TV Trops

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Testekill: Nov 1, 2012; I demand to be taken seriously

Apple Tree posted:

Not if you don't want to be called lazy yourself. It doesn't use a laugh track, it's shot in front of a live audience. You can buy tickets for it.

However the reactions are completely artificial. You're told when to laugh and they actually at least partially use a laugh track to get people to laugh along.

# ? Dec 26, 2013 13:06

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# ? May 26, 2024 08:46

MinistryofLard: Mar 22, 2013; Goblin babies did nothing wrong.

Given that I recently saw the new Hobbit movie, lets take a look at what TVTropes thinks about analysing Lord of the Rings.

LoTR is a bit like a literary inkblot test, in that people read their own politics into it a lot. With that in mind, I'm sure TV Tropes' take will be...

quote:

Frodo and Sam: Ho or No?

The somewhat ambiguous nature of Sam and Frodo's relationship has long been a topic of discussion among scholars and fans alike. Most people agree that the bond between them is very close, whether they consider it platonic or not; the two spend most of the story in each other's company, share many thoughtful conversations, trust each other with their lives, and end up living together even after Sam's marriage. Sam also sleeps with Frodo's head in his lap several times during their journey, kisses his hand or cheek on numerous occasions, and feels torn between his master and his wife.
Interestingly enough, Sam is the only one of the five prominently featured hobbits to show any attraction towards a female during the course of the novel. Frodo and Bilbo are never in any openly romantic relationships whatsoever; Merry and Pippin get hitched later in life to two hobbits we know nothing about. Sam's love for Rosie, rather than being subtext, is plainly obvious to himself and to everyone around him, to the point where even Rosie's father has caught on. He thinks about Rosie wistfully as his strength wanes on the slopes of Mount Doom, and later blushes mightily when Frodo talks about how brave and famous he is in front of her. Eventually she bears him a grand total of thirteen children, and only after her death does he leave Middle-earth to see Frodo.
Nevertheless, many have commented that the term "friendship" isn't quite strong enough to describe Sam and Frodo's bond. Some have called it brotherly; others speculate that Sam is a polyamorous bisexual, or believe that Frodo is Sam-sexual, or ship Sam/Frodo/Rosie. An example of a purely platonic relationship is that of Frodo and Merry or Pippin, who are described as Frodo's "closest friends" in FOTR, ch. 2. Note that this quote is from before the Quest kicks off. Frodo has undoubtedly been fond of Sam for some time, as shown at the end of this chapter, but at this point Sam is still his slightly dim-witted gardener. Later, as the journey grows more arduous and the two of them are forced to go on alone, the already unusual master-servant relationship (Frodo is never shown giving Sam orders, and calls him a friend, which implies equal status) will shift into something more, well, ambiguous as the two of them become more dependent on each other alone.
Although any Ho Yay was certainly unintentional on Tolkien's part - being a devout Catholic writing in the 40s and 50s, he would most likely have disapproved of queer relationships - there are two relevant quotes from the books that liken their relationship both to a marriage and to an animal partnership. One appears in The Two Towers, during the passage where Sam battles Shelob to save Frodo. There Sam is described as "a small creature [...] that stands above its fallen mate."
The second is written in the epilogue (published posthumously), where Sam tells his daughter that Celeborn and his wife, Galadriel, were separated when she sailed west. Elanor responds by likening Sam and Frodo's relationship to theirs, noting that Frodo also left Sam behind when he departed for Valinor. She tells Sam, "He knew that [...] Galadriel would leave him. I think it was very sad for him. And for you, dear Sam-dad." Sam does not correct her comments as a childish misunderstanding. Neither does he explain to Elanor that he is in fact married to Rose Cotton, or that the two relationships are of a different nature; instead he says that his sadness has lessened and confides that he hopes to see Frodo again, thereby implicitly validating his daughter's insights.

This is what passes for analysis on TV Tropes: Are Frodo and Sam loving. :negative:

quote:

Interpretation

The Lord of the Rings is no allegory of any kind, but rather fanfiction of a sort inspired by Nordic mythology, as well as various other sources. There are too many references to ignore: The One Ring is from Nibelungenlied and Plato's Ring of Gyges; Gandalf is Merlin and Odin who were powerful sorcerers and made sacrifices to be reborn; when the elves travel across the ocean they go to Tir Na Nog, which lies to the west and to which you can only go with the elves.

There is no such thing as inspiration or influence - there is only literal, fanfiction.

# ? Dec 26, 2013 13:08

Fuego Fish: Dec 5, 2004; By tooth and claw!

MinistryofLard posted:

There is no such thing as inspiration or influence - there is only literal, fanfiction.

This makes me so annoyed, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised that tropers are fundamentally broken.

# ? Dec 26, 2013 13:15

Apple Tree: Sep 8, 2013

Testekill posted:

However the reactions are completely artificial. You're told when to laugh and they actually at least partially use a laugh track to get people to laugh along.

Personal experience, or is there evidence you can link?

# ? Dec 26, 2013 14:16

Inspector Zenigata: Jul 19, 2010

---

Inspector Zenigata fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Apr 2, 2014

# ? Dec 26, 2013 14:20

you may die: Dec 15, 2013

Apple Tree posted:

Personal experience, or is there evidence you can link?

AV Club's Todd VanDerWerff did an article for Grantland about going to a taping of Dads the other day. I'm pretty sure it doesn't just happen with crappy sitcoms, though, they really want to have a specific kind of laughter at specific moments and avoid certain audience reactions.

# ? Dec 26, 2013 14:42

A Dapper Man: Apr 7, 2007; Sometimes, I just like to kick it freestyle.

Inspector Zenigata posted:

I've been in numerous studio audience recordings and both of those things are true, or at least they are for the shows I was in the audience for. If you watch Colbert Report he references the audience being coached and told exactly when and how to cheer probably two or three times a month. I suppose it could be different for BBT, but I seriously doubt it.

All sitcoms and live audience shows are like this. You can't just fault BBT for doing it just because you don't think the show is funny.

# ? Dec 26, 2013 17:34

Djeser: Mar 22, 2013; it's crow time again

I can fault Big Bang Theory for not being that funny and for also being a huge derail.

You know who else talks a lot about Big Bang Theory? Tropers.

It's got five pages of 'general tropes' and a separate page for each season's trope.

That's not counting the other pages, like YMMV:

Big Bang Theory > YMMV > Alternate Character Interpretation posted:

Sheldon Cooper seems to have Asperger's Syndrome, despite the creators denying this. He displays the usual signs of Asperger's: heightened vocabulary, lack of caring towards people's feelings, monologue-like speeches, difficulty in understanding social norms, obsessions, altered brain chemicals with coffee, etc. He could be "Clark Kenting" to what he thinks all geniuses should be, copying a professor/doctor/whatever who had Autism whom he idolized when he was growing up in a highly religious part of Texas. Now he has become the mask. He has stated twice that his mother had him tested for insanity; signs of being on the autistic spectrum should've popped up, and so he might not have autism. On the other hand, a personality disorder is not "insanity" - and given that Sheldon is extremely Literal-Minded he may be just reacting to the terms "insane" or "crazy" only. Also, his mother mentioned (in S05E06 "The Rhinitis Revelation") after confirming that she had him tested as a child and he's fine:

"Although, I do regret not following up with that specialist in Houston."

The entire male cast shows many of the very same tendencies, just to a lesser degree. Leonard is the most socially savvy and has a vast understanding of human psychological conditioning, but that doesn't make him any less awkward than the other guys in a social setting.

Given that, according to Sheldon, his mother had him tested, and that this presumably occurred when he was a child, it is possible that he has a personality disorder that cannot be diagnosed in children and that would not have shown up until he was an adult.

Or he was successfully diagnosed with autism as a child and, quite simply, no one feels the need to bring it up on any regular basis.

There have been lots of hints (some subtle, some not so subtle) that Sheldon's family life was not exactly ideal: his father was an abusive drunk and his mother uses religion as a form of denial. Losing his father no doubt added to the trauma. And then there was the analogy Sheldon once drew between schmoozing wealthy university donors for grant funding to being molested in the back of a van...which was probably a little ''too'' descriptive for the otherwise overly literal Sheldon to be making an extended metaphor. One gets the impression that Sheldon's childhood was horror even leaving aside the bullying he experienced as a result of his obnoxious personality. Combined with at least three severe emotional breakdowns we've seen him have, Sheldon's arrogance and aloofness may well be a defense mechanism which is breaking down over time.

Another aspect of his home life that might be affecting his social ability: Sheldon is extremely logical and scientific. His mother is The Fundamentalist. He was raised by someone who, from his perspective, believes in irrational superstitions that there is no evidence for. He would have been terrified at living with and being raised by a person who went around talking about, or even to, a being that doesn't exist; imagine hearing the story of Abraham (almost) sacrificing his son, and worrying that your own mother will act this out on you.

It gets worse when Sheldon talks about how his grandfather was the only one in the family who ever encouraged him to pursue science, and how his father and siblings treated him. Sheldon's mom is usually played as nice, but some of her comments, which border on racist, if unwitting, really show she's not all that better from Leonard's mom, just on the other side of the spectrum(Science vs. Religion). She's a fundamentalist who seems to have a very old-fashioned and limited view on the world, which she took just to compensate for her husband's cheating and uses it as a crutch to keep going. She could be just ignorant, but sometimes she seems like an unbuilt form of Dolores Umbridge. Everyone just tends to look the other way because she's nicer than Leonard's mom and tends to put a leash on Sheldon's antics, but she may very well BE the reason for Sheldon's antics. She's once described him as "one of God's special children", so she thinks, or at least once thought, he was retarded or insane, and seemingly preached this idea to Sheldon's sister. Sheldon's slightly autistic behavior could be the result of being treated as one, despite and because of his genius intellect.

Is this a comedy or a character drama?

Let's take a look at some FANFIC

Big Bang Theory > Fanfic Recs posted:

Sheldon Discovers TV Tropes by Jane Poirot

Recommend by Miss Breeziness
Synopsis: As the author writes: Exactly What It Says on the Tin. What if Sheldon found the TV Tropes page? Answer: TV Tropes ruins Sheldon's life...and Sheldon ruins all the tropers'.

Big Bang Theory > Fanfic Recs posted:

The Pony Infatuation by Awesome Will V1

Recommend by Paycheckgurl
Synopsis: Raj becomes a brony to the confusion and annoyance of everyone else, Amy starts spending more time with Bernadette, which causes problems for Howard, and Leonard and Sheldon start a new Friday night anime tradition (and keep having to watch Penny's picks). Hilarity Ensues.

Big Bang Theory > Fanfic Recs posted:

The Male Pregnancy Conundrum by noelia_g

Recommended by Baby Moondancer
Synopsis: You read that title right � Sheldon gets knocked up.
Tags: M Preg

The Male Pregnancy Conundrum by noelia_g, in its entirety posted:

On the plus side, Sheldon gets to be on the cover of various scientific magazines, and a plethora of not-so-scientific too. He basks in the publicity, although says he'd prefer if it was for his scientific achievement, not the mere fact of existing.

On the downside, Sheldon is moody, fussy, and picky with his food� oh, well, there's really no change, is there.

"How the hell did that even happen?" Penny asks, looking suspiciously at Leonard, who would like to point out that it's not entirely his fault. Partly, maybe.

"Well, Penny," Howard starts with a leer. "See, when mommy and daddy love each other very much�" he stops as Raj leans to whisper frantically in his ear. "What do you mean I'm not telling it right? As I'm the only one of the two of us capable of telling this story I will choose the manner in which it is told. No, I'm not being difficult!"

"There was tequila," Leonard explains sadly. "Lots of it."

Penny frowns. "How did you even get Sheldon to drink tequila? I thought drugs and booze were a total no-no."

"Alcohol intake leads to poor judgement and bad life choices," Sheldon announces mournfully from his desk where he methodically deals with his spam messages, like he does every Wednesday. "However, I felt like I've been missing an important part of fannish experience."

"He wanted to play a drinking game," Leonard explains at Penny's look. "So, we watched The Wrath of Khan," he says, dropping his head into his hands and swaying forward and backward in his seat for a while.

Howard whistles. "That explains it all," he says and sits more comfortably, turning to Penny. "See, tequila lowers inhibitions."

"Yeah, kinda knew that one already," Penny says, grimacing.

"And the epicness of the Kirk/Spock scene had probably done the rest. See, Sheldon has this thing where he's Spock, Leonard is Kirk, and�"

"Yes," Penny interruptshim, covering her ears. "I heard that one too," she mutters, then raises her head to look at Sheldon before he can speak up. "And yes, I know what an honour it is to be Uhura, and I'm very, very grateful," she says slowly, as if she had learned that one by heart. She had. "What I don't get is how Sheldon, who is, for the purpose of this discussion, male, can get pregnant."

Howard shrugs, listening to what Rajesh is whispering into his ear. "Yes. That gets us back to the theory that Sheldon, in fact, belongs to another species. Who apparently can mate with humans."

Penny bites her lip thoughtfully. She has that expression Leonard had come to know well during their dating period, and had come to fear it as well. "Well, but couldn't it mean that Leonard is simply the same species as Sheldon is? Like, from the same planet, or the land that is hidden in the closet, or whatever?"

Rajesh seems excited by the thought, whispering a mile a minute. Howard is beaming now. Sheldon perks up, as if considering Penny's theory.

"I need tequila," Leonard mutters.

"No, you don't. It will set a bad example for the baby," Sheldon lectures him.

comments on The Male Pregnancy Conundrum posted:

That is pretty hilarious and awesome. Win.

I saw the warnings, said to myself, "Aw, hell, this fandom too?" And then I read it and oh. My. God. So hilarious.
You win at life.

Enjoyed this very much. I just have STRONG FEELINGS on who should be who in their Star Trek TOS Landing Party.
"And yes, I know what an honour it is to be Uhura, and I'm very, very grateful," she says slowly, as if she had learned that one by heart. She had.
But RAJ is Uhura! (The fact he owns that costume is a source of great shame to his family.)
Besides, Sheldon, it's not fair to make Penny answer the space phone.

Okay, I realize the crack-eyness of this premise...
...but that's no excuse for not continuing it! I want more!

SO AWESOME :aaaaa:

Okay can we stop talking about Big Bang Theory now?

# ? Dec 26, 2013 18:30

Apple Tree: Sep 8, 2013

Okay, how about this. Taking an interest in...

MinistryofLard posted:

This is what passes for analysis on TV Tropes: Are Frodo and Sam loving.

... I thought I'd look up the closest equivalent I could think of in well-known popular fiction, the relationship between Lord Peter Wimsey and his butler/batman Bunter in the Dorothy Sayers books. The Sam-Frodo relationship doesn't translate very well to modern days because the class distinctions are no longer considered right and proper, but it's hard to have a sensible take on it without acknowledging that. The two of them are, effectively, in combat, in an era where class makes the difference between an officer and a squaddie, which makes for a relationship that's close but unequal and has certain fairly defined boundaries. The Wimsey-Bunter relationship, in which a former officer and batman remain close friends in civilian life but preserve the relationship of patron and employee, seems about as close as you're going to get in stuff that people have read.

So, what does TVTropes have to say about it?

Well, a whole lot of stuff, actually, but what do they say about Bunter? He is

quote:

Mervyn Bunter, Peter's valet and old army buddy...

Badass Bookworm: Small, bookish martial artist Peter. Harriet, Parker and Bunter fit as well, all being highly well-read and -spoken, and pursuing intellectual hobbies, as well as being strong and highly capable.

Battle Butler: Bunter is quite a competent detective in his own right, and, like Peter, he's an ex-soldier...

Deadpan Snarker: Bunter's humorous dialogue is always delivered as part of his highly formal, old-fashioned and subservient manner of speaking...

Expy: Bunter is explicitly compared to Wodehouse's Jeeves; Lord Peter and Freddy Arbuthnot both resemble Bertie Wooster...

If We Survive This: When they were serving together in the army, Lord Peter offered Bunter a job if they both survived...

The Jeeves: Bunter is famously efficient and deferential, and is explicitly compared to Jeeves...

The Watson: Parker, Bunter, Harriet or a local policeman typically serve as Peter's Watson, and various members of the SCR serve as Harriet's. These Watsons are generally very bright themselves, and serve as sounding-boards to more speculative theories or areas of highly-specialised exposition...

With Due Respect: Bunter frequently addresses Lord Peter in this manner, with equal parts sincerity and criticism. Naturally, he's always right.

...and that's it. Very dull, very chaste. There's nothing on the fan fiction recs page either. The most anyone's bothered with is this little bit of polymorphous perversity:

quote:

Ho Yay: Peter and Bunter, Peter and Parker, Harriet and Dr. Martin, every female who sets foot in the S.C.R. for more than a few seconds at a time, Whitaker and Findlater, Agatha and Clara...it goes on. It's rather shocking for the twenties and thirties.

and considering this is TVTropes, 'OMG everyone's totally doing it with everyone this is so edgy!!!' is hardly a comment at all.

What gives, I wonder? Is it just that they were never made into blockbuster movies?

# ? Dec 26, 2013 21:11

Irisi: Feb 18, 2009

Apple Tree posted:

... I thought I'd look up the closest equivalent I could think of in well-known popular fiction, the relationship between Lord Peter Wimsey and his butler/batman Bunter in the Dorothy Sayers books.
What gives, I wonder? Is it just that they were never made into blockbuster movies?

Not popular enough, I'd guess. The TV series was way back in the 1970's and isn't well-remembered by most folk, and the books aren't promoted heavily these days (they're still in print, but you have to hunt them down).

And there is the fact that Peter and Harriet Vane are written as excruciatingly, intensely, painfully in love with each other; there's really no room for anything or anyone else, though I know that's never stopped the shippers before.

(But really, Harriet is probably what a lot of these people would like to imagine themselves as -socially ostracised, unjustly persecuted, a great writer, handsome, proud, but in constant need of rescue by Lord Peter- and therefore they can safely imagine themselves as her. Ignoring the fact, of course, that Harriet and Peter only get together once she's learned to value herself and stop being overly prickly, and Peter has learned to stop being such a sarcastic, overbearing arse.)

# ? Dec 26, 2013 23:28

Morkyz: Aug 6, 2013

That BBT male pregnancy thing was hilariously probably the best writing I've seen from tvtropes. Seriously, I got almost half way through before losing interest.

# ? Dec 27, 2013 03:30

Arc Hammer: Mar 4, 2013; Got any deathsticks?

The crossover between TGWTG fans and Tropers never ceases to amaze me. Because I hate myself, I watched another of Doug Walker's horribly unfunny videos, and then went to his TVTropes page. I got quite the chuckle seeing tropers poo poo themselves because he attacked their precious animes in that godawful Sailor Moon review of his.

# ? Dec 27, 2013 08:17

Flesnolk: Apr 11, 2012

What do people, let alone tropers, see in that worthless screechy idiot anyway? He's a loving millionaire or something while people who're actually good for something starve to death in the streets, and all he does is basically be a troper into a webcam.

# ? Dec 27, 2013 09:33

Arc Hammer: Mar 4, 2013; Got any deathsticks?

Flesnolk posted:

What do people, let alone tropers, see in that worthless screechy idiot anyway? He's a loving millionaire or something while people who're actually good for something starve to death in the streets, and all he does is basically be a troper into a webcam.

According to TvTropes, they find him cute.

Honestly, the only thing I think they see in him is the fact that he's basically doing what they do and getting paid for it. I can't imagine another reason why you'd want to screech into a camera for thirty minutes. His character was annoying enough before he "quit", but afterwards, Doug has just made him venomous. He's no longer funny to laugh at for being pathetic, he's just a petty, hateful character that Doug Walker for some reason insists on keeping around. (i'll tell you the reason: it's the money)

# ? Dec 27, 2013 09:37

Regalingualius: Jan 7, 2012; We gazed into the eyes of madness... And all we found was horny.

Flesnolk posted:

What do people, let alone tropers, see in that worthless screechy idiot anyway? He's a loving millionaire or something while people who're actually good for something starve to death in the streets, and all he does is basically be a troper into a webcam.

I've admittedly not watched any of his stuff, but given what you're saying, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they saw him as a support for their lifestyle, someone they can point to as a "success".

...Crap, now I'm remembering the really hosed up fanfic recs on him that I swear I remember seeing somewhere on there a while ago.

Fake edit: oh hey :suicide:

quote:

Go Amongst Mad People by keevacaereni (Torture, gore, horror themes, multiple endings.)

quote:

untitled by unknown (M Preg, implied character death, really disturbing imagery.)

quote:

When Zombies Attack: A Dark Comedy in Three Acts by bubosquared (Character death, slash of both flavors, het and ZOMBIES!)

quote:

Nostos by villis (Death, violence, sexual abuse, angst, slash, pretty much what you'd expect from a post-apocalyptic AU)

# ? Dec 27, 2013 09:51

Cleretic: Feb 3, 2010; Ignore my posts!
I'm aggressively wrong about everything!

Flesnolk posted:

What do people, let alone tropers, see in that worthless screechy idiot anyway? He's a loving millionaire or something while people who're actually good for something starve to death in the streets, and all he does is basically be a troper into a webcam.

That's just how the market works. Especially the entertainment market.

Say what you will about internet video reviewing as a Thing, and you'll probably be right, but there's no denying that it exists and has an audience. Nostalgia Critic and AVGN basically created the whole genre, and were good enough to keep it up while also being smart enough to know how to sell it. There's better reviewers, on his own drat site in fact, but Nostalgia Critic kicked off for two reasons:

1. He was quick. He was one of the earliest and biggest, and basically codified how to do the whole thing. Most other reviewers imitate him, and in that case, you're always going to default to the original.
2. He knew how to sell himself. He knows what to do to get an audience, how to set himself apart, and how to keep it that way. He's smarter than he puts on, but he knows that's not what his audience wants (James Rolfe is the same); his audience wants shallow observations of what they'd be able to see themselves, condensed into nice neat soundbites, that they can parrot. His audience is Tropers in essence, if not literally (although that venn diagram's awfully close).

# ? Dec 27, 2013 10:02

Testekill: Nov 1, 2012; I demand to be taken seriously

Cleretic posted:

That's just how the market works. Especially the entertainment market.

Say what you will about internet video reviewing as a Thing, and you'll probably be right, but there's no denying that it exists and has an audience. Nostalgia Critic and AVGN basically created the whole genre, and were good enough to keep it up while also being smart enough to know how to sell it. There's better reviewers, on his own drat site in fact, but Nostalgia Critic kicked off for two reasons:

1. He was quick. He was one of the earliest and biggest, and basically codified how to do the whole thing. Most other reviewers imitate him, and in that case, you're always going to default to the original.
2. He knew how to sell himself. He knows what to do to get an audience, how to set himself apart, and how to keep it that way. He's smarter than he puts on, but he knows that's not what his audience wants (James Rolfe is the same); his audience wants shallow observations of what they'd be able to see themselves, condensed into nice neat soundbites, that they can parrot. His audience is Tropers in essence, if not literally (although that venn diagram's awfully close).

That's a big thing about Walker. If not for the Nostalgia Critic character then I'd have a lot of respect for him as he makes good points in editorials and such when he's just being himself. However it's the Nostalgia Critic character that sells and the online community just loves lowest common denominator.

# ? Dec 27, 2013 10:37

dungeon cousin: Nov 26, 2012; woop woop
loop loop

nvm

dungeon cousin fucked around with this message at 10:49 on Jun 22, 2014

# ? Dec 27, 2013 12:10

Jay O: Oct 9, 2012; being a zombie's not so bad
once you get used to it

Flesnolk posted:

What do people, let alone tropers, see in that worthless screechy idiot anyway? He's a loving millionaire or something while people who're actually good for something starve to death in the streets, and all he does is basically be a troper into a webcam.

Uh. Ha ha. If it's any consolation to you, he is nowhere near being a millionaire or even "rich" by any metric. He puts out 3-4 videos a week in ad-money-plentiful December for a reason, and it ain't greed, that's for sure. There are Youtube millionaires, but even then, not as many as you'd think considering the "image" of the thing. Most video entertainment producers, certainly the whole of TGWTG, have to put out weekly to make just a middle class wage or lower, but they hide that fact for obvious reasons. At the same time, it does us zero good for furthering any kind of future career by disguising our broke-rear end-ness to ourselves, which is the unfortunate side effect of disguising it to our audiences. TGWTG meetups at cons make it jaw-droppingly obvious that we have zippo expendable income, savings, or earn any kind of impressive wage. We're pretty much all broke dorks, if money gets thrown around by an internet reviewer at some point, it's probably not from the gig itself. Don't get me wrong: it's amazing that we get *any* kind of real, livable wage from what we do, but just as it's not real fame, it's not real fame money.

tl;dr Don't get too bitter about the "success" of screamy video reviewer content, it's not a real lucrative gig.

...On an unrelated note, there was like a full page derail on the viewer psychology of The Big Bang Theory in here on Christmas Day. :raise:

It's a mean-spirited, balls-less, lame sitcom, The End. Holy god, open the doors and air out all the goon in here. :stare:

Jay O fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Dec 28, 2013

# ? Dec 28, 2013 14:09

Flesnolk: Apr 11, 2012

Well my bad, for some reason I'd thought he legit got really rich off TGWTG. Sorry.

(And hey, posting about tropers doesn't take up that much free time, I think we all made some time to get off SA on Christmas.)

# ? Dec 28, 2013 19:22

High Warlord Zog: Dec 12, 2012

Jay O posted:

Most video entertainment producers, certainly the whole of TGWTG, have to put out weekly to make just a middle class wage or lower, but they hide that fact for obvious reasons. At the same time, it does us zero good for furthering any kind of future career by disguising our broke-rear end-ness to ourselves, which is the unfortunate side effect of disguising it to our audiences.

This and the fact that Blip isn't transparent about views makes it very easy for people to assume that a lot of internet critics are doing better than they are. I remember hearing something about how the guy who's doing the best out of the TGWTG crowd is Angry Joe because he uploads to a video hosting service that people actually use and is allowed to make money off his videos on it, whereas to monetise their content every other person on TGWTG has to use Blip and videos on that piece of poo poo site get only a fraction of the views that something on YouTube gets.

# ? Dec 28, 2013 21:26

Arc Hammer: Mar 4, 2013; Got any deathsticks?

This conversation reminds me of the explosion of rage on Youtube when Lewis Lovehaug (Linkara) uploaded a video asking people to turn off their adblockers, since he doesn't make cash otherwise. The sheer amount of people indignantly yelling at the guy for giving them free content with the small price of watching an ad was astounding.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 01:22

Lady Naga: Apr 25, 2008; Voyons Donc!

Jay O posted:

Uh. Ha ha. If it's any consolation to you, he is nowhere near being a millionaire or even "rich" by any metric. He puts out 3-4 videos a week in ad-money-plentiful December for a reason, and it ain't greed, that's for sure. There are Youtube millionaires, but even then, not as many as you'd think considering the "image" of the thing. Most video entertainment producers, certainly the whole of TGWTG, have to put out weekly to make just a middle class wage or lower, but they hide that fact for obvious reasons. At the same time, it does us zero good for furthering any kind of future career by disguising our broke-rear end-ness to ourselves, which is the unfortunate side effect of disguising it to our audiences. TGWTG meetups at cons make it jaw-droppingly obvious that we have zippo expendable income, savings, or earn any kind of impressive wage. We're pretty much all broke dorks, if money gets thrown around by an internet reviewer at some point, it's probably not from the gig itself. Don't get me wrong: it's amazing that we get *any* kind of real, livable wage from what we do, but just as it's not real fame, it's not real fame money.

tl;dr Don't get too bitter about the "success" of screamy video reviewer content, it's not a real lucrative gig.

...On an unrelated note, there was like a full page derail on the viewer psychology of The Big Bang Theory in here on Christmas Day. It's a mean-spirited, balls-less, lame sitcom, The End. Holy god, open the doors and air out all the goon in here.

So then get a real job?

Arcsquad12 posted:

This conversation reminds me of the explosion of rage on Youtube when Lewis Lovehaug (Linkara) uploaded a video asking people to turn off their adblockers, since he doesn't make cash otherwise. The sheer amount of people indignantly yelling at the guy for giving them free content with the small price of watching an ad was astounding.

People were laughing because his videos loving suck and it was funny to watch him literally beg for lovely ad revenue.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Dec 29, 2013 01:55

Cleretic: Feb 3, 2010; Ignore my posts!
I'm aggressively wrong about everything!

Lady Naga posted:

So then get a real job?

People were laughing because his videos loving suck and it was funny to watch him literally beg for lovely ad revenue.

Wow, you're a loving idiot. It's extraordinary how your red title tells us exactly what we needed to know even when it isn't actually relevant.

Going entirely off of what little we're actually able to see, the only internet reviewers that I'd say actually make decent money off it are Red Letter Media. And they have other things going than just internet reviewing to bolster it.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 02:26

Lady Naga: Apr 25, 2008; Voyons Donc!

Cleretic posted:

Wow, you're a loving idiot. It's extraordinary how your red title tells us exactly what we needed to know even when it isn't actually relevant.

I wonder how many people who make this joke realize the horrible irony in it.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 02:37

Djeser: Mar 22, 2013; it's crow time again

TV Tropes Writer's Block > "Show" a sentence that the above poster "tells"

a troper posted:

He broke his pen in anger

another troper posted:

Arguably, this Troper is probably the youngest of which who suffers from this Trope. This is practically the invisible label that's under the invisible Berserk Button of this 13-year old kid. He broke 33 pencils in his life, and had a good friend break two of those pencils because they were too hard. He even yelled at someone because that guy was the third person who asked if he could be punched for the third time, with a teacher only a mile ahead!

# ? Dec 29, 2013 03:12

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Djeser posted:

TV Tropes Writer's Block > "Show" a sentence that the above poster "tells"

Proof that beauty can even exist on TVTropes.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 03:16

Arc Hammer: Mar 4, 2013; Got any deathsticks?

Djeser posted:

TV Tropes Writer's Block > "Show" a sentence that the above poster "tells"

Well played.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 03:17

Djeser: Mar 22, 2013; it's crow time again

In case you don't believe me:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13658021570A97800100&page=4#96

# ? Dec 29, 2013 03:21

MizPiz: May 29, 2013; by Athanatos

Lady Naga posted:

I wonder how many people who make this joke realize the horrible irony in it.

Please, do enlighten us.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 03:25

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

Djeser posted:

TV Tropes Writer's Block > "Show" a sentence that the above poster "tells"

That's still my favorite Troper Tale, and the responding post is incredible

troper posted:

I actually poo poo myself when I read that. There I realized I wasn't just dealing with the usual horrifyingly egotistical Troper Tale. This person will BREAK YOUR PENCILS without a second thought. Should he meet you, without any regret, he will DESTROY your beloved pencil collection. Your Crayola, your HB, everything. That beloved pencil you had for three years? Snapped in two with no remorse. Even if you reinforce your pencils to try and stop him, he has a good friend, even better in the arts of pencil-snapping. And when he is done, you will be nothing, sobbing in a heap of pencils as broken as your dreams. And he will laugh. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 03:27

corn in the bible: Jun 5, 2004; Oh no oh god it's all true!

a troper posted:

Why, oh why didn't Mewtwo create an army of Nurse Joy clones out of the Nurse Joy that he had kidnapped-and-brainwashed?

Speaking of which, are there any fics that pair Mewtwo with said Nurse Joy?

# ? Dec 29, 2013 09:21

Not an Owl: Oct 29, 2011

So I just finished Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, and decided to see what TvTropes had to say about it. The very first trope:

quote:

Author Filibuster: It seemed like the plot was a decent story about 2 estranged friends and looking for treasure, but it was kind of hard to tell under all the preaching and metaphors.

If you've never read the novel, this statement is the equivalent of saying that Hamlet would've been a great story about a man avenging his father if it weren't for all of the symbolism and monologues.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 09:36

Zedd: Jul 6, 2009; I mean, who would have noticed another madman around here?

Flesnolk posted:

Well my bad, for some reason I'd thought he legit got really rich off TGWTG. Sorry.

Doug Walker as a person seems like a pretty reasonable dude, he actually tried to stop with the Nostalgia Critic persona because it was played out.
They started a new series that he apparently invested a decent sum of money into with regards to equipment and some form of a studio. TGWTG's main audience did not like change. Although his new project wasn't that great it did not deserve to bomb as hard as it did in my eyes.
He was more or less forced to go back to "the critic" as a persona and I think it shows.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 13:13

Lottery of Babylon: Apr 25, 2012; STRAIGHT TROPIN'

Doug Walker also didn't understand why Dumbo was considered racist, since he thought the Jim Crows were funny.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 14:01

Arctic Bunny: Aug 3, 2012; A PERFECT LOOKING NOSE
Can Easily Be Yours

Lottery of Babylon posted:

Doug Walker also didn't understand why Dumbo was considered racist, since he thought the Jim Crows were funny.

This is probably a larger whitey problem. The crows were my favourites in Dumbo when I was a kid because they were cool and taught Dumbo to fly. Then I learned about Jim Crow. :saddowns:

Contribution:

person being told to htfu and lift a weight instead of whining about fat rolls posted:

If that sort of torture is what I have to endure constantly, then I would rather kill myself.
People keep telling me to exercise because of endorphins, but I mean, BDSM also releases a lot of endorphins and that's not recommended to everybody. In fact I think I would probably enjoy BDSM a lot more than exercise.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 15:30

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Arctic Bunny posted:

This is probably a larger whitey problem. The crows were my favourites in Dumbo when I was a kid because they were cool and taught Dumbo to fly. Then I learned about Jim Crow.

Contribution:

That's Oh So Into Cats, who is clinically depressed and turns every conversation he participates in into a diatribe about how much he hates himself.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 15:36

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

TV Tropes Pleads the Fifth: I would probably enjoy BDSM a lot more than exercise

# ? Dec 29, 2013 15:46

Lottery of Babylon: Apr 25, 2012; STRAIGHT TROPIN'

Arctic Bunny posted:

This is probably a larger whitey problem. The crows were my favourites in Dumbo when I was a kid because they were cool and taught Dumbo to fly. Then I learned about Jim Crow.

Yeah I think I liked them when I was four too because I was four years old. That doesn't excuse a thirtysomething guy giving a thumbs-up to Song of the South.

Looking at the TVTropes page for the Nostalgia Critic, people are complaining about other people not complaining enough about a 9/11 joke being made.

# ? Dec 29, 2013 16:02

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 26, 2024 08:46

Djeser: Mar 22, 2013; it's crow time again

Still waiting for the TV Tropes Writing Contest to post the submissions publicly, but while I wait, you might be interested in a podcast.

You guys remember the insane ur-Troper Dozerfleet from earlier in the thread? Well, fellow goon Improbable Lobster and someone else put together documents for The F Plus to read.

So, if you'd like to hear people being equally baffled by Stationery Warriors and the saga of Yo-Splatz! then this is the podcast episode for you.

e:
holy poo poo forgot the link
http://thefpl.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:episode-121-a-not-at-all-brief-history-of-dozerfleet&catid=1:podcasts

Djeser fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Dec 29, 2013

# ? Dec 29, 2013 18:47

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