Line #37 Main/ArtisticLicense


1	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1612126737054649400
2	%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
3	%%
4	[[quoteright:161:[[Webcomic/NPCComic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/al_npccomic.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:161:The canvas adds 10 pounds of awesome.]]
6	%%
7	%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread:
8	%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900
9	%%
10	->''"See, Dad doesn't think the decompression would tear open a hole that big in such a small plane, but obviously Dr. [=McNinja=] lives in a world that operates like a ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' stage."''
11	-->-- '''Chris Hastings''', ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p17 Ch 14, p 17]] AltText
12
13	''Creators are allowed to be inaccurate if the inaccuracy serves the story better than accuracy would.''
14
15	In a nutshell, there are two forms of this trope. One, the writer is aware that some parts of the show are inaccurate. The history is wrong, or the science is off, or something else. It's easy to assume that the writer didn't bother with research. But they may well have. Often they know that what they are writing is off, and wrote it anyway. Sometimes, it's because [[TheCoconutEffect it's the way it's always been done in show business]], and, even if they themselves know the truth, the audience [[RealityIsUnrealistic still wouldn't believe it otherwise]]. In some cases, the research couldn't be done because information was lacking, so the artist made an educated guess.
16
17	It's about [[AnthropicPrinciple putting the story first]] -- after all, the most important thing in fiction is telling a good story. Besides, whoever first said "truth is stranger than fiction" didn't know what they were talking about.[[note]]It's actually part of a longer quote by Creator/MarkTwain; the full quote is, "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."[[/note]] If some things have to be fudged for the sake of a good story, then they will be fudged. If things have to be sped up to stay interesting, they will be. These are changes to ensure EmotionalTorque.
18
19	However, this is [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools a double-edged sword]]. For the license to work, the story has to be good. A bad story will often look worse for its inaccuracies. This is where the second type comes in; the writers making the mistakes
20	not on purpose for the sake of the story but simply getting their facts objectively wrong, which is a flaw in the story. There isn't a complete consensus, of course, about which stories are on the right or wrong side of SturgeonsLaw. Another major downside is that this trope is often used negatively in an AuthorTract, usually to construct a StrawCharacter or deliver a [[TheWarOnStraw straw argument in favor of, or against, something]].
21
22	The license also doesn't allow ''every'' kind of inaccuracy. People still expect characters to be consistent. This cannot be used to excuse CharacterDerailment or ContrivedStupidityTropes. It also doesn't excuse FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy. It will allow violations of ExternalConsistency, and sometimes GenreConsistency, but usually not InternalConsistency.
23
24	When reading about artistic license on a page, keep in mind that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. Someone listing an event of artistic license does not mean the work or use of this trope was bad. Pointing out artistic license is not bad-mouthing a work. If an entry seems especially snarky about it, [[Administrivia/RepairDontRespond You Could Always Edit It Yourself]], making it a little less snarky.
25
26	Writers, be warned: Using too many of these or taking one to illogical extremes can tug at the audience's WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.
27
28	See also HollywoodStyle (which fits various forms of artistic license), GarnishingTheStory (in that adding to the story is the primary reason for inclusion), ThePowerOfIndex (in which an element is much stronger than it would realistically be), and RuleOfIndex (where the license is from how cool/funny/scary/etc. something is).
29
30	Usually, these are TropesHiddenFromAudience.
31	----
32	!!Sub-categories:
33	[[index]]
34	[floatboxright:
35	'''Also see:'''
36	* HollywoodStyle
37	]
38	* ArtisticLicenseArt
39	* ArtisticLicenseAwards
40	* ArtisticLicenseBiology
41	** ArtisticLicenceAnatomy
42	** ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare
43	** ArtisticLicenseArachnids
44	** ArtisticLicenseBotany
45	** ArtisticLicenseMarineBiology
46	** ArtisticLicenseOrnithology
47	** ArtisticLicensePaleontology
48	* ArtisticLicenseCars
49	* ArtisticLicenseChemistry
50	* ArtisticLicenseEconomics
51	* ArtisticLicenseEducation
52	** ArtisticLicenseUniversityAdmissions
53	* ArtisticLicenseEngineering
54	* ArtisticLicenseExplosives
55	* ArtisticLicenseFilmProduction
56	* ArtisticLicenseGeography
57	* ArtisticLicenseGeology
58	* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety
59	* ArtisticLicenseHistory
60	* ArtisticLicenseLaw
61	** ArtisticLicenseChildLaborLaws
62	** ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement
63	* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics
64	* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts
65	* ArtisticLicenseMedicine
66	* ArtisticLicenseMilitary
67	* ArtisticLicenseMusic
68	* ArtisticLicensePharmacology
69	* ArtisticLicensePhysics
70	** ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics
71	* ArtisticLicensePolitics
72	* ArtisticLicensePrison
73	* ArtisticLicenseReligion
74	** ArtisticLicenseTraditionalChristianity
75	* ArtisticLicenseShips
76	* ArtisticLicenseSpace
77	* ArtisticLicenseSports
78	** ArtisticLicenseChess
79	* ArtisticLicenseStatistics
80	* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay (aka Artistic License – Firearms)
81	----
82	!!The following tropes do not fit under any of the sub-categories:
83	* BowsAndErrors
84	* TheCoconutEffect
85	* CommonHollywoodSexTraits
86	* FontAnachronism
87	* FutureSocietyPresentValues
88	* JustPlaneWrong
89	* JustTrainWrong
90	* MagicalComputer (and its various subpages)
91	* RealityIsUnrealistic
92	* SadlyMythcharacterized
93	* SadlyMythtaken
94	* ScienceMarchesOn
95	* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale
96	* TechnologyMarchesOn
97	* ThingsAreMoreEffectiveInHollywood
98	* WhatWeNowKnowToBeTrue
99	* WritersCannotDoMath
100	[[/index]]

Context Main / ArtisticLicense