How is it contemptible?: Contemptible Cover

I don't know anything about Spice And Wolf, so I have no idea how the cover misrepresents the series. I think this calls for a two-part image.

Read the text underneath:

"Spice & Wolf: A thrillingly erotic tale of...medieval trade and economics."

Because you KNOW how HOT and SEXY "trade and economics" are. Oh man, I'm getting hard just THINKING about supply and demand!

Or is there a rule where an image has to convey the trope idea alone without the use of a caption?

This is one where the caption and the image work together. No, there's no rule that the image has to absolutely work without a caption.

No, but the reverse (the caption doing all the work) isn't allowed.

This works, and it isn't just the caption. I vote Keep.

I dont get where that cover actually comes from though I mean This◊ is Spice And Wolf (and an example of the trope)

Oh

• Contemptible Cover, American Kirby Is Hardcore: The redone cover◊ for the first American release book got this complaint due to dropping the anime style Japanese cover for a pseudorealistic frontal shot of Holo running while naked (though mostly dark), drawing comparisons to a trashy romance novel cover. This was done in an attempt to reach out a more general audience at the insistence of distributors. For that first volume, they hastily released dust jackets of the original cover for the first volume to the distributors and in their magazine after the outcry. From volume two onward, that initial solution has been inverted; the original art is on the cover and the new art serves as the dust jacket (now depicting essentially the same scene as the Japanese version, but with Holo looking away), satisfying both distributor and fan demands as well as can be expected.

edited 19th Feb '12 10:44:03 AM by Raso

I don't mind the current.

The Spice and Wolf illo is the cover the novel was released with in America. See? I think it's an excellent page image. It makes the book look like soft- or medium-core porn.

edited 19th Feb '12 11:04:13 AM by Madrugada

Im fine with the current, which was chosen in a previous IP thread. It seems to have since gone the way of the dinosaurs.

I always thought Saturn's Children was an excellent example of this trope (even remarked upon by the author).

I vote to keep.

This is a minuscule point, but I would prefer something less ambiguous like "Spice & Wolf: A thrillingly titillating tale of... medieval trade and economics?" for the caption.

"Or is there a rule where an image has to convey the trope idea alone without the use of a caption?"

Except that the caption doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. And besides, the idea behind Contemptible Cover is that the cover misrepresents the story. Sure, it LOOKS like an erotic novel or whatever. It DOESN'T look like it's misrepresenting the book, which is the whole point of the trope.

So two pics? One of the cover and another pic of the actual show?

Yes, that would be preferable. Something to show that Spice and Wolf isn't actually a cheesy romance novel like the cover suggests.

Well it's a Light Novel so a second pic would be just text (unless it is one of the Light Novels that have drawn pages and manga panels scattered though it.)

Pics of the anime are a dime a dozen though and the cover to that DVD was almost as bad as the current image (posted it earlier.)

Or we could go with the American cover and the second cover that is under the dust jacket which is the original art.

The Please Teacher DVD covers are flippable one really sexy the other rather normal. (GIS is failing me though)

edited 19th Feb '12 2:22:04 PM by Raso

How are you supposed to have a picture of a novel, other than the cover? Maybe a scan of a page worth of text? That would be pointless.

The picture and the caption work really well together. I see no reason to change.

The cover misrepresenting the work's content is only one part of the trope, and actually not the main part of it. From the description (emphasis added): "The kind of cover contains an excess of sexual, violent or otherwise lurid imagery, often at odds with the book's actual content. [...] A simple and blatant effort to appeal to the Lowest Common Denominator. You may well be ashamed to be seen reading such a book..."

For example, as I mentioned, Saturn's Children is a solid example of a contemptible cover... But the protagonist actually is a sex-bot, so it's not entirely an inaccurate portrayal of the story.

I think the current caption is fine for the image. I don't find it unclear.

edited 19th Feb '12 2:24:39 PM by girlyboy

Good point, girlyboy. For simply misrepresenting the work, without the implication that it's sexier than it is or gorier or more violent, we have Covers Always Lie.

I have no problem with the current image.

I also vote we keep. It strikes a nice balance between clearly nude (and hence contemptible) and totally safe-for-work. I actually like this image quite a bit...that came out wrong!

I also vote to keep for reasons repeatedly stated.

Yup.

Voting to keep.

"How are you supposed to have a picture of a novel, other than the cover? Maybe a scan of a page worth of text? That would be pointless."

Couldn't we get a screenshot of the anime?

But the cover isn't from the anime, so that wouldn't really be "correct".

Agreed. I was going to say compare the two different covers◊ but the alternative (though better) doesn't show the work off any well... it just doesn't make it look... sordid.

(here's◊ the English version of the second cover, just in case).

I think any example is going to have a certain amount of mythopia (sp) to it since it's necessary to have a vague understanding of the contents of the novel/show/game, etc., unless it's a blatantly bad cover in all sense of the word.