So, just was thinking about the various types of writing. For years people have tried to nail down what it is that separates the types of stories from each other, and the general consensus is that there's Comedy, and there's Tragedy, and those are the only base forms. Everything else comes from that. But that strikes me as surprisingly limited, and excludes the vast majority of writing in this day and age. After all, what was the first genre to make a profit on the internet? It certainly wasn't Tragedies, I'll tell you that much... And then I noticed that a LOT of mainstream stories also don't fall into the classic format. In fact they follow a very specific pattern I see repeated over and over. So, Disclaimer: I am trying to offend you. I am attempting to poke fun at your writing in order to get angry responses and pushback. I am also poking fun at my OWN writing because I can take a fucking joke. If you can't take a goddamn joke, feel free to yell at me, and I'll ignore you and write more jokes in response which make fun of you in a passive aggressive and snide way, mocking your writing and personal habits/age. The only way to make me stop is to completely ignore me. So without further ado, and based off the old Role Playing Game adage of there being Four of everything, I bring you Tragedy, Comedy, Erotica, and Perfect What they are: The four Genres of fiction, the four types that all others descend from. Tragedy: The reflection of the Human condition as we fear it to be. Betrayal, unworthy, and valiant unto certain doom. (Hamlet, Oedipus, Walking Dead) Comedy: The reflection of the Human condition as we wish it to be. Funny, violence ultimately harmless, and the valiant unharmed but properly repentant. (As You Like It, The Frogs, Monty Python's Flying Circus) Erotica: The Reflection of the Human condition as we are. Base in many ways, but creative and surprisingly twisted in our honesty about what has been done to us and what we have done to others. (The Country Wife, Tropic of Cancer, Lady Chatterley's Lover) Perfect: The way things SHOULD BE. This story is perfect and if you say any bad words about it you are just a jerk who hates people having a good time. You should believe in this. (Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Bible) Typical Plot: Tragedy: King makes a dumb foreseeable mistake and dies because of it. (Marries own mother, Gets on boat marked Titanic, Goes to war to save his people) Comedy: King makes a dumb foreseeable mistake but nobody cares because they're having a good time. (Tries to find Car, Takes Day Off, Takes a ride on an Airplane) Erotica: It's good to be the King. (Who's First?) Perfect: King only makes a mistake because the truth was kept from him. Nobody betrays him and they all live happily ever after. (Blows up Death Star, Stops Nuke from going off, Defeats Dark Lord of Evil) Typical Main Character: Tragedy: Noble Hero, valiant, faithful and ultimately a fool. (Hamlet, Any game of Thrones Character) Comedy: Fool. Squandering, greedy but ultimately a hero. (Miguel and Tulio, Touchstone) Erotica: The Everyman/woman. They're often defined only by their actions. (YOU, as in "You look around and see...") Perfect: Your perfect savior who you should bow down to. This person NEVER makes mistakes and if they do, they're easily corrected in about a scene or two. (Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, Jesus) Typical Love interest: Tragedy: Queen or other woman married to the main character. She will betray the main character. (Lady Macbeth, Medea) Comedy: Girlfriend or other young woman with a free spirit. Will NEVER betray the main character. (Manic Pixie Dream Girls.) Erotica: Hi... I'm the opposite sex. (What's your type, baby...?) Perfect: The tough gal who will never fall in love, and is completely unapproachable, and yet when the main character approaches suddenly becomes all girly and is fully capable of having multiple orgasms/children. (Princess Leia, Hermione Granger, Nausicca) Typical Sidekick: Tragedy: Traitors who plot against the hero at every turn, often planning the seduction of his love interest and his demise. (Game of Thrones, Walking Dead) Comedy: Best friend who MAY be a love interest. Often very supportive of the main character no matter what their eventual decisions. (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein) Erotica: Hmm? You want me around after my sex scene is done? (Stableboy, Pool Boy, Daughter's Best Friend) Perfect: A noble friend who's almost but not quite so cool as the main character, and who defers to the main character in everything, and yet never speaks up or stops the main character from doing anything stupid. Often will take the blame for the main character as a sign of heroism. (Han Solo, Inigo) Typical reactions to omens: Tragedy: Forewarnings and omens are ignored, despite their obvious and clear import. (Oedipus) Comedy: Forewarnings and omens are ignored, to incredibly comedic effect. (Coneheads) Erotica: Forewarnings and omens generally are embraced and jumped at. (Every porn movie... every single one... "He's going to fuck her..." and later...) Perfect: Forewarnings and omens are NEVER ignored, but happen anyway because fate, bitch. (Every time you encounter your fate by trying to run from it... Feel free to disagree or chime in, as you will.
I'm not sure how serious you're being, but you seem to misunderstand the meaning of Tragedy and Comedy in this context. These words had very different meanings in the 5th century. A Tragedy is defined as a story that deals with serious issues; a Comedy is one that deals with trivial issues. So Star Wars (the movie, not the saga) is definitely a Comedy, not because it's funny but because it isn't very deep. Conversely, Macbeth is a Tragedy, not because bad things happen in it, but because it reveals a great deal about themes like betrayal and ambition that aren't tied to a particular place or time. Hence, your 'Erotica' category is just a subset of Comedy. 'Perfect' does not deal with themes, so is redundant, and any story defined as 'Perfect' is, additionally, either a Comedy or a Tragedy. The Bible is a Tragedy. Harry Potter could be either; there is a thing called a Tragicomedy, I believe. TL;DR: Not every Comedy is comic, and not every Tragedy is tragic.
I personally find that Deliberately pushing against dualistic thought is a fun thought experiment. You can disagree, but I ain't gonna argue the base premise because down that path lies the immortal and annoying argument ad infinitum. If you think it's dumb, feel free to ignore it and it will go away, Otherwise, I'll just write jokes that continue my premise, because I enjoy it and it works well for my particular mindset. But, I feel that since you responded, I should write a joke for you, in the spirit of reconciliation. Typical Foil/Bad Guy: Tragedy: A character who abuses the hero/main character's trust and good nature. Usually will have secret knowledge of the hero's weakness, be it sexual, social or physical. (Iago, King of Denmark) Comedy: A braggart Hero whose reputation/social power causes the main character to feel inferior or be oppressed. (Epitomised by Miles Glorioso, Parents in a teen sex comedy.) Erotica: Somebody who offers the love interest more of SOMETHING that they want. (Tell me, Schatze, Is it Twooo how you people are... gifted?) Perfect: The Devil, who hates everybody just because they're evil. It doesn't matter why they do evil things, the fact is that anything they support is EVIL and if you don't go along with the good guys, you're evil too! (Death Eaters, The Empire, The Devil)
SO, thinking about this, and THANKS to insertnamehere for making me think about the traditional division of Shakespeare's work... and I realized that even HIS stuff falls into the categories quite handily... Shakespearean Plays... in the Four Styles: Tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, always dealing with the death of kings due to fate. Comedies: Much Ado About Nothing, Comedy Of Errors. Heavy emphasis on social expectation being subverted, and perception and tragic situations averted by coincidence. Erotica: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night. Women in drag, lots of suggestions of woman on woman sex, including hints of bestiality, All of the characters end happily and the established power structure is maintained but humbled. Perfect: Henry the Fifth. Titus Andronicus. Heroic guys do nasty things to nasty people who deserve it. They're evil because they aren't us, and therefore must be destroyed. All Hail ENGLAND!
Heh, so was thinking last night, and this is a FUN gag, so... if you're offended... don't say anything. I'll lose interest and get bored. How their Writers think of themselves: Tragedians think of themselves as the wisest and most noble of writers. They reflect how other people REALLY think, and the sad truth of the world. Comedians think of themselves as smarter and wittier than other writers. They reflect how people really behave, and the funny truth of the world. Erotica writers think of themselves as damn dirty perverts who know that they shouldn't be writing this. But they're reflecting how they personally see the world, so fuck it... Perfect story writers know that the story is perfect and given by those greater and wiser than them. You don't question the story, it's the truth. If you question it or its ideals you're either ignorant or actively malicious, and most likely actively malicious. Questioners must be silenced.
