Just a trope namer and a caption: Crossing The Streams

So this is Chekhov's Gun but for warnings or disclaimers.

Current pic does not show the trope at all.

I think that analysis undersells the trope somewhat. The page gives a good summary of what it is.

To my mind the image isn't totally hopeless. While we can't depend on folks knowing anything about Ghostbusters, their expressions indicate they are doing something extreme and it sure doesn't look safe. Not great, though. Better alternative?

edited 1st Nov '11 12:58:34 AM by Camacan

Keep Until Better Image Suggested. Stay-Puft's Oh, Crap! expression in the background sells it.

Actually as the TRS thread shows, the page gets massive misuse with people confusing it for literally crossing streams of something. So I'd be in favor of swapping the image for something less prone to fostering that misuse.

edited 1st Nov '11 8:21:55 AM by Ghilz

That's a good point. My instinct is it is down more to the name than the image though — and the name is changing. I'm not saying some people don't just look at the page image and decide they know what the trope is, but hopefully they aren't numerically numerous.

edited 1st Nov '11 8:57:39 AM by Camacan

Still, with The trope name, page quote, and page image all pointing to the very same scene, I think diversifying can only help, especially when most of the misuse is potholing references to said scene.

I want to pull. The trope name, image, and quote are all saying, "You know that scene in Ghostbusters? This is like that. Y'know, when you do that thing like those guys did that one time in that one movie. You know what I'm talking about." Having all three focus so heavily on the Trope Namer is just confusing, and doesn't tell us anything about the actual trope. It encourages people to misuse the trope based on how they remember that scene. "That scene was about awesome stuff happening, so this trope must be about awesome stuff happening," etc.

edited 1st Nov '11 4:07:19 PM by troacctid

I agree when all three were the same thing that sucked, both in terms of making a work-named title even more dominant and just in terms of giving too much focus to one work.

The name is gonna change, so we're only talking quote and image. I disagree that the quote tells us nothing about the trope: someone is told not to do something, on pain of terrible consequences. That's not the whole trope but it's helpful. That said, the quote is too long and doesn't hint as to the inevitability of doing the forbidden thing.

(It might make sense to have the quote and image related in the end — if the image is acting as a coda to the quote.)

Again, we're in a stronger position to fix problems with quotes and images when we've presented with better alternatives. But fixing the quote is more TRS than image pickin'. *

edited 1st Nov '11 6:42:58 PM by Camacan

Supporting motion to pull, the picture isn't conveying anything to me.

Bob And George have it by name once.
Proposing the use, using it (animated)

Could these be used as either image or quote to offset the focus on Ghostbusters?

I don't understand the picture at all.

We really need to institute a policy that an image of a Trope Namer does not, on its own, work as an image.

I think most IP-dwelling members are aware of that, but yeah, it doesn't hurt.

(What's trickier is how much advantage do Trope Namers have in cases where they do demonstrate the trope.)

To be fair, it's a really nice effect when you get a trope namer picture up there that demonstrates things well. It makes for a well rounded page and will often explain the trope name/meaning at a glance in a way which other pics would not.

I don't think that neccessarily means it should have much of an advantage, but if you're choosing between two equally good pics and one is the trope namer, you clearly choose that one, right?

Edit: I also motion to pull.

edited 9th Dec '11 11:09:31 PM by agentjohnbishop

If anything, I'd actually support voting against the Trope Namer for the reasons others have mentioned - even where it does show the trope, it puts too much emphasis on the Trope Namer and not enough on other ways the trope can be done.

That's my view too. Having a trope namer can have some downsides. The trope namer is unlikely to be known only for the trope, so we're already importing irrelevant associations. My instinct is that having the picture relate to the trope namer too only increases the sense that works that don't match the trope namer in some way don't fit, even if the ways they differ don't impact on the trope. Or that works that fit the trope namer in some way automatically fit the trope.

But this is beside the point now — the TRS thread is moving along; the name will change.

edited 9th Dec '11 11:44:25 PM by Camacan

The image is still crap though.

Should be in a case by case basis as always. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Nthing call to pull. Pulled.

Clock is set.

This could probably do without an image.

Clock's up; locking for inactivity/lack of consensus. No further action is to be taken based on this thread.