I'd like to open a discussion on the recent deletion of:
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The movie's climax has Luca and Alberto revealed as sea-monsters to the entire town. Some are curious, others are concerned and defensive but as Massimo stands by they boys and affirms them as the winners of the race, all direct opposition melts away. As the two cultures merge at a celebratory dinner it appears that Pixar has delivered us a happy ending of mutual acceptance. However, as they consider Luca's future, Grandma Paguro wisely reminds us that some people will not accept Luca for who he is, but some will and those are the people worth knowing and Luca seems to know how to find those good ones.
The edit reason given is "while grandma's line is realistic, the outcome remains "idealistic" (to not say happy) and standard as everyone (except Ercole, who's a jerk) immediately accepts them and nothing onscreen confirms grandma's words."
The trope is defined as "when somebody thought they were protected by the power of narrative convention. Then reality ensued." In other words, it's a subversion of expected consequences.
The example points out that "it appears that Pixar has delivered us a happy ending of mutual acceptance" but then surprises us by having Grandma point out that while the initial outcome is happy, letting Luca venture out in the world brings with it real challenges that have not gone away just because acceptance has been found on Portorosso.
The statement "nothing onscreen confirms grandma's words" is not accurate, in fact the entire story up to this point shows them in action. When the boys first arrive at Portorosso, Luca is shown in justified fear of the village's hostility toward sea monsters. Luca then manages to find people worth knowing in Giulia and Massimo who have a massive impact on their ultimate acceptance in the town.
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome is a trope that is often misused and I took pains to point out the narrative convention being set up by the story (ie Pixar's "happy" ending) and how reality ensues in that there are realistic concerns for Luca's safety if he ventures beyond Portorosso.
Edited by rva98014 Hide / Show Replies
"the entire story up to this point shows them in action. When the boys first arrive at Portorosso, Luca is shown in justified fear of the village's hostility toward sea monsters. Luca then manages to find people worth knowing in Giulia and Massimo who have a massive impact on their ultimate acceptance in the town."
This is right, but is the story and not the outcome. The outcome is "as Massimo stands by they boys and affirms them as the winners of the race, all direct opposition melts away" and then there's the celebration and Grandma's warning but, after Massimo stands for the boys, as said, everyone is immediately supportive of the sea monsters.
In a nutshell, the story follows the "X are hostile toward Y until they learn they're not evil/different" citche and there's no twist or subversion of it. The only thing is Grandma's warning but nothing on screen proves her point. Even when talking about what could happen after the movie, if Luca will ever face opposition, the only thing shown are the credits, where Luca and Giulia's classmates and teacher are not bothered by him being a sea monsters
Edited by fishysaur There isn't an impossible dream, there are only people who give up
I posted this on "Is this an example" thread as you suggested to elicit more feedback.
I think the "subversion of expected consequences" I see may be too subtle. I'm not looking at the specific outcome of the race but rather of the story itself. In most "slice of life, the underdogs win" type stories, it would end on the celebratory dinner, the town accepts the underdogs, it was a fantastic summer, the kids look forward to getting together next summer... roll credits.
To me the subversion is that it's not the end of the story, Luca wants to take more steps into the world and Granda Paguro points out that the "protection of narrative convention" ends at the Portorosso city limits. He will have to re-earn acceptance every place he goes and each new place will bring some inherent risk and danger.
For me seeing the acceptance of Giulia's classmates and teacher in the credits is a testament to the story's mention of Luca's ability to "pick the good ones", not the absence of opposition and fear of the different that is part of human nature.
Edited by rva98014
Ok, I've put my reply on the thread as well
Edited by fishysaur There isn't an impossible dream, there are only people who give up
Hello! I have a hypothetical trope to add but I know discussion about the second-act conflict can get... eh, so I wanted to run it by everyone first before I accidentally cause problems on the mainpage.
The format is 1. Impulsive choice, 2. Why it was clealy impulsive, 3. Unforeseen bad consequences.
Y/n?
Edited by PurpleCandlelight Hide / Show Replies