One Trope To Rule Them All...
Why do we love to read the same stories over and over again with different characters and settings? And why do we shame writers for giving us those "tired old redone" stories while gobbling them up? I'll be the first to admit it: I love certain fantasy tropes and I love when they are well done with believable characters I can't help but root for and meticulous world building that leaves me gawking like a tourist.
I think we love these tropes because they speak to some innate desire inside of us to be more or do more. You can see repeated tropes in every genre of writing (there are authors who have built wealthy empires on writing the same story over and over again with slightly different details), in TV shows (episodes often follow a distinct formula), and obviously at the movies (who hasn't noticed that Hollywood churns out ten sequels of the same movie and just keeps raking it in?). If you are a fan of Hallmark movies at Christmastime (as I most assuredly and unashamedly am), you can see this concept played out quite plainly as most of these simple movies follow a handful of formulas and are immensely popular nonetheless. They tug at our heartstrings and make us feel something. Which is exactly what we want.
My favorite fantasy trope—and one of the most popular of all time—is found in a wide variety of forms in some of the most popular books and series of all time. It goes like this: A person—usually a young man or a boy—lives a quiet life in a small out of the way place until they are sucked into a situation that is far beyond them and they are needed to save the world in some form or fashion. Did a character just come to mind? A favorite book or series? If you've ever read fantasy it is quite likely it did. Sometimes the main character was born to be great and was hidden away in this small place and didn't know it, sometimes they were marked by fate, and sometimes they merely happen to be the right person in the right place at the right time.
This trope is widely used and has several variants, but we love it every time IF it is well done. Think about it. we could list out books that follow this trope for days starting with the Adam and Eve of modern day fantasies, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A nothing character from a nothing race is somehow pulled into a story far larger than they are. There is usually a well-connected, in-the-know character to guide them—at least at first—as well (i.e. Gandalf). The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Truth, The Chronicles of Prydain, The Belgariad, Eragon, Harry Potter, Mistborn, The Way of Kings... Each of these stories has it's own world we want to explore, it's own beloved characters, and takes the trope in it's own incredible directions, but they still boil down to the same basic formula. Yet we love them.
And why do we love them? Because, let's face it, most of us aren't princes and princesses. Most of us don't have the adventure in our lives we think we want, or the ability to travel and explore. We are just normal people living normal lives. And so, we love a story that makes a hero out of someone like us. We aren't all pretending to be that hero—some of us are perfectly content with our lives—but we love to read about someone we think of as "our people" rising up and doing what those we imagine as "our betters" couldn't do.
So, the next time you're tempted to criticize an author for "dragging out the same old tired trope"—as I think we all are at times—remember that they are simply following in the footsteps of the masters of the craft, and give them a chance. Who knows, they may just have a new twist that is exactly what you've been waiting for.
I think we love these tropes because they speak to some innate desire inside of us to be more or do more. You can see repeated tropes in every genre of writing (there are authors who have built wealthy empires on writing the same story over and over again with slightly different details), in TV shows (episodes often follow a distinct formula), and obviously at the movies (who hasn't noticed that Hollywood churns out ten sequels of the same movie and just keeps raking it in?). If you are a fan of Hallmark movies at Christmastime (as I most assuredly and unashamedly am), you can see this concept played out quite plainly as most of these simple movies follow a handful of formulas and are immensely popular nonetheless. They tug at our heartstrings and make us feel something. Which is exactly what we want.
My favorite fantasy trope—and one of the most popular of all time—is found in a wide variety of forms in some of the most popular books and series of all time. It goes like this: A person—usually a young man or a boy—lives a quiet life in a small out of the way place until they are sucked into a situation that is far beyond them and they are needed to save the world in some form or fashion. Did a character just come to mind? A favorite book or series? If you've ever read fantasy it is quite likely it did. Sometimes the main character was born to be great and was hidden away in this small place and didn't know it, sometimes they were marked by fate, and sometimes they merely happen to be the right person in the right place at the right time.
This trope is widely used and has several variants, but we love it every time IF it is well done. Think about it. we could list out books that follow this trope for days starting with the Adam and Eve of modern day fantasies, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A nothing character from a nothing race is somehow pulled into a story far larger than they are. There is usually a well-connected, in-the-know character to guide them—at least at first—as well (i.e. Gandalf). The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Truth, The Chronicles of Prydain, The Belgariad, Eragon, Harry Potter, Mistborn, The Way of Kings... Each of these stories has it's own world we want to explore, it's own beloved characters, and takes the trope in it's own incredible directions, but they still boil down to the same basic formula. Yet we love them.
And why do we love them? Because, let's face it, most of us aren't princes and princesses. Most of us don't have the adventure in our lives we think we want, or the ability to travel and explore. We are just normal people living normal lives. And so, we love a story that makes a hero out of someone like us. We aren't all pretending to be that hero—some of us are perfectly content with our lives—but we love to read about someone we think of as "our people" rising up and doing what those we imagine as "our betters" couldn't do.
So, the next time you're tempted to criticize an author for "dragging out the same old tired trope"—as I think we all are at times—remember that they are simply following in the footsteps of the masters of the craft, and give them a chance. Who knows, they may just have a new twist that is exactly what you've been waiting for.
: )
ReplyDelete