Whedonesque Mobile : Comments on 17037 : TV Tropes Wiki dissects the various elements of Dr. Horrible.

July 23 2008

TV Tropes Wiki dissects the various elements of Dr. Horrible. Cataloging how Whedon & co. used or twisted convention in the story.

It's like Wikipedia, except for organizing fictional cliches-- ahem, "tropes"-- for the benefit of writers, or those who really like to pick something apart, until it's not so much funny (or becomes much funnier... 'cause it's true!)

Whedonage | 22:48 CET | 17 comments total | tags:

I love tv tropes. It's very addicting. and entertaining.

okelay | July 23, 22:55 CET

It sure is addictive. Every time I go to TV Tropes, I end up surfing around on the site for hours on end.

GreatMuppetyOdin | July 23, 23:26 CET

Most addictive website ever. Must. not. click.

jkalderash | July 23, 23:28 CET

Thinking about narrative tropes, I wonder how it might turn out if one tried to read Dr Horrible as a revisionist romantic comedy. A lot of the more gender-conservative romantic comedies are based upon the notion that the underdog guy has to become more of a "man" in some way to get the girl. In Dr. Horrible, the titular character becomes more "manly" (in a stereotypical way) by achieving fame and, more important, by making his rival look bad - but the result is that he irrevocably loses the girl.

Jakob Schmidt | July 23, 23:43 CET

Thank you so much for this link, I've been reading it for the past half hour, there's so much there! It's so much fun to look at a particular trope and remember where you've seen it before.

ETA: And I'm still reading. It's oddly satisfying. Thank goodness for tabbed browsing.

[ edited by MattK on 2008-07-24 00:44 ]

MattK | July 24, 00:15 CET

I've never seen that site before.
And I'm not going back until I retire!

That's probably a lie.

jcs | July 24, 00:21 CET

I wonder if there's a trope for "I'll be at _____ for the rest of my life"?

Pointy | July 24, 01:03 CET

What a great site! Thanks for the link. While surfing around the site I found this:

Jossed:
A fan gets Jossed when the elaborate Epileptic Trees or Fanfic that they've lovingly built upon canonical elements is abruptly disproved by further canon or by the Word Of God.

Named after Joss Whedon; Buffy The Vampire Slayer was notorious for this, as fans would come up with detailed and elaborate theories or plots during summer hiatuses, most of which got completely thrown out within three episodes of the new season.

May lead to discontinuity when disgruntled fen prefer their own fanon to official facts.

This trope has two opposites: I Knew It, where the fan theory is proven to be true by a twist that was planned all along, and Sure Why Not, where the author decides to promote some Fanon elements to Canon status. Compare Schrodingers Gun.

Note: In some circles, the term "Jossed" refers to a gutwrenching main character death, which Joss Whedon is also famous for.

I had never hear of the term "Jossed" before, but maybe you long-time Whedonesquers have. Interesting!

floofypooh | July 24, 01:26 CET

Also, the writer has an interesting take on the end of Act III:

This Troper thinks that the Death Ray worked, and Billy is in his own personal hell.

floofypooh | July 24, 01:29 CET

Dag nabbit, I spotted this on Sunday and didn't post!

Craig Oxbrow | July 24, 03:30 CET

Dammit. I just spent FOUR HOURS browsing the site. AND I was only clicking on the links to tropes I hadn't already read. AND it made me go out and spend $20 on a book because its trope descriptions were just so darned interesting.

It's like Wiki-surfing with the added addictiveness of constant pop-culture references. It's like catnip to me... Or crack.

rianeiru | July 24, 05:34 CET

It always happens to me. I say I'm just gonna check one thing and then it's three hours later! and I'm sure I've only visited a very small part of the site. Wikipedia is addictive enough but this is about tv! twice the temptation!
And since I started visiting there are SO MANY THINGS I want to check out. damn me and my absolute lack of funds!

BTW,I had heard 'Jossed' before.many,many times.

okelay | July 24, 07:43 CET

No... must... close... browser window... must... get back... to... actual work...

Next time I'm stuck somewhere for hours and I have my laptop and an internet connection, I know where I can go to make those hours whiz by.

Jim in Buffalo | July 24, 13:41 CET

Two hours of my life...stolen!

I probably would have misused them in any case.

The Londinium Sun | July 24, 14:47 CET

Boy, you guys are right about that site...time just disappears.

newcj | July 24, 16:42 CET

That was an interesting (if insanely long and absurdly addictive) list. I especially liked the bit about the lyrical dissonance; I hadn't really noticed it, and I'm a big fan of irony.

KnitWit | July 24, 21:12 CET

I just wanted to say- I love the TV Tropes site! ;)

Standard Genre Trope | July 25, 00:08 CET

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