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They made episodes of Disney's Aladdin daily cartoon in which nobody got transformed into anything, although I don't know why they bothered. Annoying me today is one in which Iago got to live out his wish of being a genie. It went great the first afternoon, including perfectly good innovations like bringing a river to Agrabah. But, wouldn't you know it, all the things he did had unexpected problems attending them, with things like flooding because the ground was not suitable for a riverbed, or setting off hyperinflation by the amount of gold he conjured up. And so, faced with his newfound ability to create an unspeakable mess, Iago went back to being just an irritating bird, and Dan Castellaneta Genie undid all Iago's damage. Now that we're up to speed:
So the message we're given is, your fantasies are wonderful things when you're daydreaming. When you actually implement them, though, they're going to surprise you. Problems you never thought of before will crop up, and they may be even bigger than the problems you think your fantasy fixes. Therefore, when you encounter an obstacle, give up. Don't try to adjust to and fix those new problems; you can't possibly have or develop the skills to cope. Just surrender now.
I know that's not the real intent behind this plot -- which shows up a lot in cartoons that admit any fantasy element, and even crops into otherwise respectable shows like M*A*S*H (where Radar got to be a lieutenant for one episode) -- and all that's really gone on is the writers wanted to play ``what if?'' but couldn't break the balance of the show by making a permanent change. (With Aladdin, it's hard enough having a real drama with one genie; with two there's no point to having the mortal cast.) I still really hate the message it sends out.
Trivia: John Wallis, 1616-1703, was the first person known to suggest negative exponents for a variable, though he did not use modern notation like x-1 for them. Source: A History of Mathematics, Florian Cajori.
Currently Reading: European History, 1648-1789, Robert M. Rayner.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 12:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 07:05 pm (UTC)That's admirably succinct, yeah.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 02:30 pm (UTC)I think what they were going for was "there's nothing wrong with being what you are" but it didn't come off that way to me.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 03:29 pm (UTC)I think she was missing the point in one fashion, that these likely had not really been subversive acts but more like classic themes that appear throughout literature much further back then the Communists could claim to have been around, and that those themes persisted because they struck a resonant note with people and thus made good stories. However, what she stumbled on unwittingly was the observation that the meaning of any given message will shift depending on the viewer. "The grass is not greener" becomes "Know your place and be happy" becomes "financial success is evil" becomes "Don't bother trying." Rarely are cartoons subtle enough to intend any but the most obvious surface interpretation, usually spelled out carefully for the younger viewers.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 07:03 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's really a better way of putting the intended message of the story, nearly every time it shows up, at least to the extent a message is intended. And there is wisdom in appreciating that your role in life is wonderful. My impulse on finding problems, though, is to try fixing them, so the story comes out sounding more defeatist than they wanted. I think the intended moral is given a little bit better by the ``prince and the pauper'' storyline, since that episode usually doesn't end until both sides have gotten some competence in their new roles.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 07:13 pm (UTC)I remember that Flintstones, and it is one of their more annoying ones, yeah. It doesn't help that the story weights Fred's choice by making all the rich people transparent louts. It's supposed to show the foolishness of chasing image instead of real friends, but it ends up making me wonder how stupid Fred can be.
Aladdin I don't see much -- it's always been on at awful times for me -- but it is generally fun. It's not quite self-aware enough to be distracting (I think the most they broke the fourth wall, besides Genie's games, was some villain or other saying how he'd wreak such havoc as Agrabah had never seen before, and Iago riffs, ``No, it really happens more than you'd think''), and there are episodes plainly written out of boredom. But there's also a lot of whimsical and fun stories, and one of the episodes is even the particular thing that lead to me discovering furry. I don't hold that against the show, though.
There's also plenty of ``huh?'' shows, like the one where Aladdin ends up the object of affection of a mermaid. They don't reach the bafflement level of 1960s/70s Superfriends cartoons, but they are better drawn.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 08:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-26 03:40 am (UTC)See, everyone talks about Jasmine turning into a rat that one episode, but they completely overlook Iago turning into a frilled lizard too. It's not fair!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 07:28 pm (UTC)As for the original sentiment: agreed wholeheartedly. I've long found it a wretched cop-out when an author has the characters discover some Forbidden Object, only to have them destroy it, on the grounds that "we were not meant to know". ADF's "Glory Lane" thankfully refrained from that, but, he can't follow through - no big criticism, as imagining worlds genuinely radically different from our own is inherently extremely difficult.
A call, then: what works (books, radio, what have you) really push the boundaries regarding fundamentally different thought processes between terran and alien species? What works feature truly alien aliens, rather than members of the Forehead of the Month Club?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-26 03:49 am (UTC)Did you catch the one with Matt Frewer as the voice of Chaos? (You have to admire the casting.) Spotting a pair of visiting dignitaries he suggests they hop along, and sends them off with kangaroo lower bodies. There's also the relatively famous Animal Valley or whatever they called it, entirely populated by animals of various anthropomorphic status.
For really alien alien beings, I think you have to stick to short stories. Stanley Weinbaum did a lovely tour of the Pulp Science-Fiction Worlds with ecologies and intelligent beings that had some of the heft of reality. And I'm (obviously) in love with James Blish; his ``Common Time'' rodalent beademungen are pretty near perfect. There's only glimpses seen of a set of higher dimensional beings in David Bischoff's novel Star Spring but it is a really mind-expanding glimpse.
As for getting to play with the nigh-omnipotent powers instead of giving them up, hm ... there's a minor Asimov short story called ``Lest We Remember'' featuring a Perfect Recall potion. Arguably the end of James Blish's The Triumph of Time ends that way; his Jack of Eagles and Midsummer Century certainly do. But that's also something done at the ending, as the character learns the basics of his powers but hasn't decided what to do with them yet.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 09:21 pm (UTC)It's very much a "Be comfortable with who you are, and be an unselfish person" sentiment. And, in the movie, it works- the changes that 'stick' are good ones, minor ones. I can understand how it wouldn't work in Aladdin, though, and how the moral lesson learned is shaky.. It could also be viewed as a cautionary tale about power and knowledge, though: Without knowing what you're doing with heavy amounds of power and control, you can cause much havoc even with good intentions.
That said, a better sort of ending would be to have Iago's changes eventually end up having done some good, and yet, decide it's too much to handle. Even something as minor as the river drying up.. and leaving plenty of fish flopping about for the citizens of Agrabah to dine upon. That 'one nice legacy' sort of vibe, and then, a return to status quo so the show can eke out another season.
Never did watch much of the Aladdin TV series, by the by. Eh.
--Chiaroscuro
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-26 03:55 am (UTC)Perhaps oddly enough, Duck Tales was able to do a story along these lines -- it's not just enough to have ability, you have to have wisdom too -- with, I believe, a replicator invention. But I believe generally I'd be happier with the ``live out a fantasy, briefly'' story if the point that you need knowledge and experience -- and that you can build it even if you're overwhelmed at first -- were made stronger.
I haven't seen Bruce Almighty -- Jim Carrey makes my teeth hurt, The Mask notwithstanding -- but it does sound like the sort of progression of thought that an imaginative and intelligent person would undergo.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 10:50 pm (UTC)Alas, I bet the real problem was that there wasn't a better message to deliver by the time this show got to minute 20 of the 23 minute show...so the writers gave up and surrendered. I remember hearing years ago about the 'big reset button' used frequently in sitcoms and other such programs, and whatever Iago learned or didn't learn, they just had to make sure he was nothing more than that annoying bird at the end of the episode. Which really is sad, because it doesn't let any of the characters grow, and it really limits the things you can write in the first place to what settles out by the ending credits.
I know that's not the real intent behind this plot...but (they) couldn't break the balance of the show by making a permanent change. (With Aladdin, it's hard enough having a real drama with one genie; with two there's no point to having the mortal cast.) I still really hate the message it sends out.
I'm sure the truth is that we weren't actually supposed to think that deeply about this episode of Aladdin...no, seriously. You can almost hear Foghorn Legorn somewhere around the moment of hyperinflation in the episode saying, 'These are the jokes, son.' Then they are supposed to be forgotten about. But of course, if you're paying attention in the right way, you pity Iago's end situation rather than nod vacantly at it, and then the whole premise of the episode's been turned on its head.
I've found I have a great deal of respect for television that dares to change the playing field. Really, the idea goes against everything television generally does do - which is provide predictable story lines favorable to advertisers for the revenue - and often makes for a rather boring story. (I'm hoping against hope that the series finale of Enterprise, by the by, won't be a big reset button for the Enterprise NX-01 crew. I'm worried, but irrationally optimistic. I may yet regret that.)
I saw a few episodes of 'The Incredible Hulk' recently, because the DVR decided to grab them, and I've found myself a little disappointed by the writing. I realize I'm giving a critique of a television show based on a comic book, of course...but I cheated and looked up the episode guide; Bill Bixby's David Banner never did find the cure to being the Hulk. Yet, the whole point of the series seemed to be the singular drive for David Banner to find the cure...to end the loneliness he felt, and end the need to wander to the ends of the earth. Everybody remembers the 'sad walking away music'. The series ended, a couple made for TV movies were made, and a 'Revenge of the Hulk' TV movie was planned that never happened because Bixby died. Was I the only person who saw that show who wanted to see David Banner cured on camera by the time the very last show aired?
-Skyler
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-25 10:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-26 03:38 am (UTC)1993, alas. (I'm surprised; I thought it was only a few years ago.) Prostate cancer, if the Internet Movie Database can be trusted.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-26 04:09 am (UTC)Well, they did mean to send a bit of a message -- Iago got to be a genie because he was harassing Real Genie about not putting his powers to better use -- and I grant freely that I heard a message they didn't really want to say. I also habitually attack shows by treating them more ``realistically'' than they were ever intended; that's what lets me draw thoughtful questions out of stupid Sonic the Hedgehog fan fiction.
Generally I don't have much objection to shows in which everything is back to normal at the end of the episode; after all, life is like that. People tend to be in reasonably comfortable situations and try to stick there. The discontinuous changes tend to be pretty rare things; otherwise we just slide from one day to the next and then wake up one day to realize we've been in Singapore a year. It's when there really aren't good reasons for the characters to try getting everything back to normal that it becomes irritating.
Best example I can think of: In one episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show Ted Baxter gets to audition for a role as a game show host, and he's great at it. He gets ready to leave. Suddenly Lou and Mary and Murry -- who've spent six years trying to find ways to get the incompetent news anchor off their show -- are working hard to get him back. The only reason they can have for that is Ted Knight was contracted for the whole season; by the internal logic of the show he should have left.
For The Incredible Hulk or any similar show like The Fugitive, it'd be great to have him cured, but that almost by definition has to be the last show you do; without the Hulk out there, why is Bruce ``David'' Banner worth watching?