06-02-08, 3:42 PM
On Storytelling
Anime Relations: Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch R2, Allison & Lillia
Martin's latest post is a good read, even for those of us not watching Allison to Lillia, partly because his grumpy list of plot holes is rather witty, and partly because he gets into the nitty-gritty of storytelling - a subject I find interesting because I know so little about it.
Cue shock and horror (or at least I kind-of hope so). Before you refuse to believe everything I say ever again, ever-ever-ever, let me explain: the (sometimes excessively) high-falutin' approach to literature taken by my teachers at GCSE, A-Level and now at undergraduate level almost entirely excludes discussion of how good any given text is. The rules of construction are meant to be left to Creative Writing students, who stand several places below us in the (entirely unjustified) pecking-order of academia; in compensation for their lower status some of them will of course have the opportunity to earn a living writing fun stories as opposed to dry papers, the lucky bastards. (We've come close to this ground before.)
To make matters worse, my favourite kinds of literature don't even bother with good storytelling in the first place. My tutors frequently remind me that there have been plenty of times in which literary writing tended to aim at things utterly removed from what we now consider a logical, gripping and entertaining story.
Consider (as I was remarking to someone the other day): I'm a big fan of The Song of Roland, which is c. 4,000 lines long and mostly consists of brutal medieval slaughter interspersed with MANLY SPEECHES - extolling a view of morality which I'd charitably call simplistic ('Pagans are in the wrong and Christians are in the right', is the famous quotation). I'm also fond of The Faerie Queene, which is a brilliantly stately story full of allegory, some medieval slaughter and quite a lot of MANLY speechmaking - but the plot's pretty dissatisfying if you're not interested in those things (not to mention it's only half-finished - or possibly quarter-finished, because Spenser died).
[I apologise if it seems like I'm trying to flaunt my lit-peen here: the Song in particular is arguably pretty bad literature and I'm slightly ashamed of liking it.]
This kind of literature doesn't really do 'story', much less even than more Classical or Classically-styled epics (the Aeneid can be quite novelistic, and even Paradise Lost makes use of recognisable storytelling conventions). In fact, I'd suggest that (while there are plenty of differences) there's more in common between the storytelling of a modern novel and the storytelling of a television (or anime) series than there is between the same novel and a medieval morality play or allegorical dream-vision narrative.
So what I'm trying to say (in a very long-winded way) is partly that Martin (in common with most literate people) probably understands (modern) storytelling better than I do. I intend to give Owen's recommendation of McKee's Story a try in the near future, trying to grasp one (screen)writer's break-down of (screen)writing's basic nuts and bolts.
Another thing I'm trying to say is that anime (or anything else) which abandons (to a greater or lesser extent) the tenets of (modern) storytelling shouldn't be discarded out-of-hand; we need to examine it and see if it gains anything in exchange. In the case of Allison to Lillia, by Martin's account, little is gained and much is lost: storytelling fail. Code Geass, on the other hand, is practically built out of dei ex machinis - but in exchange for the lost plausibility it gains a ridiculously compelling theatricality and the chance to throw anything that will please anyone into the pot.
So, for example, in a recent episode
Cue shock and horror (or at least I kind-of hope so). Before you refuse to believe everything I say ever again, ever-ever-ever, let me explain: the (sometimes excessively) high-falutin' approach to literature taken by my teachers at GCSE, A-Level and now at undergraduate level almost entirely excludes discussion of how good any given text is. The rules of construction are meant to be left to Creative Writing students, who stand several places below us in the (entirely unjustified) pecking-order of academia; in compensation for their lower status some of them will of course have the opportunity to earn a living writing fun stories as opposed to dry papers, the lucky bastards. (We've come close to this ground before.)
To make matters worse, my favourite kinds of literature don't even bother with good storytelling in the first place. My tutors frequently remind me that there have been plenty of times in which literary writing tended to aim at things utterly removed from what we now consider a logical, gripping and entertaining story.
Consider (as I was remarking to someone the other day): I'm a big fan of The Song of Roland, which is c. 4,000 lines long and mostly consists of brutal medieval slaughter interspersed with MANLY SPEECHES - extolling a view of morality which I'd charitably call simplistic ('Pagans are in the wrong and Christians are in the right', is the famous quotation). I'm also fond of The Faerie Queene, which is a brilliantly stately story full of allegory, some medieval slaughter and quite a lot of MANLY speechmaking - but the plot's pretty dissatisfying if you're not interested in those things (not to mention it's only half-finished - or possibly quarter-finished, because Spenser died).
[I apologise if it seems like I'm trying to flaunt my lit-peen here: the Song in particular is arguably pretty bad literature and I'm slightly ashamed of liking it.]
This kind of literature doesn't really do 'story', much less even than more Classical or Classically-styled epics (the Aeneid can be quite novelistic, and even Paradise Lost makes use of recognisable storytelling conventions). In fact, I'd suggest that (while there are plenty of differences) there's more in common between the storytelling of a modern novel and the storytelling of a television (or anime) series than there is between the same novel and a medieval morality play or allegorical dream-vision narrative.
So what I'm trying to say (in a very long-winded way) is partly that Martin (in common with most literate people) probably understands (modern) storytelling better than I do. I intend to give Owen's recommendation of McKee's Story a try in the near future, trying to grasp one (screen)writer's break-down of (screen)writing's basic nuts and bolts.
Another thing I'm trying to say is that anime (or anything else) which abandons (to a greater or lesser extent) the tenets of (modern) storytelling shouldn't be discarded out-of-hand; we need to examine it and see if it gains anything in exchange. In the case of Allison to Lillia, by Martin's account, little is gained and much is lost: storytelling fail. Code Geass, on the other hand, is practically built out of dei ex machinis - but in exchange for the lost plausibility it gains a ridiculously compelling theatricality and the chance to throw anything that will please anyone into the pot.
So, for example, in a recent episode
Posted by Leuconoe | 06-02-08, 3:42 PM | 2 comments
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ConcreteBadger | 06-03-08, 11:07 AM
Wow, thanks. My rant was the length it was due to that old problem that if something works you don't give it a second thought; when something doesn't work you end up taking it to pieces to figure out what's wrong. That and the fact that I wanted to back up wisecracks with logical reasoning so I didn't come across as needlessly bitchy.I suppose it's true that lit students are trained to pick out the technical details at the expense of deciding whether it works as entertainment or not - a problem shared by film students too, I'll wager! In A&L's case the plot twists and whatnot ought to come second place to the issue of "is this an enjoyable story?"; plot holes an suspension of disbelief are an important part of that, but not the be-all and end-all. Just to clear up any misconceptions here, my post-16 education was purely science-based so for all my long words and Wikipedia quoting, I'm not nearly as academic as I might seem! |
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Owen | 06-03-08, 7:13 AM
"[I apologise if it seems like I'm trying to flaunt my lit-peen here: the Song in particular is arguably pretty bad literature and I'm slightly ashamed of liking it.]"Oh, come. Considering that you hardly ever flex those muscles, it's a welcome change from the norm. Besides, if you ever did do it on a regular basis, I'd put serious money on your being able to use it for good (as opposed to dross, not evil). I like that equation of yours, even if it appears to be an extended and bastardised version of alchemy -- equivalent exchange, and how anime that fail to toe the line become a walking horror. |
