Premature Launch. : Impostor Jamie Has No Accent

This was launched after being on YKTTW for three days with three responses. It has two tropes and the title requires that you know the work it came from.

Cutlist and send it back to YKTTW or try to fix it here?

Bounce it back for a better name and more examples. It's a solid trope, I think, it was just a really premature launch. The definition is nice and clear and succinct. I like seeing that.

edited 17th Mar '11 10:15:25 AM by Madrugada

The name makes sense to me. Impostor of "whatsisface" doesn't have "minor trait whatever".

I also say there's no problem with the title. I didn't know where it was from, but I had no trouble understanding what it meant.

The title also seems pretty self-explanatory to me.

The current name is walking a fine line between something like Cut Lex Luthor a Check or Reed Richards Is Useless and something that's more specific than it needs to be.

This should be sent back, anyway, to gather three or more examples, however.

edited 17th Mar '11 6:32:38 PM by SeanMurrayI

It seems like (name-wise) it's in a similar position to what some people are saying in the TRS thread for Xanatos Planned This Index - the important part of the trope is covered by "Imposter Has No Accent". "Jamie" has no relevance to the trope but also doesn't affect the important part of the name.

Yeah, it could just as easily be Impostor Bob Has No Accent.

Exactly. Any placeholder name could go there without impacting the important part of the title.

Trope name was exactly what I expected. Jamie could be anyone. It's just a name place holder. It could use a few more examples, but it doesn't need a new name and the description is quite clear.

It's just far too common a trope to only have three examples to it.

edited 18th Mar '11 12:46:30 AM by shimaspawn

The name may be clear, but I still think it's horrible.

Why not just call it The Impostor Has No Accent? It would be just as clear and doesn't look like random reference to something. I don't see why there is a need for a name, placeholder or otherwise.

edited 18th Mar '11 2:20:14 AM by Nyarly

If it were precisely about impostors having no accents, The Impostor Has No Accent would be a better name, but it's more general than that. Having a placeholder name makes it sound less like it's trying to be Exactly What It Says on the Tin. (The real Exactly What It Says on the Tin name would be something like The Fake Person Has A Flaw, but that's both boring and not actually all that much clearer.)

edited 18th Mar '11 2:37:25 AM by Micah

I agree with Micah. It really does help make it clearer that it's not Exactly What It Says on the Tin in part because no one expects it only to be about someone named Jamie having an imposter with no accent. That's too specific, so the trope must thus be broader. The Imposter Has No Accent sounds like Exactly What It Says on the Tin.

I see no difference. Except that the original name makes an awful reference (and there are too many trope titles that do that already).

The only reason I got confused with the name is that it sounded like a reference of some kind.

I get the intended difference. "Spot the impostor" is when you have two identical people standing next to each other; this trope is supposed to seeing just one person who pulls off an impersonation, but gets discovered because of a mistake.

Though that isn't mentioned in the current description. And it would be incredibly important to mention if this is the case because I can think of several instances where impostors have a different voice or slightly different appearance but don't get found out because of it.

I'm actually one to call this more of a Sister Trope to something like Beard of Evil where a character's doppelganger/impostor can be easily differentiated by viewers by a different, very noticable tell-tale characteristic.

edited 19th Mar '11 9:59:25 AM by SeanMurrayI

What about something like Flawed Impersonation or Something About You Isnt Right?

edited 23rd Mar '11 9:42:23 PM by ladygem

Something About You Isnt Right is long, but pretty good.

I originally thought the current name was good (despite having no idea who "Jamie" is), but that was before I realised that it was about any personal property, not just accents. As it is, it's far too specific for the meaning.

Something About You Isnt Right is pretty good. I like it.

I find both Impostor Jamie Has No Accent and Something About You Isnt Right to be too specific in light of this page's general description.

One sounds like it's a trope limited to impostors having different voices from who they are impersonating; the other sounds like it's about the other characters noticing the change. And the present description we have is much broader than both of these concepts.

The description would certainly need to be reworked if we go with the latter name (and only 2 out of the 4 current examples would accurately be describing instances where characters actually notice the impostor because of the slight differences).

edited 27th Mar '11 8:49:29 AM by SeanMurrayI

I think we should give the trope some time and wait to see if actual misuse appears before changing the name on the basis of being too specific. Personally, I think it's a fine title, and the Trope Namer gives it additional appeal to Doctor Who fans that could potentially help its growth.

^Though people not part of any single fandom or familiar with any single work would likely outnumber this group and would be immediately turned off by a title that's only intended to be fully understood by a minority.

The name Jamie already fails the One Mario Limit, anyway. When I first saw the name "Jamie," I thought this had something to do with a staged skit on Mythbusters.

edited 27th Mar '11 9:18:09 AM by SeanMurrayI

But since you don't need to know the reference to get the point of the trope, that doesn't really matter.

^But since it's also pointless, the name Jamie doesn't even need to be in the title, let alone carry a Trope Namer at all.

Does the connection to Doctor Who in the title Impostor Jamie Has No Accent do anything to clarify the trope? Or could this just as simply be titled Impostor Has No Accent and be just as good, if not better?

This doesn't have a Trope Namer. This has Fan Wank in the Title.

edited 27th Mar '11 10:00:23 AM by SeanMurrayI