CanonComplications Ensue
Complications Ensue:
The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog




Archives

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015

January 2016

February 2016

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

March 2018

April 2018

June 2018

July 2018

October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

November 2019

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

May 2021

June 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

August 2022

September 2022

November 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

July 2023

September 2023

November 2023

January 2024

February 2024

 

Monday, August 10, 2009

(This is a rewrite of an earlier post that Lisa felt was nit-picky and unconstructive.)

I watched the BLADE series pilot. When I'm watching a show with mythology, I'm looking for two things. One is true for any show: I want convincing, compelling characters involved in entertaining, moving stories.

The other is particular to genre shows. I want a consistent, coherent mythology that rings true, and I want the stories to bring insights into that mythology.

So, for example, TWILIGHT had a consistent, coherent mythology that did not ring true for me. If all vamps do in sunlight is sparkle, then Edward is not a scary predator, he's just Bella's big sparkly pony. It's fine for teenage girl wish fulfillment; girls need stories about big, powerful ponies that will obey them. But he's not a vampire. Because to me, the vampire mythos is about the power of death, and the seductiveness of evil, and if he can go out in the sun and doesn't have to kill people, then his undeadness lacks all thematic punch. He's not a vampire, he's a "vampire."

What I love is when a genre story takes itself seriously and really examines what people would do, and who they would be, in a world in which technology is more advanced or different, or magic or fantastical critters exist. So for example, I loved the difference between the Sarah Connor of TERMINATOR and the Sarah Connor of TERMINATOR II. In the first, she's nearly killed by a scary robot from a hell future. A lesser writer might have pretended that she'd try to put that horrible experience behind her, like characters in horror movie sequels. But the truth is, if you've nearly been terminated by a scary robot from a hell future, you become someone different. You remake yourself into a badass killer yourself. You learn how to use guns and explosives. And you probably come off to other people like a paranoid schizophrenic. James Cameron had the courage to pursue the logic of his science fictional universe.

On the other hand I had a bit of trouble with THE LISTENER because I felt their world wasn't self-consistent. The Listener exists in our world. He's a paramedic who can read thoughts. A paramedic? Really? Not a professional poker player, or a spy? Ditto Anna Paquin's waitress in TRUE BLOOD. What's she doing waiting tables? How about working for the FBI? Or the CIA? Or some bigshot negotiator? I mean, the guy in LIE TO ME has a whole business telling whether people are lying or not, and he doesn't even have superpowers.

By contrast, in MEDIUM, Patricia Arquette plays a mom who has visions that come true. So what does she do? Work for the police as a psychic. That makes sense. Oh, and she can't control the visions or always understand them. So she can't go playing the stock market.

I love when a genre story adds to or convincingly change canon. Canonical vampires are undead, drink human blood, and can't go out in the sun. Optionally, they fear crosses, holy water burns them, and they dislike garlic. In Stoker, as in the Buffyverse, every vamp victim becomes a vamp, but simple math shows that's implausible: there would quickly be a vamp population explosion. So, in Rice, vamps only make vamps by draining their victim and then getting the victim to drink vamp blood. That was a logical improvement to the canon; it made it easier for me to believe that vamps secretly exist in my universe. [UPDATE: I stand corrected about the Buffyverse -- it follows Rice Rules.]

And the BLADE movies introduced the daywalker: half human, half vamp, alive but fighting his blood thirst. Very cool.

I wasn't blown away by the first few BLADE: THE SERIES eps, though readers say it gets better. Sticky Fingaz, you are no Wesley Snipes, sir. But I did dig the idea of "ashers" -- human junkies who snort vamp ash, which makes them briefly vamp strong and vamp fast.

If you're working in genre, first, please, make sure you're thinking it through. What would real people do in this situation. Be brave. Pursue the ramifications as far as you can. For vamps to exist in our world without our knowing it, what would the rules of their existence have to be? How are they suppressing our knowledge of their existence? Are they showing up for the first time, as Dracula did in DRACULA -- so, in that case, no one knew about vamps because there hadn't been any in Britain. Do they cut a deal with human society -- do the rich and powerful know that they exist but they're hiding it from us? And so forth.

What would a world be like in which there were regular zombie breakouts. Well, we'd stop burying our dead, that's for sure. We'd burn them. And battlefields would be a lot scarier.

The fun of genre is in the thematic ramifications, and in the "what-if?" But don't stretch the theme so far that the human characters stop behaving like real people -- find the fun in real reactions to the outlandish circumstances. Take that all the way, and you won't be able to help yourself coming up with something convincing and fresh.

Labels:

11 Comments:

Are you sure about Buffy? The only instance I remember in which we're actually shown a human to vampire transformation is Angel, and he definitely drinks from Darla before that happens. I'd always assumed the Buffyverse worked like the, uhh, Riceverse.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:24 PM  

I'm not sure, but you did seem to have assorted ND vamp victims coming alive in the morgue, e.g. in The Body.

And in the movie I am pretty sure you had the geometric population explosion problem, in which Sunnydale High was overrun by vamps.

By Blogger Alex Epstein, at 1:46 PM  

I am positive that in Buffy the show, you had to drink to become a vamp. When Harmony, for instance, showed up as a vampire in season 4, fans complained about the retcon because her death in season 3's finale, as shot, didn't have her driinking any blood. (Some fans presumably also complained simply because Harmony was annoying.)

I liked this post and I agree with its main point. One reason I like China Mieville's novels is that he thinks deeply about what the politics of a society with the kind of monsters and technology he's inventing would be.

By Blogger wrigleyfield, at 3:24 PM  

Not to nit-pick, but I'm almost positive Alex is right. I recall many instances of vampires being created just from being bitten.

As for True Blood, I haven't actually watched a full episode, but my wife loves the show. And from what I've seen, Anna Paquin's character doesn't like people to know she can read people's thoughts, so it's logical to believe she wouldn't want to go into a profession that highlights that. Just because people have a power, doesn't mean they like to use it, or want other people to know about it.

By Blogger Tim W., at 7:01 PM  

If we're to believe the pilot of Buffy, Joss Whedon at least originally intended that humans had to drink the vamp's blood as well, as Buffy and Giles explain to each other in their second library scene. Plus, later on, in Angel, a character tries to make herself a vampire by telling another vampire that she'll need to drink his blood. Of this I am soiten.

By Blogger Unknown, at 7:14 PM  

Actually, in Stoker, the vamp had to feed on the victim three times, over a succession of days.

So a single feeding would not create a vampire.

And Stoker also had the day-walking vampire. Dracula was, if memory serves, "only" as strong as ten men, during daylight. And he couldn't change form.

By Blogger James Patrick Joyce, at 7:36 PM  

I see a few others have beat me to it, but I'll chime in:

RE: Making vampires.

Although Buffy/Angel may not be consistent on this, I do recall a line of Buffy's, "To make a vampire they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing."

Re: Twilight

I think the sun-non-issue makes them more dangerous. More like Apocalypse Ponies.
According to the books, the only thing that can kill a vampire is to be literally ripped to pieces (whether you need to stomp on the bits until they stop moving isn't clear).
So, if vamps are basically invulnerable, don't need to sleep, are superfast, tough and have none of the classic vampire weaknesses why don't they rule the Earth already? Why hide? With that kind of power, I'd think there'd be a huge temptation to just take whatever they want from whoever they want, whenever they want. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Why not make a whole army of sparkly minions and take over?

As Vampire Willow said, "In my world, there are people in chains, and we can ride them like ponies."

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:31 PM  

The explanation for why Anna Paquin's telepathic waitress is not working for the CIA/FBI/etc is that she's a redneck living in a small redneck town where no one would ever think of actually doing something like that. The fact that she's just a waitress and doesn't think to use her power for anything worthwhile is consistent with the character.

And of course, she ends up using her power for personal profit, but that's initiated by the vampires, who are clearly much, much more cunning than she is.

By Blogger Nima Yousefi, at 8:57 PM  

I got rednecks in my family, @Nima. They know about poker. And rednecks are more likely to volunteer for the FBI than y'all latte-drinkers.

By Blogger Alex Epstein, at 10:36 PM  

Well, I follow you mostly, but I don't think I get the issue with The Listener. (Not familiar with True Blood other than what I've read about it.) But the listener is essentially an ordinary dude with heroic tendencies even when people want him to stay out of it, which I think is a valid and ancient genre. (Die Hard.) And that's the genre it's using the rules of. Doesn't work if he's already getting paid to do the extraordinary. JMO.

By Blogger nadia*, at 1:17 AM  

Your comments explain what bothered me so much about Early Edition. If I got the newspaper from the day before, I would be playing the stock market and sports gambling like crazy.

By Blogger pirateamira, at 4:05 PM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.



This page is powered by Blogger.