AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - The Criticism of Pandering, and Unoriginality

DonQuigleone · 2011-08-19, 18:08

RE Originality: It's very hard for anyone to come up with something truly original, and most of us who are "mature" viewers understand that almost nothing truly original exists, and that most people don't enjoy something that is utterly unlike anything else.

That said, there's another side to this as well, and that's "Cliché", at some point if people use something that is merely "unnoriginal" too much it goes too far and is just cliché, that's what people really hate.

So actually, if you go in without any kind of preconceptions and watch a harem show, say Love Hina, you might find it interesting, even enjoyable (depends on your tastes), but any person who has watched a sufficient quantity of Anime who watches Love Hina will immediately see that it is utterly Cliché and like 100 other anime they've seen previously.

So originality is quite a relative thing. I think the issue is Anime is when they make something that lacks any threads tieing it all together and just seems like a zombie series made to hit what their demographic stereotypically "likes". It's like when you write an essay to a template. No "flow".

So I don't immediately dislike something for unnoriginality, but only up to a point.

RE Pandering: I think we have to be very careful when we talk about Pandering. I'd be hesitant before criticizing something for Pandering, in a sense all of entertainment is pandering in one sense or another. For instance you can pander to overly arty and literary types by putting in obscure religious imagery (Imagine the surprise and dissapointment on certain fans faces when you tell them Gainax put all the crosses in Evangelion "because they looked cool"

).

So Pandering in itself isn't so bad, it really depends on how extreme it is. I would say the far extreme of pandering is pornography down to the fact that pornography is quite easily classified according to whatever fetishes it caters to.

So as above, you have to make sure pandering doesn't take over what you're trying to do.

So I'm always careful before I outright accuse something of pandering. Most people never consider something that panders to themselves as "pandering", Pandering is always something that appeals to other people.

In all this talk of pandering and unoriginality I do think some mediums are more afflicted by too much pandering and too little originality then others. Case in point would Dramas, I've given them a fair shot and haven't seen a single one that wasn't melodramatic schlock that is only ever:
a) Will they or won't they romantic comedy! love dodecahedrons optional
b) Oh my god he's dieing from some mysterious unnamed illness, I'm going to cry

c) We're heroically solving the murder/other mystery!
d) Watch me, the non-conformist motivated guy come into a [insert professional environment] and motivate my apathetic cynical [insert profession], watch as I give passionate speeches about how they have to turn their lives around! Frequently mixed with c.

And each of those 4 pretty much always proceed the exact same way. I'd love to be proved wrong and shown a genuinely good Drama, but I'm not holding my breath. I was entertained the first few times I saw a drama, but when I started to see other drama that seemed to have the exact same plot I got a little suspicious... And the melodrama...

Anime & Manga have a lot more variety. Japanese movies (so long as they're not too tied to TV) are good too.

2011-08-19, 18:08	Link #29
DonQuigleone Knight Errant Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dublin, Ireland Age: 35	RE Originality: It's very hard for anyone to come up with something truly original, and most of us who are "mature" viewers understand that almost nothing truly original exists, and that most people don't enjoy something that is utterly unlike anything else. That said, there's another side to this as well, and that's "Cliché", at some point if people use something that is merely "unnoriginal" too much it goes too far and is just cliché, that's what people really hate. So actually, if you go in without any kind of preconceptions and watch a harem show, say Love Hina, you might find it interesting, even enjoyable (depends on your tastes), but any person who has watched a sufficient quantity of Anime who watches Love Hina will immediately see that it is utterly Cliché and like 100 other anime they've seen previously. So originality is quite a relative thing. I think the issue is Anime is when they make something that lacks any threads tieing it all together and just seems like a zombie series made to hit what their demographic stereotypically "likes". It's like when you write an essay to a template. No "flow". So I don't immediately dislike something for unnoriginality, but only up to a point. RE Pandering: I think we have to be very careful when we talk about Pandering. I'd be hesitant before criticizing something for Pandering, in a sense all of entertainment is pandering in one sense or another. For instance you can pander to overly arty and literary types by putting in obscure religious imagery (Imagine the surprise and dissapointment on certain fans faces when you tell them Gainax put all the crosses in Evangelion "because they looked cool" ). So Pandering in itself isn't so bad, it really depends on how extreme it is. I would say the far extreme of pandering is pornography down to the fact that pornography is quite easily classified according to whatever fetishes it caters to. So as above, you have to make sure pandering doesn't take over what you're trying to do. So I'm always careful before I outright accuse something of pandering. Most people never consider something that panders to themselves as "pandering", Pandering is always something that appeals to other people. In all this talk of pandering and unoriginality I do think some mediums are more afflicted by too much pandering and too little originality then others. Case in point would Dramas, I've given them a fair shot and haven't seen a single one that wasn't melodramatic schlock that is only ever: a) Will they or won't they romantic comedy! love dodecahedrons optional b) Oh my god he's dieing from some mysterious unnamed illness, I'm going to cry c) We're heroically solving the murder/other mystery! d) Watch me, the non-conformist motivated guy come into a [insert professional environment] and motivate my apathetic cynical [insert profession], watch as I give passionate speeches about how they have to turn their lives around! Frequently mixed with c. And each of those 4 pretty much always proceed the exact same way. I'd love to be proved wrong and shown a genuinely good Drama, but I'm not holding my breath. I was entertained the first few times I saw a drama, but when I started to see other drama that seemed to have the exact same plot I got a little suspicious... And the melodrama... Anime & Manga have a lot more variety. Japanese movies (so long as they're not too tied to TV) are good too.