Subculture of the Week might work. The current name is way too close to too many other terms and it knows it.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
I see the Awesomeness.
Welcome, traveller, welcome to Omsk
I like Subculture of the Week.
It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird
Ok, so what should we do with the old title? Keeping it as a redirect would defeat the point of a rename in this case. Redlink it? Redirect it to Freak of the Week?
There is 200 inbounts. I don'r think it is a good idea redlinking it or redirecting to a completely different trope.
Most people don't use redirects anyway (they are more useful for search and ptitles), so I see no problem in letting it.
The inbounds could be looking for the Smallville term though since it's only one letter off. It's really bad form to have redirects that are so close pointing to two different articles.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Bumping this, because having edited this page a bit I agree the name is a problem and the proposed solution of Subculture of the Week seems acceptable. Also, do others think there's a bit of natter/whining that could be tidied up/cut?
I don't mind doing the latter. I'm not quite confident technically about dealing with the name change.
"Well, it's a lifestyle"
from dreams
As someone who doesn't watch Smallville, I like "Freaks of the Week" as a trope name, since it drives home how the subcultures are treated by the media. Instead of average people with non-mainstream interests, tv only focuses on the most extreme stereotypes, and I think the name points that out nicely.
...Because Jeb Bush is all in my house with disease.
If it weren't a pre-existing term for something else, it would be a good title. But it is, and thus it's not.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
The thread lives! Still supporting Subculture of the Week as an alternative name. Should we ask for a crowner on this? Incidentally, I edited away the natter referred to in my last post soon afterwards.
edited 7th Jun '11 10:43:36 AM by captainbrass2
"Well, it's a lifestyle"
I have a problem with this, because I'm pretty sure 'Freak of the Week' existed as a stock phrase way before the Smallville fandom appropriated it to mean Monster of the Week (which is also a pre-existing term). I'm fairly certain the stock phrase usage is closer to Freaks of the Week in meaning than Monster of the Week.
That means that the Smallville fandom's usage fails the 'pre-' part of the term 'pre-existing term'. If a series grows moderately popular and fans of that series start using the term 'Lancer' to refer to a BFG, does that mean we have to rename The Lancer?
edited 7th Jun '11 10:51:41 AM by savage
Want to rename a trope? Step one: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
from dreams
Agreed. This is like Fan Myopia of some sort. Not everyone watches Smallville and cares about how the term is used on that show.
...Because Jeb Bush is all in my house with disease.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Technically, I believe it's not used on the show, but by its fans in discussing the show.
It's a term that started in that fandom and spread elsewhere. It's not solely used in that fandom. It's actually spread to fandoms of a lot of other live action TV shows which means it's used by a fair bit of our user base.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
from dreams
Most people use Monster Of The Week when that's what they're talking about. "Subculture of the Week" kills a lot of what the trope is about I think, since "Subculture" indicates a level of respect that most examples of the trope don't give.
edited 8th Jun '11 12:03:43 PM by DesertDragon
...Because Jeb Bush is all in my house with disease.
I agree that Freaks of the Week is a more accurate name for how this trope works - it's not "this week's subculture", it's "this week's weird and deviant subculture". Subculture of the Week is overly polite. And, speaking only from personal experience, I've never heard the term Freak of the Week used to mean "Monster of the Week" before.
from dreams
I expanded the description to explain why "Freaks" is appropriate. Hopefully it'll stick.
...Because Jeb Bush is all in my house with disease.
It doesn't fix the fact that Freaks of the Week is a completely different trope from Freak of the Week.
edited 19th Jun '11 6:59:50 AM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
from dreams
You mean Monster of the Week? That's the official name of the trope. This whole discussion is about what a SINGLE FANDOM calls its weekly plotlines. It has no official basis, and I think this entire discussion is nitpicking.
...Because Jeb Bush is all in my house with disease.
It's not just a single fandom that uses it. It's a term that originated in a fandom but has spread to others. That's not the same thing. That's how most terms start. I've never even seen Smallville but I've heard the term used on message boards.
Zzzzzzzzzz
How about Sick, Sad Subculture of the Week. I'm only half-kidding.
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
from dreams
lol I'd be ok with that. It might not flow as smoothly as "Freaks of the Week," but it still gets the point across.
...Because Jeb Bush is all in my house with disease.
Dragon Writer
Or Strange. Strange Subculture Of The Week?
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.
The trope is basically about exotifying subcultures, using an "us versus them" narrative where the audience is expected to not only be mainstream themselves but also find it natural to stare in awkward bisbelief at "those other people".
Exotified Subculture of the Week would IMHO be the most accurate title.
"Strange Subculture" says less about how the subculture is actually being portrayed, giving the impression that the work takes an anthropological approach and actually give a detailed and nuanced portrayal.
Merely "Subculture" has a much worse case of the same problem.
Crown Description:
Freak of the Week is a redirect for Monster of the Week, as it is the pre-existing fanspeak term for the trope in the Smallville fandom.
Freaks Of The Week is an entirely different trope, where "freaks" is supposed to mean subcultures.
Also, it's "not to be confused with" part, is longer than it's actual description.
It has 16 wicks.
edited 30th Mar '11 1:53:55 PM by EternalSeptember