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SMUDGED

                                             May    05, 2010
I think that this is yet another             August 19, 2013
syndrome, a common recourse of the  
popular author of series fiction:     
                                     
The writer begins getting self-conscious about
the repititious interactions of the characters.
Aren't real human being more complex than this?
The stupid are rarely this *perfectly* stupid,
the smart are rarely this *consistently* smart.
Few are quite as good as the good guy, or as
bad as the bad guy.
                                   
  The obvious response to that     
  thought is to toss in some            
  exceptions, to write a story           
  where the good guy screws up, or        I tend to think of this syndrome
  the bad does something good, etc.       as "the meathead acts dumb", a
                                          reference to the later episodes
     You might call this an               of "All in the Family".
     application of the rule           
     of reversals, applied to                   I'd rather find a better
     nominally continuous                       canonical example... I keep
     characters.                                seeing things through the
                                                lens of dubious television
     I suspect it shows a                       shows that I just happen to
     confusion about what                       be familiar with because of
     romantic fiction is                        my age.
     about, an injection    
     of an inappropriate                        There's no reason I know of
     realism.                                   *you* should be familiar
                                                with Archie Bunker dueling
        It's a move toward "more                with The Meathead, certainly
        complex" characters, but                not if you're much younger
        if it's so formulaic it                 than I am, or developed a
        just smears the portraits               habit of ignoring television
        without adding detail.                  sooner than I did.
                                    
        A character's flaws arise                   This was a 70s attempt
        out of their character,                     at being an edgy,
        and while all may be                        relevant sitcom,
        flawed, each is flawed                      an intergenerational
        in different ways.                          "odd couple" where
                                                    a red neck father-in-law
                                                    argues with a long-haired
                                                    son-in-law incessantly.


                        LIKE_EVIL




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