Post by emmawoods on May 26, 2018 15:10:49 GMT -5
Alrighty, let me see if I can put my thoughts into something resembling cohesion in an attempt to spark discussion, debate and/observations amongst us creative types, inspired into a state of pondering myself by various Shout Outs concerning Falcon/Misty/Iron Fist.
Now the phenomenon I’m about to cover is hardly unique to comics, ‘Guy Meets Girl’ is a staple of storytelling since storytelling has been a thing, but what I would specifically like to draw attention to, within an ‘ongoing’ narrative, why it’s so rare for ‘And then he gets the Girl’ rarely seems to last. To be more precise, why do couples in comics (almost) never go the distance?
Almost every movie I have ever watched (especially those produced during my formative years in the eighties and nineties) almost always (with a few, notable exceptions) conclude with some variation of ‘And then he gets the Girl’. Some matter of disaster is averted, be it literal or personal, and through overcoming trials and tribulations, our Hero gets the Girl and they live Happily Ever After.
In that respect, with any single movie potentially being a done in one, such couples are generally accepted to go on and enjoy said Happily Ever After as the writers don’t have worry about going back to the well. Unless there’s a sequel, in which case, rinse and repeat.
Comics however, specifically our Ongoing Marvel and DC Universes, don’t have the luxury of ending with a neat little bow as, well, there needs to be another issue next month or we go out of business. As such, no matter how happily any given storyline will end, we need all of that drama to ramp up again for our next tale or, you know, no-one is going to read it.
There has to be stakes, there’s no denying that, there has to be a goal for our protagonist to be pursuing or there’s no point in joining them in their pursuit. However good our heroes have it, something has to happen to upset the apple cart, after all, as much as we all love our favourite Protagonists... who wants to read about Happily Ever After?
Now here’s the question, and it’s an observation that I find increasingly fascinating the older I get, which is why doesn’t the guy ever get to keep the girl (or vice versa depending on the protagonist)? As I pointed out above, ‘will they or won’t they’ is a staple of storytelling that fundamentally works because it’s something we can all relate to, relationships, in one way or another, is something we’re had to fight for, and every so often our ‘heroes’ in comics manage to pull it off and, depending on editorial, even manage to tie the knot.
So why can’t they stay that way?
Because ‘no-one wants to read about happily ever after’ I hear you pointing out my very own observation, and this is true, we need to upset the apple cart to keep people interested, but why does that apple cart always have to be a relationship? Aside from death, nothing is comics in more temporary that relationships, as if being married would render you immune to future, potential drama.
As a married woman myself, I can assure you nothing is further from the truth, and while my Lovely Lori did indeed ‘Get the Girl’ (yep, just let something out of the bag right there), our trials and tribulations have hardly ended there. We have new burdens to bare, and new challenges to overcome (damn things never end), and being married hasn’t prevented the world at large trying to kick us while we’re down at the most random of opportunities.
So why doesn’t the ‘guy get to keep the girl’ (or vice versa), why are relationships always the first thing to go whenever a new creative team comes on board ? Why is that the go to for so many writers for creating drama, when we all have entire lifetimes of experience to draw upon in other regards?
Why can’t Couples be Couples and still experience and overcome turmoil?
Is it just the easiest path for a writer to take, or do we really not care about married couples?
Thoughts?
Feel free to ramble below.
I ramble all the time.
XD
Now the phenomenon I’m about to cover is hardly unique to comics, ‘Guy Meets Girl’ is a staple of storytelling since storytelling has been a thing, but what I would specifically like to draw attention to, within an ‘ongoing’ narrative, why it’s so rare for ‘And then he gets the Girl’ rarely seems to last. To be more precise, why do couples in comics (almost) never go the distance?
Almost every movie I have ever watched (especially those produced during my formative years in the eighties and nineties) almost always (with a few, notable exceptions) conclude with some variation of ‘And then he gets the Girl’. Some matter of disaster is averted, be it literal or personal, and through overcoming trials and tribulations, our Hero gets the Girl and they live Happily Ever After.
In that respect, with any single movie potentially being a done in one, such couples are generally accepted to go on and enjoy said Happily Ever After as the writers don’t have worry about going back to the well. Unless there’s a sequel, in which case, rinse and repeat.
Comics however, specifically our Ongoing Marvel and DC Universes, don’t have the luxury of ending with a neat little bow as, well, there needs to be another issue next month or we go out of business. As such, no matter how happily any given storyline will end, we need all of that drama to ramp up again for our next tale or, you know, no-one is going to read it.
There has to be stakes, there’s no denying that, there has to be a goal for our protagonist to be pursuing or there’s no point in joining them in their pursuit. However good our heroes have it, something has to happen to upset the apple cart, after all, as much as we all love our favourite Protagonists... who wants to read about Happily Ever After?
Now here’s the question, and it’s an observation that I find increasingly fascinating the older I get, which is why doesn’t the guy ever get to keep the girl (or vice versa depending on the protagonist)? As I pointed out above, ‘will they or won’t they’ is a staple of storytelling that fundamentally works because it’s something we can all relate to, relationships, in one way or another, is something we’re had to fight for, and every so often our ‘heroes’ in comics manage to pull it off and, depending on editorial, even manage to tie the knot.
So why can’t they stay that way?
Because ‘no-one wants to read about happily ever after’ I hear you pointing out my very own observation, and this is true, we need to upset the apple cart to keep people interested, but why does that apple cart always have to be a relationship? Aside from death, nothing is comics in more temporary that relationships, as if being married would render you immune to future, potential drama.
As a married woman myself, I can assure you nothing is further from the truth, and while my Lovely Lori did indeed ‘Get the Girl’ (yep, just let something out of the bag right there), our trials and tribulations have hardly ended there. We have new burdens to bare, and new challenges to overcome (damn things never end), and being married hasn’t prevented the world at large trying to kick us while we’re down at the most random of opportunities.
So why doesn’t the ‘guy get to keep the girl’ (or vice versa), why are relationships always the first thing to go whenever a new creative team comes on board ? Why is that the go to for so many writers for creating drama, when we all have entire lifetimes of experience to draw upon in other regards?
Why can’t Couples be Couples and still experience and overcome turmoil?
Is it just the easiest path for a writer to take, or do we really not care about married couples?
Thoughts?
Feel free to ramble below.
I ramble all the time.
XD