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Why no inverse of "It Got Worse"?

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SaltyWaffles Salty Waffles PD Since: Feb, 2011
#1: Apr 15th 2011 at 11:25:18 PM

This baffled me. "It Got Worse" is a trope about how things, well, got worse, sometimes to a huge degree. Often used as an understatement.

But why is there no trope of "It Got Better" or its equivalent? There's "I Got Better", which is about unexplained resurrection. There's "It Gets Better", but that's about videogame pacing.

Can someone explain this to me?

Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
BigT grimAuxiliatrix Since: Jan, 2001
grimAuxiliatrix
#3: Apr 27th 2011 at 4:03:31 PM

I'm not sure that fits. This is more "Why does this trope itself not seem to exist in fiction?" Or, at least, that's how I interpreted it.

I've only heard "it gets better" used as sarcasm.

Everyone Has An Important Job To Do
Ekuran Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
#4: Apr 27th 2011 at 4:32:32 PM

Because writers tend to think adding cynicism and Wangst would make their story a "real" piece of fiction, because only kid shows have any semblance of things seeming to get better.

SNDL Since: Mar, 2011
#5: Apr 29th 2011 at 10:32:07 PM

I think I Got Better is the polar opposite.

Not to be confused with It Gets Better, which is a very suffocating counterpart of Ending Fatigue

SakurazakiSetsuna Together Forever... Since: Jun, 2010
Together Forever...
#6: Apr 30th 2011 at 8:25:27 PM

Hmm...if It Got Worse is the trope I think it is (will check after this post...), then I can actually think of a show that may just be the inverse of it...

Edit: No, not quite. This would be a hard thing to do an inverse of, not because of wangst or Darker Is Better (or whatever that trope is called), but because its not conducive to interseting storytelling. It would pretty much suck all the dramatic tension away, so it could only really be used for comedy.

Though I'd be open to being shown otherwise.

edited 30th Apr '11 8:27:33 PM by SakurazakiSetsuna

neoYTPism Since: May, 2010
#7: May 1st 2011 at 10:19:22 AM

Yeah, what would really be better for impactful storytelling would be it got worse before it got better. I read EYHE after watching The Shawshank Redemption, and "Writing an ending like this is a balancing act: things have to be desperate enough to make it seem like the heroes could very possibly lose, but not so desperate that it seems there's no way the heroes can win." really seemed to hit the nail on the head in describing this approach, and its advantage thereof.

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