Why the Original Series does not Compel Me: A Perspective
Jul 28, 2018 12:41:09 GMT -5
Rανєη'ѕ ƑƖιgнт, Pyropelt, and 5 more like this
Post by Basement Cat on Jul 28, 2018 12:41:09 GMT -5
Well, I suppose if I'm going to spam a topic a day, I might as well as put actual effort into some of them. (I added Times New Roman, 12 pt. font and indentation, so you know it's super cereal.)
Before I begin, this is not an objective analysis. It relies on personal preferences and opinions, which vary from person to person.
Subjective post is below spoilers.
I would like to explain a little why I don't really have the greatest interest in the Original series. Does it have a compelling story? Well, yeah, cats fighting each other in the woods is very interesting. Compelling characters? Yeah, the Original series is very good about making interesting background characters, which later series seemingly slacked off on. Good villain? Yup, Tigerstar is great. Good hero? Yep, Firedude is a good dude.
Good prevails, evil is thwarted, sacrifices made, and stories crafted.
But, that's exactly it, really.
Even when I picked up this book at 13 years old, way back in 2009, I knew that Firestar was going to win, beat Tigerstar, and save the forest. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. It's a very simple, basic traditional story. Nothing ever felt like it was at stake.
And truthfully, I think the reason why this series doesn't compel me as much is because Firestar, the protagonist, is incredibly predictable.
I've seen him time and time again in books and movies. He leaves to go on the hero's journey, find his way, complete his quest, and save the world. And as the reader/audience, I know he will succeed. As stated before, I expect him to win.
But honestly, I always found that really uninteresting. If I know what is going to happen, then what's the point? Well, it's obviously the journey the character goes on, but what happens when the plot is more compelling than the character themselves?
The Original series biggest weakness for me is that it played things very safe. I don't mean 'safe', as in no character dies or no character must go through their own struggles, but safe from a narrative structure.
The Original series played this safe to a 'T', never really venturing outside that comfort zone. Sure, it threw some odd curveballs in there, such as changing the course of the hero's journey in some areas, and throwing in Scourge as a Deus ex Machina, but even then, I knew the outcome would be the same.
And that's all perfectly fine storytelling, but for me I wanted more. I'd seen this done several times over and wanted something different.
Now, that's not to say the Original series isn't a well-written or good series. It is, and its biggest strength lies in how it focuses the plot around the concept of the hero's journey, as well as the likeable and flawed supporting characters. But it's just that the main star himself, Firestar, is not compelling enough to make the series a favorite for me.
Enter PoT. The heroes are flawed characters with their own personal demons. Jayfeather is a blind, sarcastic medicine cat who considers himself greater than StarClan, Hollyleaf can’t conceive morals outside the WC telling her what to do and her pride is her undoing, and Lionblaze is being manipulated by the traditional villain of the original story and is struggling to uphold his morals with his ambitions. The heroes long to appease their desire, but they can't. Hollypaw is bad at medicine and Jaypaw can't be a warrior. Lionpaw has to face the reality that he can't be with Heatherpaw. The heroes prove themselves, only for it to fall flat on their faces. And one of them isn't even the chosen one. The hero's conflict comes from all sides, from man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs self, man vs. society, man vs. fate…all these conflicts are present in PoT. And there is no real overarching villain, simply the trials they face. They don't win. They don't defeat the bad guy. There's no certainty things will be okay, or that the heroes will prevail. And all that melted together to craft a very complex and unpredictable story that doesn’t play the traditional hero’s story straight.
But the Original series doesn't have that. While it is good, it is very predictable and plays it safe, losing interest for me personally.
As stated before, this is all subjective. You might see value in it that I personally never really considered before.
Thanks for sitting through this and reading it (especially the pretentious MLA format attempt). So, I'd like to know, what are your thoughts on the original series?
Before I begin, this is not an objective analysis. It relies on personal preferences and opinions, which vary from person to person.
Subjective post is below spoilers.
The Original Series and The Flaws of Traditional Storytelling
Good prevails, evil is thwarted, sacrifices made, and stories crafted.
But, that's exactly it, really.
Even when I picked up this book at 13 years old, way back in 2009, I knew that Firestar was going to win, beat Tigerstar, and save the forest. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. It's a very simple, basic traditional story. Nothing ever felt like it was at stake.
And truthfully, I think the reason why this series doesn't compel me as much is because Firestar, the protagonist, is incredibly predictable.
I've seen him time and time again in books and movies. He leaves to go on the hero's journey, find his way, complete his quest, and save the world. And as the reader/audience, I know he will succeed. As stated before, I expect him to win.
But honestly, I always found that really uninteresting. If I know what is going to happen, then what's the point? Well, it's obviously the journey the character goes on, but what happens when the plot is more compelling than the character themselves?
The Original series biggest weakness for me is that it played things very safe. I don't mean 'safe', as in no character dies or no character must go through their own struggles, but safe from a narrative structure.
- Hero longs for a sense of belonging and adventure. Hero comes across an opportunity to appease this desire. Hero must prove himself through trials and tribulations that he is the chosen one. Hero faces obstacles, from antagonistic characters to various conflict (nature vs man, man vs self, etc.), and hero eventually faces villain, defeating the bad guy, proving himself worthy.
The Original series played this safe to a 'T', never really venturing outside that comfort zone. Sure, it threw some odd curveballs in there, such as changing the course of the hero's journey in some areas, and throwing in Scourge as a Deus ex Machina, but even then, I knew the outcome would be the same.
And that's all perfectly fine storytelling, but for me I wanted more. I'd seen this done several times over and wanted something different.
Now, that's not to say the Original series isn't a well-written or good series. It is, and its biggest strength lies in how it focuses the plot around the concept of the hero's journey, as well as the likeable and flawed supporting characters. But it's just that the main star himself, Firestar, is not compelling enough to make the series a favorite for me.
Enter PoT. The heroes are flawed characters with their own personal demons. Jayfeather is a blind, sarcastic medicine cat who considers himself greater than StarClan, Hollyleaf can’t conceive morals outside the WC telling her what to do and her pride is her undoing, and Lionblaze is being manipulated by the traditional villain of the original story and is struggling to uphold his morals with his ambitions. The heroes long to appease their desire, but they can't. Hollypaw is bad at medicine and Jaypaw can't be a warrior. Lionpaw has to face the reality that he can't be with Heatherpaw. The heroes prove themselves, only for it to fall flat on their faces. And one of them isn't even the chosen one. The hero's conflict comes from all sides, from man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs self, man vs. society, man vs. fate…all these conflicts are present in PoT. And there is no real overarching villain, simply the trials they face. They don't win. They don't defeat the bad guy. There's no certainty things will be okay, or that the heroes will prevail. And all that melted together to craft a very complex and unpredictable story that doesn’t play the traditional hero’s story straight.
But the Original series doesn't have that. While it is good, it is very predictable and plays it safe, losing interest for me personally.
As stated before, this is all subjective. You might see value in it that I personally never really considered before.
Thanks for sitting through this and reading it (especially the pretentious MLA format attempt). So, I'd like to know, what are your thoughts on the original series?