I suspect that this, at the end of the day, qualifies as a rant. But it's a rant about writing, so I think this makes for an acceptable blog post. Comment if you think it doesn't. I live in a family of readers. We tend to write TV episodes as we watch them on television. Obviously, we record everything, otherwise we'd never hear a word. Sometimes, the writers out-think us. Sometimes we like our endings better than the ones on the screen. And then, sometimes, we catch only an image, and we sigh, and we know exactly where everything starts to go downhill…
What's really frustrating with all of these cliches is the way that they've sunk into the mass mind and inflected everyone's view of reality. To a certain degree the writers in Hollyweird are probably affected by this too - hence the persistence of the cliches. But there's certainly a deliberate ideological component to this.
There are other frustrating cliches.
Homer Simpson: the stupid, incompetent white father, who would be utterly helpless without his long-suffering wife.
Virtuous Diversity: if there's a black woman on the screen, you know she'll be the smartest, savviest, most competent, and most ethical character. If it's a murder mystery, she's definitely innocent.
Interracial relationships: despite being very uncommon, black man/white women pairings are depicted at a rate that would make you think it's the norm. Recently black women must have started making noise about being erased, and the writers seem to have responded by showing lots of white man/black women pairings ... which are vanishingly rare in the real world. Aside from giving people a false idea of reality, this also leads to poor acting, since the chemistry in these screen couples is usually abysmal.
You're correct and it's very tiresome. We've been watching all 200 Agatha Christie film adaptations for a project and we see some of the same things. The more modern the adaptation, the more likely Agatha is twisted and similar clichés introduced. Evil nuns anyone?
Absolute FIRE. The only way to kill these cliches is to figuratively murder them outright - write them into the story, then turn them inside out. By using and subverting the left's cliches, we win.
In the movie Arrival one of the soldiers took it upon himself to commit terrorism and the Chekov's gun that he would be up for something like that was his right wing room decorations (and I think lingering camera shots and ominous music? Only watched it once).
Weirdly enough it was presented as if it was a surprise twist when he finally did do the bad thing and reveal he was evil. But it was a hollywood movie, starring hollywood actors, made by a hollywood studio. Seeing a right-wing character at all, anyone even half paying attention would have assumed he was going to do a bad thing. An actual twist would have been him stopping a terrorist and saving Amy Adams character so she could do the thing that fixed everything. I know, I know, a guy saving a girl, eek gasp.
I'm rereading all the St. Tommy books (okay, re re re re re - you get the point) and I just finished Destiny. There are two specific references Tommy makes regarding 'the sociopath with a medical degree' the Pope has working at the Vatican. Are those snarky references to Fr. Frank? And is he ever going to appear again? Just curious. I guess I'll start rereading White Ops because why not?
And that is the ones series I haven't read yet. I don't know why. I like,e everything else you've written. I don't know what my hangup is. Need to get over it.
Speaking of the UK and gays: it's been a Thing for quite a while. I remember 1966, when either Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin was interviewing Brian Bedford about his appearance in the just-released film "Grand Prix." Bedford commented on the international cast and what they bring to the ambiance, and added, "And I provide Britain's contribution, which is homosexuality."
As for the whitewashed groups . . . I assume it's all a matter of "God forbid any of these people feel insulted and sue us." Even apart from lack of originality.
Other cliches that must die:
The only kid. Most families in real life have 2-4. Though I'd like to more familes of 4+
The dysfunctional family.: can we quit it and show the proper dynamics
The worldwise kid. Yeah right. As if some 10 year old has accumulated more wisdom than a 30-80 year old
That's enough for now
xavier
Well done Declan. Should be mandatory reading in Hollywood AND Academia.
Declan, this is a magnificent essay. Thank you, Moses
What's really frustrating with all of these cliches is the way that they've sunk into the mass mind and inflected everyone's view of reality. To a certain degree the writers in Hollyweird are probably affected by this too - hence the persistence of the cliches. But there's certainly a deliberate ideological component to this.
There are other frustrating cliches.
Homer Simpson: the stupid, incompetent white father, who would be utterly helpless without his long-suffering wife.
Virtuous Diversity: if there's a black woman on the screen, you know she'll be the smartest, savviest, most competent, and most ethical character. If it's a murder mystery, she's definitely innocent.
Interracial relationships: despite being very uncommon, black man/white women pairings are depicted at a rate that would make you think it's the norm. Recently black women must have started making noise about being erased, and the writers seem to have responded by showing lots of white man/black women pairings ... which are vanishingly rare in the real world. Aside from giving people a false idea of reality, this also leads to poor acting, since the chemistry in these screen couples is usually abysmal.
You're correct and it's very tiresome. We've been watching all 200 Agatha Christie film adaptations for a project and we see some of the same things. The more modern the adaptation, the more likely Agatha is twisted and similar clichés introduced. Evil nuns anyone?
Absolute FIRE. The only way to kill these cliches is to figuratively murder them outright - write them into the story, then turn them inside out. By using and subverting the left's cliches, we win.
Thank you! That was so clear and laid (layed?*) things out in such a concise to the point manner.
And as this is YOUR blog you can rant all you want. : )
*<not the english major here, just sayin'>
This is sooo right! Other than people outrunning fireballs from exploding buildings, I think you hit my Top Ten List of Cliches on every point.
Practical tip--- before throwing a book at the wall, make sure you are not reading on a Kindle.
In the movie Arrival one of the soldiers took it upon himself to commit terrorism and the Chekov's gun that he would be up for something like that was his right wing room decorations (and I think lingering camera shots and ominous music? Only watched it once).
Weirdly enough it was presented as if it was a surprise twist when he finally did do the bad thing and reveal he was evil. But it was a hollywood movie, starring hollywood actors, made by a hollywood studio. Seeing a right-wing character at all, anyone even half paying attention would have assumed he was going to do a bad thing. An actual twist would have been him stopping a terrorist and saving Amy Adams character so she could do the thing that fixed everything. I know, I know, a guy saving a girl, eek gasp.
I'm rereading all the St. Tommy books (okay, re re re re re - you get the point) and I just finished Destiny. There are two specific references Tommy makes regarding 'the sociopath with a medical degree' the Pope has working at the Vatican. Are those snarky references to Fr. Frank? And is he ever going to appear again? Just curious. I guess I'll start rereading White Ops because why not?
And that is the ones series I haven't read yet. I don't know why. I like,e everything else you've written. I don't know what my hangup is. Need to get over it.
Speaking of the UK and gays: it's been a Thing for quite a while. I remember 1966, when either Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin was interviewing Brian Bedford about his appearance in the just-released film "Grand Prix." Bedford commented on the international cast and what they bring to the ambiance, and added, "And I provide Britain's contribution, which is homosexuality."
As for the whitewashed groups . . . I assume it's all a matter of "God forbid any of these people feel insulted and sue us." Even apart from lack of originality.
Your category error is in assuming these are cliche.
They are not. They are propaganda. Truth and decent writer are of far less importance than mass conditioning.