Is this little drawing about Pinocchio funny?
Well, I think it is funny. But it's also nitpicking. One could probably come up with a whole set of Boolean Algebra based paradoxes this way. And not just about Pinocchio, but about any fiction story ever written. And most holes are usually in the science-fiction, which generally tend to ignore the science part and focus on the make-belief instead.
Most stories are written by authors which look at one side of the picture and describe only the interesting parts. I just finished reading the pentalogy (or trilogy of five) of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. In one of the 5 books... I think in the 4th, he presents some aspects of the main character of the series not seen in the other books. It is here that the author says that while he doesn't describe every little detail of what the character does, it doesn't mean there's nothing happening. For Douglas it was easy to omit things; he wrote comedy. But omitting while writing science fiction is simply sinful. In this case things are not omitted because they are not interesting, but because the author didn't think things through.
But a general tendency of the past years has been to make stories ever more complex. You know the 80's and 90's action flicks? B-movies? Good americans vs evil russians? (well, the Hollywood versions at least). Or evil genius set out to destroy the world? They never really had a real reason, they were simply "evil" and that was that. Now, stories begin to present more details... "why is that guy a terrorist? what drives him? he's just plain crazy? pff... that's so 60's"; the audience demands some background, some vivid and realistic characters. That means that there is a lower option to omit things.
This is also happening in the newest story telling environment: video games. "Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun" is a fine example of the B-movie story. (The "Red Alert" series could be a C-movie at best). The sequel, "Command & Conquer 3", features a much better story already (somewhere at the border of A and B types); the latest installment, Command & Conquer 4 seems to bring a story full of details.
So, if you feel like playing through a B-movie, you may play "Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun", it's freely downloadable here.
I think the reason behind the new level of user expectations for the movies and the games is related to the higher level of education that the users have, compared to 30 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the advantages of being constantly bombed with information from all directions (while stress and ADHD being some of the drawbacks).