Poll "Small Universe Syndrome" - Yay Or Nay?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by wayoung, Sep 9, 2021.

?

Do you enjoy fiction that has Small Universe Syndrome?

  1. Yes! I love when my favourite characters all end up connected!

    27 vote(s)
    67.5%
  2. No, it breaks my suspension of disbelief

    13 vote(s)
    32.5%
  1. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Meeting my wife might be small universe syndrome. We first met at the place we worked and she became the girlfriend of a good friend of mine. We became friends, but when they broke up we lost contact. Nearly a decade later, she dropped her car off to get some work done and needed a place to kill time. She went across the street to a chain bookstore. Noting the name of the bookstore she recalled that I had just begun to work the company around the time we last saw each other. So she asked a clerk if she knew me. The clerk did, because I was the manager of that location, but she said I had gone home for the day. So my future wife began to write a note with her name and phone number. At that moment I walked up and saw her. I hadn't left yet and was in the back talking with a coworker. The rest, as they say is history.

    Afterward we discovered a few "near misses". My best friend family lived in Sonora, Ca, near a place called Crystal Falls and I would spend summers there. My wife's family had a cabin there. where they spend the summer. She would often cross my friend's property to get to Crystal Falls, which was a popular hangout spot for kids in the area. Then when she was a teen she worked at her mother's gym. The same gym where my mother exercised. (We lived in neighboring towns). She probably led the group my mother was in. Finally, when I took my SATs, I had to go to her high school for the test. She was attending the school at that time.

    Coming soon to the Hallmark Channel. ;)
     
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  2. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Oops, sorry, I missed seeing this before my last reply. Good observation. I think that may sum up how I feel these days about them. You're right. And it's frustrating to those who want a bit more and would like to see them move forward. It's like the gears are stuck and there's no momentum. And that means that they end up not being as satisfying as they should be.
     
  3. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    Maybe, but it was too easy, too fast, and the whole Palaptine thing just cheapened it on several different levels.
    It took Anakin a quarter of a century to make it back to the light. Kylo has a sad because his mum (who he's been trying to kill) dies and then does a 180 because Harrison Ford's cameo says so? Sure...OK!

    I don't have a problem with a redemption arc in principle, but the execution was a mess and if it weren't for Driver's performance, it would have been unwatchable.
     
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  4. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    In real life, synchronicity does feel like it's a thing - as does déjà vu. While my rational mind tells me to reject such magical thinking, I do fantasise that events we experience could become correlated through the convolutions of an E8 or similar polytope that might underlie our reality, which is parameterised by fibration. What we experience is thus a quasicrystal projection from unseen dimensions. Or maybe, shit just happens and it makes for quirky, diverting stories...
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2021
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  5. Takeru

    Takeru Space Police Commodore

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    It didn't take Anakin a quarter of a century to make it back to the light, it wasn't a continuous journey from dark to light. He was just evil and then his actual redemption happened in 5 minutes because the emperor zapped Luke with lightning and he pleaded for his life. Anakin's 180 was just as sudden as Kylo's, neither had a good redemption arc.
     
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  6. cooleddie74

    cooleddie74 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, no, Vader was conflicted and torn by his own emotions long before the final moments of the Emperor-Vader-Luke battle on the second Death Star. You can see Vader's obvious internal struggles and pain in the scene where Luke is delivered into his captivity on Endor:

     
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  7. Commander Troi

    Commander Troi Geek Grrl Premium Member

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    OW! My brain hurt just looking at those pages! :lol:
     
  8. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Everything about the sequels happened too fast. That points to an overall production issue where thought wasn't put into that kind of thing, and it's also connected to the lack of foreshadowing. Everything just sort of happens when the script says it should happen, which is then unsatisfying. Well, we know the writing in SW hasn't been great, but this just seemed lacking in its execution compared to the others, which at least had foreshadowing. When characters have arcs throughout the different trilogies and then suddenly there are no arcs, it's kind of noticeable.
     
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  9. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Rey had a great character arc, in my opinion, as did Kylo. I do agree it is a bit rushed, and that is more a symptom of current production styles than anything else. And, as much as the ST struggled with foreshadowing, the more I learn about the OT the more I realize that a lot of things just happen in there, and not a lot is foreshadowed. The fact that it all works together as well as it does points to well crafted stories. Again, I like the ST but the stories do rely too much on "and this happens, and then this." It's not as strong.

    But, in comparison to the PT, it feels more cohesive in terms of characters. The PT is definitely "this happens because it has to happen." The PT feels driven by fate, that Anakin will become Vader, and everyone is powerless to do anything about it. As far as satisfying stories go the PT is far from it.
     
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  10. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    Coincidences happen in real life, not because of some magical force, but because we underestimate the odds of, if we pass a few hundred people a day, one of them being a person we are acquainted with.
     
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  11. UssGlenn

    UssGlenn Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Mar 5, 2003
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    New Orleans, LA
    See the "birthday problem" for that kind of underestimated probability. The chances of 2 people sharing a birthday is 50% if you have 23 people, and 99.9% with 70 people.
     
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  12. shapeshifter

    shapeshifter Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Nov 16, 2007
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    Land of Illusion
    These should make it easy...

     
  13. BK613

    BK613 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2008
    The caveat is any 2 people of those 23. The chances of one of those 23 having your birthday is much lower (6.1%) and you need 253 people for the chance to be 50%.
     
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  14. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    Which, again, isn't years of struggling. That's like, only a few hours before he chooses Luke over the Emperor.

    It wasn't really redemption at all, he didn't care about the Jedi he betrayed or the INNOCENT KIDS he murdered. He just wanted to protect his son he barely knew.
     
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  15. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    "What? Atalanta, too? What sort of woke, SJW bullshit is this? Of course, they had squeeze in a kick-ass warrior woman, even if they had to borrow her from a completely different story!" :)
     
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  16. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, Sting was (is?) a big fan of Carl Gustav Jung.
     
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  17. shapeshifter

    shapeshifter Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    .
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2022
  18. Kor

    Kor Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    When "Dark Empire" (the EU story dealing with the Emperor's resurrection using cloned bodies) first came out, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now I find the whole story rather silly. And to me, the Emperor's sudden return in TROS felt kind of like a lazy copycat of that.

    Kor
     
  19. Commander Troi

    Commander Troi Geek Grrl Premium Member

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    ::cackling::
     
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  20. YLu

    YLu Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2004
    Pixar once released some "22 Screenwriting Tips" sort of thing, and I like its take on coincidence:

    "Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating."