Misused: Deconstructor Fleet

Many of these examples don't seem to be examples at all, and/or they lack explanation as to how exactly they are deconstructing anything. A lot of Zero Context Examples, and it's hard to really understand how these are examples of the trope in question.

Is Parody Fleet an acceptable interpretation of the trope? If not, I see a few examples that needs to go.

Clocking due to lack of activity.

I'm having trouble distinguishing this from Trope Overdosed, or from parody films in general. Or, perhaps it simply has a bunch of examples that don't belong on this page?

This seems to be like Trope Overdosed but with deconstructions. I don't think this deserves to exist, it's like Deconstruction But More, and the examples don't seem to fit (or how they fit is not explained).

Exactly. This trope is a complete mess. I have NO idea how to clean it up, and I don't want to be a lone wolf deleting example after example when there's no consensus on what we should do about this.

I think I can see a way to salvage it. I think.

I can see the kernel of a trope in there. The point of the trope is a work that makes an effort to deconstruct multiple things at once. I know that there are a few works out there like that, so it makes sense to have as a trope.

That said, I think the page is poorly written, the trope name is terrible (how can a single work be a fleet?), and several of the examples need more context.

I'm almost tempted to cut it and send it through YKTTW, but I think it's a tad too entrenched. I would love to do a new definition. And while we're at it, a name that doesn't use a collective noun for a single work; a name that isn't based on a Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy joke; and a name where the Trope Namer, if any, is a much clearer example of it (I would argue that Hitchhiker's is not subject to the trope).

I don't think so. This is a But More trope. Literally, the definition is "this work decostructs, but does it a lot!" which I don't think is valid. Some works being like that doesn't mean that this should be a separate trope.

Well, I think that there is a large difference between a work that deconstructs one trope, a work that's centered around deconstructing a particular trope, and a work that's centered around deconstructing everything. Each plays out differently, depending on what the focus is.

That said, it wouldn't exactly shock me if it was felt across the board that too much would be needed to clean this mess up, for too little benefit to the wiki.

I will take a chance to remove stuff that doesn't fit.

Like Bioshock's "and still manages to be a Survival Horror with massive amounts of Nightmare Fuel."

Edit: Good God, there is so many Zero Context Examples there, I had to shift my focus to just that.

Edit 2: Edit harder: Ok, I removed the examples that gave no reason as to why they fit there. Everything else is mostly untouched.

edited 25th May '12 3:07:17 PM by fakeangelbr

Here was my personal take on what the trope is: something that examines the very core of its genre and picks it apart, creating something different. This is not the same as deconstructing a lot of things: the word "deconstruction" and its variations only appear three or four times on the page for the first Bioshock game, but that single deconstruction is partly what makes it so memorable. Similarly, Knights of the Old Republic II turns experience points into an in-story mechanic and a plot point, neither of which yield pleasant implications. On the other hand, Discworld sets its sights on everything, but in the few books I read, all of those deconstructions could get jarring; do we really need a deconstruction of video game saving/loading in a fantasy story?

However, I say "was" because then I found Genre Deconstruction, which is basically the same thing as the above definition. Lots of tropes getting deconstructed or otherwise examined frequently follows, but not always (see, again, Bioshock). The tropes in question are always tied to the genre in some way, often pretty tightly.

I think this page should be cut and remade as a redirect to Genre Deconstruction, but I'm sure someone else has a better idea.

The difference, according to the first sentences in their descriptions:

• Genre Deconstruction: "the author of a work performs deconstruction on a specific genre."
• Deconstructor Fleet: "to subvert as many tropes and deconstruct as many genres as possible"

Ergo, this is a But More trope. And most of the examples of Deconstructor Fleet don't actually seem to deconstruct several genres.

By the way this seems to be a bit of a mess. What examples go in our main Deconstruction article?

edited 26th May '12 6:53:41 PM by Anfauglith

"Please note: This page has been edited for clarity's sake. Please do not add any more examples. Add them to Genre Deconstruction or Deconstructed Trope or the appropriate subtrope. Where possible please move examples to these subtrope pages. This page is about deconstruction as a method, and thus should be stripped down to meta-examples."

Ah I see. So we should move some of those examples as well. Thanks, sorry, I failed my perception check.

edited 26th May '12 7:31:56 PM by Anfauglith

Yeah, we could probably get rid of anything that would fit in the subtropes, like the "Watchmen deconstructs the entire superhero genre" example.

So, do we have a consensus?

I suggest that a phrase like "Cite at least two genres that the example applies Genre Deconstruction". For example: Don Quixote not only deconstructs the Chivalric Romance genre, but applies Genre Deconstruction to the next genres: Romance Novel, (May–December Romance, and Fille Fatale), (the Arcadia, Secret Test of Character, Sweet Polly Oliver and Gentleman Thief literature, the Deadpan Snarker, (and all kind of snarkers). It also has UnbuiltTropes like Straw Fan, Lord Error-Prone, Mad Dreamer and Cut Lex Luthor a Check and Book Burning.

Doesn't look like anyone is interested in doing this. Locking.