Rename to prevent edit wars (not neutral enough): Adaptation Decay

I wonder if the problem was the title itself? Adaptation Shift? Adaptation Change?

edited 10th Apr '11 5:50:12 AM by artman40

The main problem was the title itself. It's the very word "Decay" that caused it to go through Trope Decay.

I think we should outright change the definition to explicitly mean "the adaptation is worse than the original", just because the word "Decay" makes it that way.

That would never be allowed — people will complain that it will lead to complaining. At best it could be permitted as an example-less YMMV Audience Reaction trope. Maybe.

It may be a good idea to start a separate YKTTW for something like "Adaptation Drift," maybe. Not sure.

edited 20th Apr '11 10:14:34 AM by girlyboy

Any progress on this?

Also, I've noticed a large link cut regarding this trope from several articles. Was there a discussion before this one?

I haven't cut any of them in months and the number isn't much different from what I remember. Is anyone serious about making a new trope, or do I continue zapping them?

edited 11th Jun '11 3:39:17 PM by Killomatic

What about the neutral adaptation trope to cover massive changes?

Actually, there was one type of examples I've been skipping on purpose. It's when the original author claims Adaptation Decay. That's still not a legitimate trope, but it might be worth documenting as trivia, a kind of inverted Creator-Preferred Adaptation (Creator Condemned Adaptation maybe). Does anyone who knows how to write a good description want to take a crack at it?

edited 14th Jun '11 6:35:07 AM by Killomatic

Bump. Is this still being done?

The subjectivity of the trope is Adaptation Decay = They changed it in the adaptation but they shouldn't have.

The subtropes actually encapsulate the idea of Adaptation Decay; where specific themes, ideas or plot points are altered in the transition to another work and they have a negative impact on either the quality of the work or the ability to tell a logically consistent story. It's not just "They changed the adaptation and the change sucks".

Furthermore, the very first line: "The gradual distortion or even disintegration of a world and its characters during its odyssey" and the line "The dramatic equivalent of photocopying a photocopy of a photocopy" also makes it clear that the idea of the trope implies a maxim that the adaptation should match the original in some key aspects.

If Adaptation Decay is to be rescued, it should be made clear that the trope is limited to changing or removing elements in the adaptation that made the original unique or were a vital part of why the original work was popular or critically acclaimed. That would really make it the opposite of Adaptation Distillation; which is changing or removing the unimportant bits and keeping/updating the important ones. In addition, it should be somehow made distinct from "Adaptation Shift" tropes such as Adaptation Displacement and Adaptation Distillation that describe an adaptation that intentionally shifts away from its original source, such as the TMNT films/cartoons that were Lighter and Softer than the original comic.

While this trope is definitely problematic, this thread is not making any progress. Is there some kind of plan of action here? Because if not, maybe this is one to lock and try again some other time, rather than someone just bumping it once a month.

We were talking before about making it neutral. How about Loose Adaptation? Adaptational Drift?

I've never had a huge problem with this one, but it's pretty easy to make this objective. Change it to Adaptation Shift or some of the other options suggested, and then just list what was changed, but not the negative or positive spin on it. Like, "in The Two Towers, they added a whole scene with Orcs on giant hyenas that were nothing like the Wargs from the book. That's it. Not, "that scene was awful and took up time that could have been spent on actual good scenes left out." Although that happens to be my opinion on the film, but that's neither here nor there.

edited 8th Feb '12 4:52:04 AM by Martello

A neutral version would be rather good. I never liked Adaptation Decay in it's whine form.

I like Adaptation Shift or Adaptation Mutation.

edited 8th Feb '12 7:07:22 AM by Feather7603

I liked the old Adaptation Decay, and wonder why there isn't a page to replace it. The current Adaptation Decay is In Name Only.

Is that a joke or are you curious why TRS has a deep festering hatred for complaining pages?