The Idiot Ball-When smart charecters act like idiots
Jun 18, 2024 22:02:11 GMT -6
Post by saintofm on Jun 18, 2024 22:02:11 GMT -6
Just Watched THe Lost World Jurasic Part after years, and who boy I gave this more credit than it deserved as a kid.
There are many tpages on TV tropes that involve balls, as if a charecter is holding one. In the case of idiot ball, it seems to have been soddered on.
So what is the idiot ball, and how did Jurasic Park 2 evoke it?
To quote TV tropes
Coined by Hank Azaria on Herman's Head: Azaria would ask the writing staff, "Who's carrying the idiot ball this week?" This is generally not a compliment. Frequently, the person carrying the idiot ball is acting Out of Character, misunderstanding something that could be cleared up by asking a single reasonable question, or not performing a simple action that would solve everything.
Its anything that makes us ask: why are you acting so foolishly, or when I watch the news and ask myself with people like this being normal, why was I on the Short Bus?
This doesn't mean there is no reality to this cliche, or that people that are otherwise very smart can't pull a stupid. But there area a couple cavoites in my humble opinion that need to be had for this to work.
1. Believability is more important that realism more times than not. Realism means realistic, but as we all know reality is unrealistic. Audy Murphy wen talking about the film "To Hell and Back Again," a movie about his military service in WW2, he had to cut stuff out that he did because no one would believe it. Or a saying or piece of general knowledge that is wrong (say we only use 10% of the brain or lemmings are suicidal cliff jumpers) but people believe it without questioning people will just take as fact. There is a reason the South Park guys on the Scientology episode had to actually have a sign pop up saying this is what they actually believe, or if you look at the special features for the HBO show Rome, the show creators said the weirder things the put in the more historical it ended up being.
So if someone acts the fool in this way, it has to make sense to the readers. Have dragons, elves, goblins, pixies, and teenagers that keep their rooms perfectly clean all you want. But if people don't act people, and the animals shown don't act like we are shown how we should expect them to, we loose our suspense of disbelief. In this case, use one's ego, prejudices, belief systems, a sense of being overwhelmed, a crippling addiction, teenage hormones, dedication to a cause, and more to make the people believe it.
Is how Amber reacts to Mark being a bad boyfriend in Invincible realistic? Yeah. Is it believable? The moment she says she knew about his secret sank that faster than the Titanic.
2. Don't insult your audience's intelligence. Its the big problem with the Velma show (which I am getting from other sources, Don't have HBO). If I am told someone is X Y, and or Z, I have expectations of that. When they are not met, there is a disconnect, and a disconnect leads to the suspension of disbelief faster than you can say "do'h".
So what caused mine in a film, that I otherwise can turn my brain off and enjoy because Dinosaurs going on a rampage?
3 characters namely.
1. Sarah Harding. We are told she is a wildlife expert and has been studying dangerous animals since she was fourteen. Ok. Why is she up close to the baby stegosaurus? For someone that says they shouldn't disturb the wildlife, and again a wildlife expert that spent time with some of the more famous animals in the wilds of Africa, is acting like a tourist in Yellowstone around the Buffalo.
Herbivores of all sizes, are just as if not more dangerous than the predators. The predator has to be carful not to get killed or injured when they hunt, and a good kick from a Zebra or Giraffe can send even the toughest of lions to meet their maker (with the latter able to decapitate a lion with said kick). Hippos and cape buffalo are super dangerous to be around, with the former being responsible for the most human deaths not caused by mosquito, armed conflict, or famine on the continent. The latter is aplee nicknamed Black Death and Widow Maker. They are not going to take chances when surrounded by animals that see them as delicious, and even more so when they have a baby that is probably much easier to hunt and kill than an adult any day of the year.
Or that she is still wearing her vest despite its leaving a blood trail, letting the parent rexes know where they are going, and they might still be vindictive enough to go after the species that hurt their baby. If tigers can be, no reason an animal 65 million years old couldn't also be. Not to mention raptors and rexes are not the only predators on the island, and the smell of blood is a dinner bell to many a predator (if not a carcarss, a kill they can steel. Either way, free food).
We are told she is smart, she is being unreasonably thick headed.
Nick Van Owan: The Green peace guy. At the point they just got rescued, maybe he shouldn't A. Antagonized the people trying to rescue you despite being the one that left them in a bad situation. B. Don't mess with the gun of the guy leading you to safety. Yes, save the animals, I can agree. But survival first. If not the pair of Rex's on your trail, maybe the dozens of other dinosaurs on the island that either think you look yummy, invading their territories, or big enough to stomp you on accident.
.
Rollend Tembo: The "Great White Hunter" of the group, and for much of it the voice of reason. That said there are two points that I think make no sense as I have grown up. 1. the are trying to avoid other predatory animals. Rexes are one thing, but other hunters might smell the blood on Harding's vest, so instead of going strait to the CEO that is is out of his leauge in the woods, tell her to leave the jacket as its leaveing a blood trail.
Second, he leaves his riffle next to her and Nick. It be one thing if it was one of his people, but these two have been trouble makers for him. He has as much reason to trust them as I do a strange dog. Maybe he didn't think they would do something stupid like go though his weapon, but thats not something you should take a chance with. And then when he picks it up, not to check it? Again, always check your firearms. One of the reason people that really like guns like Burt from the Tremors movies. The first film he may have been a survivalist that thinks the government is out to get them, but outside of the wall of guns, not once practices bad gun handling. Has a gun, never points it to any one. Hands one to the brat character, does it so the barrel is pointing away from people. When he takes it back, even though he knows he handed the kid an empty firearm, checks it to see if its loaded out of habit. I think a big game hunter that has hunted everything short of humans on this planet woul handle that.
So, what are your thoughts, and other films that do this that irked you? When do you thing we should avoid the idiot ball, when to use it, and if we use it how to not evoke the disbelief of the audience to come crashing down
There are many tpages on TV tropes that involve balls, as if a charecter is holding one. In the case of idiot ball, it seems to have been soddered on.
So what is the idiot ball, and how did Jurasic Park 2 evoke it?
To quote TV tropes
A moment when a normally competent character suddenly becomes incompetent — knowingly or otherwise — which fuels an episode, a plot line, or any number of smaller threads.
Coined by Hank Azaria on Herman's Head: Azaria would ask the writing staff, "Who's carrying the idiot ball this week?" This is generally not a compliment. Frequently, the person carrying the idiot ball is acting Out of Character, misunderstanding something that could be cleared up by asking a single reasonable question, or not performing a simple action that would solve everything.
Its anything that makes us ask: why are you acting so foolishly, or when I watch the news and ask myself with people like this being normal, why was I on the Short Bus?
This doesn't mean there is no reality to this cliche, or that people that are otherwise very smart can't pull a stupid. But there area a couple cavoites in my humble opinion that need to be had for this to work.
1. Believability is more important that realism more times than not. Realism means realistic, but as we all know reality is unrealistic. Audy Murphy wen talking about the film "To Hell and Back Again," a movie about his military service in WW2, he had to cut stuff out that he did because no one would believe it. Or a saying or piece of general knowledge that is wrong (say we only use 10% of the brain or lemmings are suicidal cliff jumpers) but people believe it without questioning people will just take as fact. There is a reason the South Park guys on the Scientology episode had to actually have a sign pop up saying this is what they actually believe, or if you look at the special features for the HBO show Rome, the show creators said the weirder things the put in the more historical it ended up being.
So if someone acts the fool in this way, it has to make sense to the readers. Have dragons, elves, goblins, pixies, and teenagers that keep their rooms perfectly clean all you want. But if people don't act people, and the animals shown don't act like we are shown how we should expect them to, we loose our suspense of disbelief. In this case, use one's ego, prejudices, belief systems, a sense of being overwhelmed, a crippling addiction, teenage hormones, dedication to a cause, and more to make the people believe it.
Is how Amber reacts to Mark being a bad boyfriend in Invincible realistic? Yeah. Is it believable? The moment she says she knew about his secret sank that faster than the Titanic.
2. Don't insult your audience's intelligence. Its the big problem with the Velma show (which I am getting from other sources, Don't have HBO). If I am told someone is X Y, and or Z, I have expectations of that. When they are not met, there is a disconnect, and a disconnect leads to the suspension of disbelief faster than you can say "do'h".
So what caused mine in a film, that I otherwise can turn my brain off and enjoy because Dinosaurs going on a rampage?
3 characters namely.
1. Sarah Harding. We are told she is a wildlife expert and has been studying dangerous animals since she was fourteen. Ok. Why is she up close to the baby stegosaurus? For someone that says they shouldn't disturb the wildlife, and again a wildlife expert that spent time with some of the more famous animals in the wilds of Africa, is acting like a tourist in Yellowstone around the Buffalo.
Herbivores of all sizes, are just as if not more dangerous than the predators. The predator has to be carful not to get killed or injured when they hunt, and a good kick from a Zebra or Giraffe can send even the toughest of lions to meet their maker (with the latter able to decapitate a lion with said kick). Hippos and cape buffalo are super dangerous to be around, with the former being responsible for the most human deaths not caused by mosquito, armed conflict, or famine on the continent. The latter is aplee nicknamed Black Death and Widow Maker. They are not going to take chances when surrounded by animals that see them as delicious, and even more so when they have a baby that is probably much easier to hunt and kill than an adult any day of the year.
Or that she is still wearing her vest despite its leaving a blood trail, letting the parent rexes know where they are going, and they might still be vindictive enough to go after the species that hurt their baby. If tigers can be, no reason an animal 65 million years old couldn't also be. Not to mention raptors and rexes are not the only predators on the island, and the smell of blood is a dinner bell to many a predator (if not a carcarss, a kill they can steel. Either way, free food).
We are told she is smart, she is being unreasonably thick headed.
Nick Van Owan: The Green peace guy. At the point they just got rescued, maybe he shouldn't A. Antagonized the people trying to rescue you despite being the one that left them in a bad situation. B. Don't mess with the gun of the guy leading you to safety. Yes, save the animals, I can agree. But survival first. If not the pair of Rex's on your trail, maybe the dozens of other dinosaurs on the island that either think you look yummy, invading their territories, or big enough to stomp you on accident.
.
Rollend Tembo: The "Great White Hunter" of the group, and for much of it the voice of reason. That said there are two points that I think make no sense as I have grown up. 1. the are trying to avoid other predatory animals. Rexes are one thing, but other hunters might smell the blood on Harding's vest, so instead of going strait to the CEO that is is out of his leauge in the woods, tell her to leave the jacket as its leaveing a blood trail.
Second, he leaves his riffle next to her and Nick. It be one thing if it was one of his people, but these two have been trouble makers for him. He has as much reason to trust them as I do a strange dog. Maybe he didn't think they would do something stupid like go though his weapon, but thats not something you should take a chance with. And then when he picks it up, not to check it? Again, always check your firearms. One of the reason people that really like guns like Burt from the Tremors movies. The first film he may have been a survivalist that thinks the government is out to get them, but outside of the wall of guns, not once practices bad gun handling. Has a gun, never points it to any one. Hands one to the brat character, does it so the barrel is pointing away from people. When he takes it back, even though he knows he handed the kid an empty firearm, checks it to see if its loaded out of habit. I think a big game hunter that has hunted everything short of humans on this planet woul handle that.
So, what are your thoughts, and other films that do this that irked you? When do you thing we should avoid the idiot ball, when to use it, and if we use it how to not evoke the disbelief of the audience to come crashing down
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