This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Describe Scapegoat Creator Discussion here.
Peteman: Anyone else feel George Lucas, Karen Traviss, and Kevin J. Anderson of Star Wars fame should be here? (you can include others in case you have any, but I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable in Star Wars authors to know). I don't deny that some of the stuff they've done is a little off, but there's a lot of vitriol out there that I believe is a bit undeserved.
J Chance: Whatever bits you may like or hate, Lucas was primarily responsible for the prequel trilogy. And a lot of the Anderson hate has to do with writing quality as much as disliked plot decisions.
LondonKdS: George Lucas doesn't qualify as I see it because he actually created the universe and deserves to be seen as the guy with whom the buck stops, but any Expanded Universe creators would.
Peteman: From what I understand, George has repeatedly disavowed involvement in the EU beyond occasionally saying stuff like "You can't do X" where X involved the Clone Wars (prior to the release of the prequels), or Leia's background, or killing Luke or "You should do Y instead" (like Anakin Solo and Jacen switching who dies and who turns to the Dark Side). I am not arguing against the Prequels though.
And my bit about Kevin J. Anderson is largely a Take That! at the editors that didn't stop him
Terminal Failure: At least the other two had the decency to be mostly polite to their detractors. Also, it's George's universe, something Ms. Traviss doesn't seem to understand.
That Other 1 Dude: OK, what the hell? It's an article called 'Scapegoat Creator and half the examples are just bitching about people and saying some people are horrible and it's "justified" to hate them even if they aren't really do what people complain about them doing.
Marlowe"Uwe Boll is perhaps an even more incredulous example. Not just because he makes bad movies, but because he is known for being arrogant. He even challenged critics to boxing matches, and has declared himself the only genius in the movie industry"-I get it. He's "incredulous" at being hated because his arrogance won't let him see what a mess his movies are.
Anonymous Mc Cartneyfan: Okay. This has been CutListed, and I have mixed feelings about it. This is a real phenomenon, but it's also a difficult one to write about with any trace of objectivity... Proposition: if we keep this article, we include in the intro that this trope is for works with more than one creator. It's Scapegoat Creator because that one person bears, deservingly or not, all the flaws of the work or more than his natural share; if he's entirely responsible for the work anyway, then blaming him is just, not scapegoating.
That Other 1 Dude: Agreed.
Real Slim Shadowen: Since I like the concept of the trope, in a desperate attempt to keep it from being cut, I have removed several of the more flagrant examples of shit this trope is not. Really, what are these doing here? (That was a rhetorical question. I know what.)
- Uwe Boll is perhaps an even more incredulous example. Not just because he makes bad movies, but because he is known for being arrogant. He even challenged critics to boxing matches, and has declared himself the only genius in the movie industry.
- He's also responded to criticism by saying the source material of video games is poor. Which does little to explain why he's directed six video game adaptations.
This belongs in So Bad Its Horrible (sadly, there's not a "Real Life" category and I was too lazy to make one).
- Seltzer and Friedberg are among the most hated men in Hollywood, but due to the fact that their movies are well, horrible, you really can't help but hate them.
As does this. It's close to being appropriate, but since the pattern is quite plain to me—Selter and Friedberg being monsters raping cinema to death before our very eyes, repeatedly, regardless of whatever talent they get to do their movies for Money, Dear Boy—I can't even begin to want to reword this so it's appropriate for the trope. Besides, there's always the "blame the directors" general comment.
- Joe Quesada is hated by many a fan, especially for his Brand New Day Spiderman storyline.
This trope is not Complaining About Shows You Dont Like.
- General Hospital fans are sick to death with head writer Robert Guza Jr., mainly for shifting focus from romantic undertones to The Mobsters Who Don't Do Anything.
But since this is apparently justified in your completely objective opinion, he's not a Scapegoat, is he?!
- J. Robert King attracts a lot of ire from the Magic The Gathering fandom for his work on the Onslaught series of books (particularly one scene which was so hated that a later book by a different author devoted several chapters to pointing out that it was All Just a Dream). Many, particularly those newer to the game and books, forget that he also wrote the much loved The Thran among others.
Not entirely sure what trope this one would be, though it seems to me this one is slightly more fair than the others. At the least, it doesn't belong on the negative parts of the Darth Wiki.
Chad M: Removed the Irate Gamer "example" because the thing he was being scapegoated for had nothing to do with his (or in fact anyone else's) creative work.
