WarJay77
Discarded and Feeling Blue
(Troper Knight)
Discarded and Feeling Blue
#2: Aug 14th 2023 at 3:24:34 PM
As you know I'm in the camp of "I have no clue what it wants to be". It may very well be the case that it's a trope that got expanded on and altered over the years as people added to the description, which is the fate of a lot of old and popular tropes.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
MorganWick
(Elder Troper)
#3: Aug 15th 2023 at 1:53:19 AM
Original YKTTW
for reference. Description resulting from a fairly early attempt to clarify the distinction with For the Evulz.
Edited by MorganWick on Aug 15th 2023 at 1:57:38 AM
WarJay77
Discarded and Feeling Blue
(Troper Knight)
Discarded and Feeling Blue
#4: Aug 15th 2023 at 1:55:55 AM
Ah, yeah, the OG TLP makes no mention of "amorality". So it's the issue I mentioned but from the opposite angle.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Total posts: 4
This came up on the Real Life cleanup thread, where we couldn't decide if It Amused Me was a morality trope or not. Basically, the first paragraph of its description, its laconic, and the Playing With page all paint a very clear picture: the trope refers to amoral characters whose only or primary motivation is their personal amusement, without regard for others.
However, the rest of the description seems to be flipping on whether It Amused Me characters can have separate moral codes or not, and the RL examples and definition don't seem clear in regards to whether it's just someone's primary motivation or if individual actions motivated by amusement count. I haven't done a wick check yet (if anyone else has and it's already on the TRS queue, please link it), but I wouldn't be surprised if the individual actions vs. overall motivation issue is involved in examples, too.
Personally, I'm of the camp that it sounds like it's trying to be a morality trope: The Hedonist as a moral code and main motivation, and also that "people do things they enjoy" is chairs. There could be a case for consolidating both of those into "character does morally questionable thing, not for evil reasons, but for their enjoyment", but I don't think that's what the trope's presently trying to be. I'm not sure what that is. Also, speaking of The Hedonist: if It Amused Me is supposed to refer to somebody's overall motivation, what separates it from the trope of "a character who's philosophically motivated by enjoyment?"
they/them pronouns. Look at my Neocities.