be emotional -- fine -- but from the indications, he just has no emotions in general.
Neytiri also has a huge role in the movie and rather then go into her world, we get this cliche bullshit about how she's to be the new spiritual leader of her clan and mate Tsu'tey. Imagine the wealth of character that could be drawn from that -- the fight within herself about falling for Jake, for letting down her people, for being forced into something she might not like, or maybe she does? We are lost because we have no emotional hook. Instead she is one-dimensional and stiff. And I should note, these faults are not faults of the actors, who did well, its a fault of the writing.
The single facet of each character is focused on and what you get is a cliched story about a guy who goes native. Its a weird mixture of a Disney Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves with a heavy handed conclusion. If the characters had been more developed, beyond the single feature that separated them, then the movie would have transcended its base, and become a truly good movie. Instead its a gimmicky (creatively gimmicky, with fantastic scenery porn, but still gimmicky), cliched piece that is, at best, merely passable as entertainment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)