TV Tropes
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The website grew extremely quickly around 2009-10, when it started to circulate the Internet and its userbase grew past the original collection of ''Buffy'' and Joss Whedon fans, with websites like ''[[xkcd]]''<ref="xkcd">''[[xkcd]]'' #609: [http://xkcd.com/609/ Tab Explosion]</ref> and ''Cracked''<ref>[http://www.cracked.com/funny-4848-tv-tropes/ Cracked.com: TV Tropes]</ref> plugging it. The Whedon-verse is a property that thrives on [[snark]] and witty dialog, which the fans love it for, so at first TV Tropes peppered its articles with a [[RationalWiki:SPOV|snarky point of view]]. Alas, anyone who has been longer on the Internet for more than one Planck Time knows that many (most) Internet Nerds tend to get extremely sensitive and hysterical at any snark or parody towards their favorite works. So one person making fun of the plot holes and lazy animation moments of, say, ''[[Fun:Death Note|Death Note]]'' would be seen as a [[troll]] and a [[wandalism|wandal]] regardless of whether their analysis or complain had any merit. | The website grew extremely quickly around 2009-10, when it started to circulate the Internet and its userbase grew past the original collection of ''Buffy'' and Joss Whedon fans, with websites like ''[[xkcd]]''<ref="xkcd">''[[xkcd]]'' #609: [http://xkcd.com/609/ Tab Explosion]</ref> and ''Cracked''<ref>[http://www.cracked.com/funny-4848-tv-tropes/ Cracked.com: TV Tropes]</ref> plugging it. The Whedon-verse is a property that thrives on [[snark]] and witty dialog, which the fans love it for, so at first TV Tropes peppered its articles with a [[RationalWiki:SPOV|snarky point of view]]. Alas, anyone who has been longer on the Internet for more than one Planck Time knows that many (most) Internet Nerds tend to get extremely sensitive and hysterical at any snark or parody towards their favorite works. So one person making fun of the plot holes and lazy animation moments of, say, ''[[Fun:Death Note|Death Note]]'' would be seen as a [[troll]] and a [[wandalism|wandal]] regardless of whether their analysis or complain had any merit. | ||
| − | The fanboys thus started to complain whenever their latest potboiler | + | The fanboys thus started to complain whenever their latest potboiler series kept showing up on pages that put it in a bad light, like [[Stupidity|Wall Bangers]] (i.e. recording extraordinarily stupid moments in entertainment, like the time [[Bill Maher]] stood up for [[vaccine hysteria]]), [[Fun:Sudden Moron Syndrome|Character Derailment]], So Bad It's Good, etc.. Because, you know, rather than accept that their favorite fanboy-exploiting pedo anime might have some minor storytelling flaws<ref>Laugh all you want, you ''know'' this is an accurate description of these folks.</ref>, or might even — GASP! SHOCK! — actually suck so hard that it has its own gravitational orbit, the histrionic fanboys thought it was better to just shoo those nasty trolls and bigots. Those [[sheeple]] just can't ''see'' the beauty in my webcomic ''Hot Nite In 2 Boobz'' where my <s>author avatar</s> original [[Pokemon]] Dong-ichu saves the world with gangsta rap!!! |
As the wiki, which was still pretty good at this point, started attracting people outside the original fanbase, these moments of friction between outsiders, casual fans, and fanboys became more and more frequent and [[direct action|required swift action]]. Unfortunately, Fast Eddie, the site's administrator, gave in to the more hysterical fanboys and allowed them to run rampant. This proved to be to the long-term detriment of the site as it started to bleed wiki editors while retaining the parasitic fanboys. | As the wiki, which was still pretty good at this point, started attracting people outside the original fanbase, these moments of friction between outsiders, casual fans, and fanboys became more and more frequent and [[direct action|required swift action]]. Unfortunately, Fast Eddie, the site's administrator, gave in to the more hysterical fanboys and allowed them to run rampant. This proved to be to the long-term detriment of the site as it started to bleed wiki editors while retaining the parasitic fanboys. | ||
Revision as of 09:36, 22 May 2012
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TV Tropes is a wiki whose mission is to catalogue and cross-reference recurrent cliches, plot devices, archetypes, and tropes in media. While it started with good intentions, and it was a fairly high-quality source of media analysis in its early years, the site's editorial policy of "protect the views of the fans above all else" eventually created a welcome environment for denialism, fanboyism and highly questionable apologetics for things like rape and pedophilia.
Contents |
So what is TV Tropes anyway?
The wiki started out in 2004 on Buffistas.org, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan forum, as a fan-project to catalog said tropes from the Buffy television show by forum nerds. Because nerds have a diverse set of interests, it then spread to encompass all TV shows and then all media. Hence the outdated name.[1]
The website grew extremely quickly around 2009-10, when it started to circulate the Internet and its userbase grew past the original collection of Buffy and Joss Whedon fans, with websites like xkcd<ref="xkcd">xkcd #609: Tab Explosion</ref> and Cracked[2] plugging it. The Whedon-verse is a property that thrives on snark and witty dialog, which the fans love it for, so at first TV Tropes peppered its articles with a snarky point of view. Alas, anyone who has been longer on the Internet for more than one Planck Time knows that many (most) Internet Nerds tend to get extremely sensitive and hysterical at any snark or parody towards their favorite works. So one person making fun of the plot holes and lazy animation moments of, say, Death Note would be seen as a troll and a wandal regardless of whether their analysis or complain had any merit.
The fanboys thus started to complain whenever their latest potboiler series kept showing up on pages that put it in a bad light, like Wall Bangers (i.e. recording extraordinarily stupid moments in entertainment, like the time Bill Maher stood up for vaccine hysteria), Character Derailment, So Bad It's Good, etc.. Because, you know, rather than accept that their favorite fanboy-exploiting pedo anime might have some minor storytelling flaws[3], or might even — GASP! SHOCK! — actually suck so hard that it has its own gravitational orbit, the histrionic fanboys thought it was better to just shoo those nasty trolls and bigots. Those sheeple just can't see the beauty in my webcomic Hot Nite In 2 Boobz where my author avatar original Pokemon Dong-ichu saves the world with gangsta rap!!!
As the wiki, which was still pretty good at this point, started attracting people outside the original fanbase, these moments of friction between outsiders, casual fans, and fanboys became more and more frequent and required swift action. Unfortunately, Fast Eddie, the site's administrator, gave in to the more hysterical fanboys and allowed them to run rampant. This proved to be to the long-term detriment of the site as it started to bleed wiki editors while retaining the parasitic fanboys.
The good
To be fair, it's not always a complete and total waste of time. In fact, it has a well-deserved reputation for being a highly addicting browser narcotic that can suck you in for hours at a time.<ref="xkcd"> If you stick to mainstream titles, nothing will seem too out of the ordinary and you'll actually come across some quality snark. The general rule of thumb is that the more you gravitate towards things that only a desperately horny or psychotic nerd could love, the more craziness and creepiness you're in for. So if you stick to the articles on mainstream and/or classic works of literature, film, video games, theater, etc., you'll probably be fine.
Regularly visiting the website will make you a lot more keen and aware of the various tools, cliches and story structures that are used in fictional works. It is a matter of debate whether this generates a greater appreciation of media, or if it just makes one more cynical about it. TV Tropes itself jokingly alludes to this tendency, claiming that the site will ruin your life[4] and, by extension, your vocabulary[5] as you start seeing tropes in everything you read, watch or play, and even start using trope terms like "lampshading", "your mileage may vary" and "anvilicious" in your everyday speech.
Because the regulars of the editing staff tend to be unapologetic nerds, the content of the wiki veers in the direction of things that will interest nerds. While you will certainly find pages on more classical and conventional works like Victor Hugo's Hernani and Machiavelli's The Prince (both versions), the pages for more stereotypical nerd interests like The Twilight Zone or the aforementioned Buffy are a lot more detailed. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on how much of a literary snob you are.
The bad
If you wander off of the beaten path to something like politics or real world events, you will be "treated" to some of the saddest obsessions and apologies of nerd culture on the Internet. The "respect the feelings of the fans first and foremost" policy (or, more cynically, the "hugbox" policy) does not create anything like a balanced, let alone accurate, viewpoint towards anything. This is sad when you restrict this policy to silly but harmless works like the Star Wars expanded universe novels featuring hot chocolate-drinking Mandalorians, but goes from tragicomic to tragic when discussing media that has real-world ramifications. The Rush Limbaugh page, for instance, goes so far out of its way to say anything that can cast him in a negative light that any attempt to talk about him sticking up for child-killing terrorists was blammed off of the "Your Mileage May Vary" page.
Very occasionally, you'll come across a page that tells it like it is, such as the Jack Chick page. Unfortunately, these pages tend to be the ones that existed before Fast Eddie adopted his new policies, and even these pages have been slowly neutered to make it seem more balanced.
The ugly
Because the regulars of the editing staff tend to have... unusual tastes, the content of the wiki veers in the direction of things that will interest similar persons. Most disturbingly, it's one of the few places on the internet (that isn't hosted within the former Eastern Bloc out of the FBI's reach) where pedophiles aren't automatically banned on sight. The pages for more stereotypical unwashed basement-dweller interests like Kodomo no Jikan (about a schoolteacher who has sex with one of his nine-year-old students) are a lot more detailed and common, while the page for Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita was at one point jam-packed with people defending the book's pedophile villain[6]. Also, despite the hardline criticism for rape and rape-culture (including decent examinations of the "women in refrigerators" trope[7]) found in the more popular articles, sub-pages devoted to rape and pedophilia apologetics are never more than a few clicks away.
Fortunately, there is currently an effort to purge a lot of the ickier content (particularly the rape and pedophilia stuff) after Google threatened to pull its AdSense advertising from the site, with the aforementioned Kodomo no Jikan page, as well as their page on tentacle porn[8] and the assorted "Rape is Okay/Funny if <x>" tropes[9], being among the many that have been cut and locked to prevent fans from recreating them. Unfortunately, this has caused a massive outcry from said lunatic fans, who are currently in the middle of crying "persecution!" at both the site administrators and at Google.[10]
If you somehow end up on the forums, you're taking your life and sanity into your own hands. The individuals who inhabit places like the Fetish Fuel and Troper Tales wikis (which got banished after Google's first crackdown[11]) are outside the scope of this article.
See also
External links
- The aforementioned wiki.
- TV Tropes' page on Rational Wiki
- This Troper — a YouTube series that chronicles the dark side of TV Tropes
Footnotes
- ↑ Something that they themselves take note of, or "lampshade" in trope-speak, on their "Network Decay" page (under the "Websites" section).
- ↑ Cracked.com: TV Tropes
- ↑ Laugh all you want, you know this is an accurate description of these folks.
- ↑ TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life
- ↑ TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Vocabulary
- ↑ At least, before [the page] was purged and locked to get rid of the creepiness.
- ↑ Stuffed into the Fridge
- ↑ It's currently just a blank page with the unambiguous words "We do not want a page on this topic." printed on it.
- ↑ They were originally meant for cases of a double standard pertaining to rape (i.e. it's less horrifying if a woman rapes a man, or it's funny if a man rapes another man, etc.), but after the discussion on those pages got out of hand, they changed everything to "Double Standard Rape: <insert descriptor here>".
- ↑ Zero Pedo Tolerance
- ↑ Yes, this is the second time that Google has told TV Tropes to cut it out with the creepiness lest it lose advertising money.
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