Don’t forget to check out the Midnight Dreamscapes blog – which Clint just got looking nice and new and shiny for us – to read new posts from both Clint and I! I will be posting regularly on both platforms.
Another Wednesday, another episode of Coffee & Cannabis.
Another day where Clintimus Maximus and I discover how to push each other’s buttons by being our silly selves, ask each other questions that strike a chord, inspire one another, and then realize we’ve gone overtime on the episode. Classic.
In all seriousness though, today’s topic of discussion was cliches, tropes, and plot conventions – concepts that most people are familiar with barring those who live under a rock. Not to disparage those who find it difficult to identify cliches, tropes, or conventions either – or those who struggle to gauge when a balance is struck between convention and subversion. As a writer, these are things I continue to wrestle with constantly.
But how do you actively avoid cliches or prevent characters from fulfilling age-old tropes…? Sometimes, the answer is that you simply can’t avoid it.
For me, it all depends on what kind of story I’m trying to tell.
Clint and I chose to focus on comic books today (big surprise, I know). With that, we were able to briefly touch upon cliches, tropes, and narrative conventions within superhero comics specifically.
Of course, one thing we left out – and something I intend to bring up next time we discuss comics in particular – is the concept of ‘fridging’ female characters in an attempt to provide leading male characters with deeper pathos and motivation. Alexandra DeWitt, girlfriend to Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern IV, was very unceremoniously “fridged” in the now infamous storyline from the Green Lantern comics of the 90s.
There are plenty of other examples to go around, too.
In 1999, Gail Simone, well-known among comic book fans as the writer of the OG Birds of Prey series (among many other excellent series’ she’s written for), published a list of all the characters she deemed “women in refrigerators”; Alexandra DeWitt was the impetus. I’d give it a gander if you’re at all curious or want to be more aware of these things; I think it’s important – particularly if we want to strive for a society in which patriarchy is far from the be-all-end-all.
And I mean, seriously, ever since learning about the term “fridging,” I’ve noticed that this narrative device pops up a lot more than you’d think – even today…
Anyway, that’s all for now. Just something to think about.
Now, off to continue/finish reading Ian McEwan’s Solar (2010) for the “Narratives of Climate Change” course I’m currently taking to finish off my MA.
While I’m doing that, you – yeah, you there, with the face and stuff – listen to this song – you won’t regret it (you might):
thatfroninja. 