Re: Stereotyped, monotyped, poorly typed.

From: Andy Hill <chance_at_unix.infoserve.net>
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 09:40:35 -0700 (PDT)

On Sat, 22 Apr 1995, Felix Lee wrote:

> yep, and I don't quite understand it. there's always the villains,
> and there are plenty of them. there's no marketing drive to stay
> focused on one particular villain, is there?

     ...aah, don't know about this. Marketeers planning the toy lines
generally (Disney) try to steer the shows course along the lines of
confrontations with the villains that are likely to appear in Toys R Us.
SWATKATS liked DarkKat a lot (one of the toys!), as well as the
PastMaster and Dr. Viper (another of the toys). With villains, you have
strike a balance between having them captured and escaping once each
week, as opposed to other shows with a "mad scientist of the week" type
of scenario. SWATKATS, in my opinion, has done a fine job of keeping the
scales balanced in this regard, and I haven't so far heard any comments
like "they use...(so-and-so) too much".

> why does she put up with Manx? does she have a family? is she
> married to her job? why isn't there more conflict between her and
> Feral?

     This kind of thing is what gives SWATKATS "somewhere to go" outside
of the traditional ac/adv formula. The characters are outlined well, but
they aren't cardboard cutouts, and there is lots of potential for stories
that develop the incidental characters - especially in the situation you
mentioned. How about a story where Feral does something unconscionable
to the KAT guys, and she initiates a move to dump him in favour of some
up-and-comer, who may not be what he/she appears?

> > I'm sure the urge must've been there for
> > the writers to have her "develop" some kind of relationship with either
> > of the guys,
>
> eesh. I hope not. it unbalances everything.

     This is something I think is very important. I can only speak for
myself, but one of the reasons I like the 'KAT guys so much is that
they're not obsessed with skirt-chasing. Face it, some of us don't value
the white-picket fence, two-car garage version of life - and not all of
us are pursuing the girls or our dreams as the first step on the way
there. I personally value the kind of relationship the 'KAT guys have
with each other far and above the kind of two-dimensional liasons that
would occur if they pursued the Callie/romantic thread. "Turmoil" was
about as far as they should go down that road, IMO. There's too much of
this romance/jealousy/sex-as-a-weapon stuff in the Prime Time world, it
doesn't need to infect the last remaining watchable TV, like SWATKATS,
some other cartoons, and a lot of the Trek Stuff.

Andy


Received on Sat Apr 22 1995 - 12:35:44 PDT