Re: Stereotyped, monotyped, poorly typed.

From: Andy Hill <chance_at_unix.infoserve.net>
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 21:57:14 -0700 (PDT)

On Sun, 23 Apr 1995, Felix Lee wrote:

> say that Felina replaces Feral. I can't see Felina willing to push
> aside her uncle, but she'll probably step in if the position's empty.
> so Feral has to become unavailable somehow. he could be killed or
> MIA, but it's more interesting if he stays nearby. say, he resigns,
> or maybe he's suspended due to criminal charges brought against him.

     What I actually had specifically in mind here, is a writer's trick
that's been used on TMNT, He-Man, and some others, but rarely well.
Felina aside for the moment, say Feral is wrongly accused of something as
suggested, and is suspended from the force pending an inquiry. The 'KAT
guys are no doubt happy that Feral's history, but something worse takes
his place, perhaps himself (or herself) being responsible for the
incident Feral is being blamed for? Something occurs, and it becomes
obvious to everyone that Feral is needed, and the SwatKats work alongside
him to prove his innocence...I think it works. It's the old "pact with
evil to accomplish good" bit - and can be used to develop all the
characters a notch or two if handled properly. Lance Falk probably
would've come up with something similar, it's right up his alley.

> anyway, the quick-and-easy way of getting "serious" drama is to say
> "okay, nobody is a villain" and see where that takes you. doesn't
> quite fit the SWAT Kats framework though. no big deal.

     Yeah, problem here is, as they've no doubt noticed - how "good" the
good guys are is often only a reflection of how "bad" the bad guys are.
It's usually the result of weak writing, but the format of the 22 minute
ac/adv show doesn't allow for too much background stuff for character
motivations that aren't readily apparent - you kind of have to know who's
who before the opening credits. "Cry Turmoil" was written as the first
of two parts, the second one, "Turmoil 2" was to be episode 23. It
would've been great, because all the hard character/situation setup stuff
had been done in the first one, allowing some really good character
interaction concerning the "shades of grey" involved in actual life, as
opposed to the good/bad polarization of most of the stories. (gee,
listen to me...do I even sound like I know what I'm saying?)

> heh. the nesting instinct. preparation for having children. it's
> not universal. but I can't think of any counterexamples offhand :)

     I don't really want to see a representation of average existence in
entertainment, the nature of cartoons like the 'KATS is escapism,
although themes that occur in life are explored. I just don't really
want to see the view out of my own particular window duplicated verbatim
on the screen!

Andy


Received on Mon Apr 24 1995 - 00:51:12 PDT