Let's Discuss: DOTA: Dragon's Blood and the use of Tropes

 Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in my posting, things have been a bit overwhelming in my personal life. As of last week, I have returned to school for the fourth time. This round I am working on a Masters in Special Education, so that I can be certified as a Special Education teacher, in addition to my current certification. I was also unfortunate enough to be hit with Covid. Overall, it was not too severe, but it did limit my activities for about a week. As far as writing, I have been able to move forward a little more with my current work, but my current duties are going to make progress very limited for the foreseeable future.

This week I wanted to discuss the Netflix series DOTA: Dragon's Blood. DOTA is another series based on a video game that prior to seeing the show, I had no idea existed. Typically, I am hesitant to watch such adaptations, mostly because they seem like cheap money grabs from the producers. Lately, however, with shows like Arcane and Resident Evil, I have realized that they have come a long way with such adaptations, and they are certainly worth checking them out, at the very least. DOTA turned out to be everything I was looking for in a high-fantasy series. It has an expansive world with a variety of different races, customs, and traditions. There are dragons, demons, magic, and political maneuverings. You could say that it is, exactly, what you would expect from a high-fantasy story, and that is the point. DOTA does not re-invent the wheel in its story telling. The plot lines and character types are easily predicted and even the twists were less a surprise that they happened, and more a surprise on what and who the twist involved in it. Of course, none of that really matters, since it was exactly the type of show I had been looking for. The world uses a high magic, medieval style setting, and does not vary far from the familiar tropes that are expected. What makes DOTA worth watching is the way they weave these traditional tropes into an original story. Something I am able to spend more time contemplating, since I do not need to spend too much time breaking down the possible differences in what I am already familiar with, it allows for me to better understand the story they are telling.

This takes me into the other part of our discussion, the use of tropes in storytelling. If you are unfamiliar with the term, I assure you that you are not familiar with the process. A trope is typical use of certain elements of storytelling. This can be the character, the type of society, the way magic does or does not function, and really just about anything else you could think of regarding the creation of a story. It is what is expected when a certain thing is presented. Dwarves are short and stocky, religions of "light" hate the undead, politicians are greedy. These are all concepts that we have learned to expect when being exposed to certain types of genres. There have been many discussions regarding the use of tropes and if it is better to be as unique as possible, rather than recycle what has already been established. I say this is a stupid argument and that it should not matter if you choose to create your story in elements that are long understood and expected. As I mentioned before, it allows the reader to understand elements of the story without the need to give detailed explanation as to why or how. The elf is agile, good with a bow, good at magic, and close to nature. It makes sense that the elf village is in the woods, built around and among the largest trees. There is nothing wrong with giving the reader what they want. People who read or watch only a specific few genera are not really looking for the reinvention of their preferred form of entertainment. It is very much like how Alien vs Predator is a bad movie. However, it has Aliens and Predators that end up fighting each other. The effects were good, the creatures did what I expected, the battles went about how I anticipated, and I loved every moment of it. It was what I wanted and exactly what I expected. It did not matter that the plot was weak and the acting often sketchy at best. I love that movie. Using tropes is just that. Picking something that is known and loved and providing more of it. 

 I want to thank you for giving me your time, it is invaluable and I am honored that you have shared it with me. I hope you feel it was time well spent. I hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday and new year. If you like what I am doing here, please feel free to hit the follow button, and then find me on Facebook and Twitter. May your days be fulfilling and your path be clear of trouble. All the best, and speak to you soon. 

Let's Discuss: The Wheel of Time T.V. Series and Adaptations

 Hello everyone, and happy new year! I hope you are all doing well and have been able to stay healthy. I know that things have been ramping up with the new Omicron variant. (Finally, a name that actually sounds ominous.) Myself, I have been able to avoid exposure overall, though my family had two close encounters that luckily they did not catch. I find it amazing that the world over has politicized this pandemic, but that is not for me to delve into here. I will simply say, be safe, take precautions, and I hope you stay healthy.

With that being said, Trinity is available in three formats now, which is really exciting. If you have not picked up your copy yet, you have your choice of media. Be sure to check it out, and leave a review if you are so inclined. I am still picking away on part two, though I feel I am ready for a major revision. This happened with Trinity as well. Sometimes, as a writer, you pick a particular plot thread to follow and after a while you realize that it has no where to go and you are forced to back track and take a new path. I'm not quite there yet, but I am trying get on the correct string so that I can finish the first draft before doing any rewrites. If I can not do it by the end of the next chapter, I will have to go back and try again. Remember, when writing, the first person that needs to like your work is yourself. Afterwards you can consider what the reader wants.

For today, let's discuss The Wheel of Time as a novel and a tv series. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson is one of my all time favorite book collections. I was a little late to the game in discovering the series, as I had only heard about it when Brandon Sanderson took over The Gathering Storm in 2009. I went to check out my local book store, (I know, the crazy things we used to do back then!) and found the first three books in a paperback collection. I have to admit that it took me a number of tries to get through the first few chapters of Eyes of the World. There was such a massive dump of information being thrusted upon the reader that it just seemed overwhelming. So many names, places, customs, and more, I had put the book down at least three times before deciding to press through and finish the book. I was so glad that I did. The world building by Jordan is as vast as it is detailed and his characters were made into real people that had flaws and self-doubt. They were not simply the hero or comic relief. I truly did not like Rand. I loved his story arc, I loved his adventures and his fulfilment of the prophesies, but as a person, I did not like him. He was often pompous, quick to make judgement or simply reckless as a leader. Even how his story arc ended, it was in typical selfish fashion for him, and I loved every line of it. The characters were who they were, and no amount of power or personal growth was going to change the core of who they were. Rand always tried to do what was right. He tried to be a good leader, and he learned how to be better skilled in all areas that he needed to, but he was still Rand. At the same time, everything that Perrin did, only made me like him more. Even when he made poor choices, or his reluctance cost him his advantage, I could relate to his thought process and justifications. He viewed the world in much the same way I do in my life, and it instantly made me a fan of his character. That was the genius of Jordan. He did not make characters for a specific story. He made a story and had it achieved by people. The difference is that the first makes the character fit each roll perfectly in order to complete all the story plot points. The second is having those same plot points, but the characters do not make a clear connection to them, or they reach them in a round about way, because they have their own agendas and their own desires. It is something that I strive for in my own writing as well. 

This brings me around to the new tv series on Amazon that recently completed its first season. My initial reaction was that it was too short. While it was much more complete than if it had been a movie, it was just hard to condense a book that is over 300,000 words into eight episodes. I do not know if the Covid delays are to be blamed, or if they always intended to keep it to eight episodes, but I feel the show would have benefited from another two episodes. Overall, my experience with the series was positive. I had to separate my knowledge of the book from what was happening in the show, but once I did I was really able to appreciate what they accomplished. The characters are put together in such a way that I feel they truly do encapsulate the personality of their counter parts, right down to my distaste of Rand. The settings were amazingly beautiful and there were so many subtle inclusions that I really felt I was returning to the world of The Wheel of Time, but as a parallel universe, rather than a direct adaptation. My recommendation for this series only applies if you have either, never read the series, or you are able to separate the show from the novel. The actors, the settings, the effects, and the story are all very well selected and executed, but it is not the same story as the novel. It is an adaptation, and a very good one at that.

This brings me into the second part of our discussion, the general backlash of people comparing a movie or tv show to the original source material. This is something I have argued about many times over the years. I have always had the ability to take a show or movie at face value. I look at it in terms of acting, cinematography, direction, and most of all, did it carry over the spirit of the source material. For many people, they become upset because the story was not exactly like the book, or the comic, or the anime, or whatever the source material happened to be. This never made sense to me. Why would you want something to be exactly the same? If you want the same, go back to the source and read or watch it again. Adaptations are just that, they are adapted to fit the new media it is being presented in. In many ways, an adaptation is just a high budget fan fic of that title. The writers, directors, and actors are all trying to bring about their interpretation of the story. Sometimes this is done really well, other times, not so much. I think back to the Super Mario Bros. movie in the 90s or the live action Last Airbender movie that still leaves me cringing every time I think of it. These movies not only failed to bring to life the source material, they did not possess the spirit of the source material either. There are even some that I believe improved upon the source material. The Hunger Games trilogy were an amazing movie series that really brought to life the world of Panem, far more so than the books, which were entirely first person and, as such, blocked out much of what was going on in the world around Katniss. Or, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This was a movie based on a comic series. While the comics were good, and entertaining, the movie was above and beyond anything the comic could have presented. 

Often times you get something in between, where the adaptation and the source material are good in their own ways. This was probably most evident in the Game of Thrones series, which was adapted from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series., and the Harry Potter movies, based on J.K. Rowling's series of books. In both cases, the adaptations and the source material are highly adored and have extensive fandoms, yet they stray greatly from the source material to make the adaptations fit the new media. The element that makes them both a success is the fact that they keep to the spirit of the story. The characters retain the elements of who they are, the setting is relatable and identifiable, and the driving point of the story plot is still present. There are so many shows and movies that are adaptations of other materials that most people are completely unaware of, and they truly enjoyed what they watched. While it takes a little effort to willingly separate yourself from the two, it is much more rewarding and enriching if you manage to do so. My final example I feel optimizes my argument. Todd Philips' Joker is an amazing movie.  Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck is a work of art as you watch him break down mentally and how the society around him brought him to his breaking point. That being said, it was not a DC Joker film. Had they set it in New York or Detroit, it would have been the same movie. Had he been a professional clown who merely snapped and called himself The Funny Guy, it would have been the same movie. To call it Joker, and set it in Gotham was, in my opinion, a lure to get fans of DC and the Joker into the theaters. Luckily, the movie was still amazing, but it did not carry any aspects of who the Joker is and what motivates him. (if anyone can really accurately say what his true motivations are) If I were to review the film as an adaptation of a DC character, it was a failed attempt, with little to no similarity or continuity to the target character. However, it was still an amazing movie and worth watching.

Obviously, everyone has their own opinions as to what makes a good adaptation, but if you can give a movie a chance, you may find that you like it despite the differences. You might even find that Dragon Ball Evolution wasn't all that terrible. Well, maybe that is going a bit far. I want to thank you for giving me your time, it is invaluable and I am honored that you have shared it with me. I hope you feel it was time well spent. I hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday and new year. If you like what I am doing here, please feel free to hit the follow button, and then find me on Facebook and Twitter. May your days be fulfilling and your path be clear of trouble. All the best, and speak to you soon.