Archived Discussion Main / CreatorBreakDown

This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.

Lale: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is extremely autobiographical, but it's more than the author taking out pain and frustration through his art. Some of it is optimistic, too, especially the ending. I just don't think it fits the pattern.

Zeke: I've reworked the Boy Meets World example to make it clear that we're talking about an example of the trope within fiction. Otherwise it takes a minute to even figure out what it has to do with anything. I've removed the Enterprise example, which really does have nothing to do with this trope.

Curufea: The comparison of romantic interests in the Anita Blake books and the relationships of the author is refuted here. Answering the question "Which of your Anita Blake books was the most challenging to write? Why?"

Qit el-Remel: Which makes it odd that no one's changed that yet. And I find the target of the Dave Sim link just a bit disturbing. (The webmaster idolizes Sim...for those very rants, no less. This page contains the same material, but is less adulatory.)

I'd be tempted to put John Norman in the same category as Sim: Rumors are afloat that his wife has him...how shall I put this delicately...completely "whipped." (Seeing as everything that he's ever written reads like a petulant revenge fantasy, this would explain it.)

Ununnilium: I'd be extremely wary of basing anything on rumors. (Especially as I've heard the opposite.)

Can anyone remember which Beetles album cover had to be redone? The original had the Beetles, sitting in chairs and smiling, and covered in what looked like butchered babies. The record company had it hastily redone because of, you know. It was supposed to represent the Beetles' annoyance with their constant need to keep up their public image I think this should go here, but I can't remember the name of the album. Actually, maybe it should go under Artist Disillusionment instead...

Qit el-Remel: I'm surprised that there's no mention of the Dixie Chicks and "Not Ready To Make Nice" in the music section.

Eric Der Konig: The Calvin and Hobbes examples seem far more like a case of Real Life Writes the Plot, rather Creator Breakdown. Also, the bird comic was because a bird hit his window and died, and he made a sketch of the bird in the first panel. The death of his cat lead to a comic where Calvin and Hobbes note that they can always meet in their dreams.

Peteman: Yeah... at most it is Writer on Board done tactfully.

Ununnilium:

• The biblical story of Noah's ark, anyone?

...has nothing to do with this trope.

• This troper is firmly convinced that pain generally produces much better art than happiness (happiness is obviously preferable!). People who are happy are too busy being happy to want to bother writing about it.

Thank you for your opinion. It's not an example of this, though.

• Any story written by any of us in our teens.
  • Woah! Only most stories! Besides, when I want to angst I generally prefer poetry (although apparently others like songwriting).

Yeah, this is a useless overgeneralization.

• This troper regretfully acknowledges that most of her writing is a clear reflection- in afterthought- of her mental state at the time. Which is actually rather frightening.
  • If that's frightening, then this troper should be scared of herself as well.

This is also kind of a pointless example. Really, it's the kind of thing that would fit best in a forum thread on the subject — as would most of the "Real Life" examples.

SaintGachnar: Does anyone know where Marti Noxon said Buffy and Spike's relationship in season six is her issues, rehashed? I'm not disputing, just curious.

Madonis: I think you have a point about his overall frustration, but then again there's still a bit of a leap, trying to narrow it down to the treatment of female characters alone. Consider that the Valkyrie girls and female Knights of Rounds had little to no screen time or plot importance to begin with, and that R2 as a whole is rushing things in general, not just those involving females. And even though Kallen and Cornelia, for example, were imprisoned, they were still shown to be pretty badass in their own right, that hasn't changed.

Charred Knight: I deleted it due to the fact that I have misinterperted the interview thinking he was a frustrated artist railing againt Executive Meddling, when he was actually a Director with low self esteem blaming himself for the failures. Since the latter really doesn't show through I just deleted it.

Madonis: Whatever you may think about the man himself or his reasons, it is a fact that he almost retired near the end of Code Geass S1 and that frustration can't exactly be waved away regardless of further interpretations. I think that qualifies as a breakdown, partial or otherwise.

Charred Knight: If he is going through a depression, than it doesn't show. Compare Code Geass to Neon Genesis Evangelion or Tomino's work from Ideon - Victory Gundam. Zeta Gundam ends with nearly everyone dead, Char missing, and Kamille's severely brain damaged, and Evangelion ends with two completly nuts children in need of therepy alone. Even if everyone rejects instrumentality, it still a depressing series since the entire cast still needs therapy. The Penguin's the only sane cast member.

Given that for all of its dark depressing nature the ending is completely happy, it simply doesn't count. Look at the epilogue, I think their was once scene where some character isn't smiling. I don't think he has depression, I think he has low self esteem. —- "A similar example to the above occurs on Seinfeld, when Jerry tells a would-be stand-up comic who he finds annoying that she's not funny. So, of course, when she premieres an act that centres entirely around insulting Jerry (and this isn't even telling jokes about him - this is pretty much just actually nakedly insulting him), she becomes a hit." Just one question. Was this Seinfeld? I seem to remember an episode of 'Dream On' with exactly this same plot.