Post by rorschalk on Oct 27, 2022 18:25:50 GMT
Dear Mr. VC,
TGT fell down on the floor. Here's the why and wherefore of it. Thanks again for subbing. I look fwd to doing business with you in the future.
Posts: 17
22 hours ago QuoteEdit Post by guevara on 22 hours agoThe Grotian Tapestry
“The Grotian Tapestry” started out with promise but then quickly went off course. The set-up was intriguing. A magician is polluting the river of a town, making it do strange, perverse things—things that have destroyed the weaving industry upon which the area survives. So far so good.
Someone hires Delza, a woman warrior, to do something about the situation. She arrives, is slightly affected by the magician’s curse, but finds help and healing. She agrees to go after the sorcerer (who, we find out later is a sorceress). Delza seems quite taken with Min, daughter of the man who summoned her—and this is where the story begins to go off the tracks.
The story fails on its depictions of characters—a thing that derails a very good plot trajectory and ruins what could have been an entertaining tale.
We are soon introduced to Galloway, a local warrior/strong man. But he is presented not as a real character but as a caricature of the egoistical, bullying male. He embodies rudeness, pig-headedness, male chauvinism, and just plain idiocy. He calls Delza “girl,” assumes she loves him at first sight, and is presented as an idiot, a bigot, an egoist and a sexist.
The trouble with this is that when a character in a story is so completely irredeemable—when he or she has no admirable qualities—the figure is boring and becomes an allegorical fabrication and not a true human being. Very few people are completely evil, stupid, or self-centered. Even the most wicked and stupid are, at base, human beings. Galloway, unfortunately, does not possess even basic grace. Delza ends up killing him.
It is here that the storyteller takes yet another twist. Delza notes that “a man’s weakness is between his legs, not in his heart.” Soon Min and Delza get cozy. Soon all the female characters are getting cozy.
I have read some really good literature that contains lesbian relationships. But such literature fails when it relies on cliches, stereotypes, and caricatures. And throughout the story, just this is the case.
Delza falls for Min; she finds out the sorcerer, Carter, is a woman and falls for her. Min is killed. Suddenly Delza has developed a strong liking for Carter. The two ride off together and, we assume, live happily ever after.
Characters who do not act realistically when they experience loss (as Delza does not when Min is killed) and who fall in love with someone they don’t even know (as Delza does with Min and Carter) are not believable characters. They are excuses to continue a plotline. The male characters in the story are stupid, bumbling, treacherous, and ridiculous. All in all, tale falls flat due to its lack of believable and compelling characters.
Too bad. It started off so well …
TGT fell down on the floor. Here's the why and wherefore of it. Thanks again for subbing. I look fwd to doing business with you in the future.
Posts: 17
22 hours ago QuoteEdit Post by guevara on 22 hours agoThe Grotian Tapestry
“The Grotian Tapestry” started out with promise but then quickly went off course. The set-up was intriguing. A magician is polluting the river of a town, making it do strange, perverse things—things that have destroyed the weaving industry upon which the area survives. So far so good.
Someone hires Delza, a woman warrior, to do something about the situation. She arrives, is slightly affected by the magician’s curse, but finds help and healing. She agrees to go after the sorcerer (who, we find out later is a sorceress). Delza seems quite taken with Min, daughter of the man who summoned her—and this is where the story begins to go off the tracks.
The story fails on its depictions of characters—a thing that derails a very good plot trajectory and ruins what could have been an entertaining tale.
We are soon introduced to Galloway, a local warrior/strong man. But he is presented not as a real character but as a caricature of the egoistical, bullying male. He embodies rudeness, pig-headedness, male chauvinism, and just plain idiocy. He calls Delza “girl,” assumes she loves him at first sight, and is presented as an idiot, a bigot, an egoist and a sexist.
The trouble with this is that when a character in a story is so completely irredeemable—when he or she has no admirable qualities—the figure is boring and becomes an allegorical fabrication and not a true human being. Very few people are completely evil, stupid, or self-centered. Even the most wicked and stupid are, at base, human beings. Galloway, unfortunately, does not possess even basic grace. Delza ends up killing him.
It is here that the storyteller takes yet another twist. Delza notes that “a man’s weakness is between his legs, not in his heart.” Soon Min and Delza get cozy. Soon all the female characters are getting cozy.
I have read some really good literature that contains lesbian relationships. But such literature fails when it relies on cliches, stereotypes, and caricatures. And throughout the story, just this is the case.
Delza falls for Min; she finds out the sorcerer, Carter, is a woman and falls for her. Min is killed. Suddenly Delza has developed a strong liking for Carter. The two ride off together and, we assume, live happily ever after.
Characters who do not act realistically when they experience loss (as Delza does not when Min is killed) and who fall in love with someone they don’t even know (as Delza does with Min and Carter) are not believable characters. They are excuses to continue a plotline. The male characters in the story are stupid, bumbling, treacherous, and ridiculous. All in all, tale falls flat due to its lack of believable and compelling characters.
Too bad. It started off so well …