Poll "Small Universe Syndrome" - Yay Or Nay?

[Captaindemotion]

I’m personally fine with is, so long as it’s not overdone. Fiction is not real life; it may imitate life and there may be certain rules it has to exist within, but just as it may have a beginning, middle and end that real life is too messy to have, it can also ask of the reader or viewer to suspend disbelief in the name of narrative.

So, it’ll just so happen that a ship called Enterprise will often be the only ship available to save the day; Jack Bauer or John McClane will be yet again the right/wrong man in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time. And it may also be that, yes, because viewers want to see people in a shared universe interact, it’ll turn out that Luke Skywalker will save The Mandalorian and his friends from certain death, Seven of Nine will know Jean-Luc Picard, or Tony Stark will have been keeping an eye on a spider-powered kid from New York. I must admit also to liking how Batman v Superman made Gotham and Metropolis neighbouring cities, so as to bring the titular heroes closer together.

 

[Owain Taggart]

It's also not as much of a time investment as you seem to imply, so far they have released 25 movies and 4 tv shows with one short season each ("WandaVision" and "What if ..." with 9 half hour episodes each and "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier" and "Loki" with 6 one hour episodes each. That's roughly the same amount of content TOS produced over 3 years except the MCU did it in 13! So it's actually much more manageable for the audience.

It is a big commitment if one just wants to watch a movie and is not interested in all the other stuff though. Not everyone is going to come off being a big enough fan to want to spend all their time with it.

 

[Captaindemotion]

It is a big commitment if one just wants to watch a movie and is not interested in all the other stuff though. Not everyone is going to come off being a big enough fan to want to spend all their time with it.

You don’t need to see them all though. I mean, admittedly there’d be little point seeing Endgame without seeing at least all the other Avengers movies (though the name should be a clue that way) but quite a few work on their own merits. You might miss a few in-jokes or references but I don’t think you’d be entirely lost.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Like I said, I tried, and was really lost with lots with Spiderman: Far From Home, particularly the first half which spends a lot of time with the interconnectedness.

And even so, there's way too much wink-wink-nudge-nudge going on to the point that it becomes distracting.

 

[Greg Cox]

Isn't part of fiction that we are focused on the noteworthy events? Like, most of this isn't what would happen in the day to day, with regular degular people.

Depends to a degree on what kind of fiction it is. Are we talking a realistic kitchen-sink drama, a hardboiled noir thriller, a cozy murder mystery, a steamy romance, or a swashbuckling, larger-than-life space opera?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Star Trek would be pretty boring if it was about filing reports and making notes in sensor logs.

 

[BK613]

IMO. characters should always feel like they inhabit their world, regardless of the genre.

Star Trek would be pretty boring if it was about filing reports and making notes in sensor logs.

You're right, although Star Trek is usually about some interesting thing that happened while you are filing reports and making notes in sensor logs. Which really doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand.

 

[JD]

I love it when different characters who aren't usually together meet and interact, it's just fun, and will often allow us to see different sides of the chracters and their world.

Jack Bauer or John McClane will be yet again the right/wrong man in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time.

Now I really want a 24/Die Hard crossover.

 

[Nerys Myk]

IMO. characters should always feel like they inhabit their world, regardless of the genre.

You're right, although Star Trek is usually about some interesting thing that happened while you are filing reports and making notes in sensor logs. Which really doesn't have much to do with the topic at hand.

Just following the train of thought in the thread.

More on topic:
I wonder if the Ancient Greek discussed "small universe syndrome" when reading Jason and the Argonauts?
"Wait, Theseus and Heracles are on the Argo?"
"Yeah, Orpheus too."
"Come on!!!!!"

 

[wayoung]

I feel like there is a lot of straw manning going on here. No one is asking for a TV show about paperwork in space.

There's a wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddddddddeeeeeeeeee gap between a show or movie about paperwork and retconning Blofield to be James Bond's foster brother. Or retconning Rey to be Palpatines daughter. Or Spock having yet another secret sibling, whose mom happens to be the mysterious figure they're all trying to track down.

In a lot of cases it just feels lazy. Instead of writing actual compelling drama someone just decides "Let's just make them family members!"

 

[BK613]

@wayoung Exactly. It's how you get a series ending like "These are the Voyages..."

 

[Captaindemotion]

Now I really want a 24/Die Hard crossover.

Not sure if you were thinking of this or not but apparently at one stage it was under consideration https://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/45415

 

[Nerys Myk]

I feel like there is a lot of straw manning going on here. No one is asking for a TV show about paperwork in space.

There's a wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddddddddeeeeeeeeee gap between a show or movie about paperwork and retconning Blofield to be James Bond's foster brother. Or retconning Rey to be Palpatines daughter. Or Spock having yet another secret sibling, whose mom happens to be the mysterious figure they're all trying to track down.

In a lot of cases it just feels lazy. Instead of writing actual compelling drama someone just decides "Let's just make them family members!"

Family drama has always been among the most compelling. How many greats works of the stage, screen and page are built around family dynamics?

 

[cooleddie74]

The Godfather Trilogy is all about family: both genetic and those close enough to be considered family.

 

[wayoung]

Family drama has always been among the most compelling. How many greats works of the stage, screen and page are built around family dynamics?

The Godfather Trilogy is all about family: both genetic and those close enough to be considered family.

Built around. Not retcon twists years later where characters are suddenly discovered to be long thought dead or never mentioned before relatives. The Godfather being about a crime family can hardly be compared to Blofield suddenly being retconned as James Bond's long thought dead foster brother and both brothers independently grew up to become the best international spies in the world, clashing with each other. As another user posted, it's soap opera content. It's a trope for a reason.

 

[cooleddie74]

Well, almost nobody defends Spectre. It's one of the worst James Bond movies ever made and that "plot twist" was lifted straight out of an Austin Powers film and this time wasn't even remotely amusing.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Well, almost nobody defends Spectre. It's one of the worst James Bond movies ever made and that "plot twist" was lifted straight out of an Austin Powers film and this time wasn't even remotely amusing.

Or TROS. I was quite happy with Rey being a nobody but the Palpatine’s granddaughter thing was totally plucked out of someone’s butthole.

 

[Vger23]

I don’t care. It’s fiction. I want to have fun.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Built around. Not retcon twists years later where characters are suddenly discovered to be long thought dead or never mentioned before relatives. The Godfather being about a crime family can hardly be compared to Blofield suddenly being retconned as James Bond's long thought dead foster brother and both brothers independently grew up to become the best international spies in the world, clashing with each other. As another user posted, it's soap opera content. It's a trope for a reason.

If it's well done it's great if it's not, it sucks. It's not automatically a bad thing.

 

[shapeshifter]

I once travelled halfway across the world, only to bump into someone who used to live in my hometown. Small universe stuff happens all the time IRL, so of course it's gonna happen in the sensationalised, exaggerated world of TV and film.

Yep. I have reunited with old friends once thought long gone from my life.

Star Trek would be pretty boring if it was about filing reports and making notes in sensor logs.

The Perfect Star Trek.

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