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Just as a random rant...
I hate the plot device in books and tv that makes us question the 'reality' of the story/stories.
For example, in season... six, I believe, of BtVS, Buffy is scratched and poisoned by a demon. As a consequence she starts hallucinating. Or does she?
Buffy starts to imagine that she's in a psych ward in the 'real' world. A world in which she isn't the Slayer at all, she's just imagined everything as part of her mental illness.
At the end of the ep, we're meant to be asking whether we've just been following along some poor, mad girl's insanity for the past six years or not.
Yes, it's a valid plot device, and can be used cleverly, but I dislike being pushed out of the reality that the writers have spent so much time pulling me into.
The only time I've seen this done in a way that I liked was in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. They did several episodes where the cast played the producers, writers, directors of the series, but at the end, we were still left with the idea that the stories they told were REAL.
Just finished watching ST: DS9 and they did such an episode, and yes, I know that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the space station, and its crew don't really exist. But I watch these shows to be drawn into another world. That's what fantasy, science fiction does; it gives us a different reality to play in and to enjoy.
I guess there are people (the writers, obviously) who like this plot device, but as for me, it ranks only slightly less obnoxious than the "It was all a dream" plot device.
... Come to think of it, it's pretty much the same thing, only painted a different color. Blah.
I hate the plot device in books and tv that makes us question the 'reality' of the story/stories.
For example, in season... six, I believe, of BtVS, Buffy is scratched and poisoned by a demon. As a consequence she starts hallucinating. Or does she?
Buffy starts to imagine that she's in a psych ward in the 'real' world. A world in which she isn't the Slayer at all, she's just imagined everything as part of her mental illness.
At the end of the ep, we're meant to be asking whether we've just been following along some poor, mad girl's insanity for the past six years or not.
Yes, it's a valid plot device, and can be used cleverly, but I dislike being pushed out of the reality that the writers have spent so much time pulling me into.
The only time I've seen this done in a way that I liked was in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. They did several episodes where the cast played the producers, writers, directors of the series, but at the end, we were still left with the idea that the stories they told were REAL.
Just finished watching ST: DS9 and they did such an episode, and yes, I know that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the space station, and its crew don't really exist. But I watch these shows to be drawn into another world. That's what fantasy, science fiction does; it gives us a different reality to play in and to enjoy.
I guess there are people (the writers, obviously) who like this plot device, but as for me, it ranks only slightly less obnoxious than the "It was all a dream" plot device.
... Come to think of it, it's pretty much the same thing, only painted a different color. Blah.
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