Are you suggesting that LOTR is not hero's journey?
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Which is better? Absolute fantasy worlds, or "Secret Underbelly" fantasy worlds?
- Thread starter Mythical Traveller
- Start date
Are you suggesting that LOTR is not hero's journey?
Ireth
Mythic Scribe
I didn't say that. I'm saying that LOTR is "absolute fantasy", and that HP is the "hidden underbelly" type of fantasy, as in the original post. That is the be-all and end-all of my argument. Let's not drag this out unnecessarily.
I'm not trying to drag it out at all. Just trying to synch to what you are trying to say.
That's more or less the distinction the OP made - he classed one film as one type and the other as another type.
And he asked which works better.
And I said that both are very similar when you get down to it.
So what's your point?
Ireth
Mythic Scribe
I was just trying to clarify what I thought was a mistake about the distinction between the two types mentioned in the poll. That's all. Apologies if I assumed anything incorrectly. I'll bow out now if I'm not accomplishing anything more; I've said my piece a few times over.
When you mess up with a fantasy world, it just feels like you messed up. When you mess up with the "underbelly" fantasy, it sometimes feels like the underbelly idea itself is to blame. It's easy for readers to start asking things like "People really don't know about this?" or "You expect me to believe this kind of stuff is happening all over the world throughout history?" It's a much bigger suspension of disbelief that you're asking of your reader.
I love Harry Potter. But you've got to admit that Rowling gets away with the underbelly side of her story by making it into a running gag, by using it for comic relief. That's brilliant, on her part. People have an easier time suspending disbelief when there's humor involved. But in her story there's also a tremendous divide between the wizarding world and the muggle world that only crosses over at specific points in the story. There's also a thinner vein of comic relief that runs throughout the story, making the comedy feel less out of place.
That may not be so easy to replicate; the bigger the magic, the more the impact it would have on the world, the more it plays into the plot, and the better your explanation needs to be. There's a whole slew of go-to horror fantasy tropes with built in explanations, of course. Vampires, werewolves, monsters, Cthulhu. But it's a challenge as you try to be more original or draw upon more traditional elements.
I love Harry Potter. But you've got to admit that Rowling gets away with the underbelly side of her story by making it into a running gag, by using it for comic relief. That's brilliant, on her part. People have an easier time suspending disbelief when there's humor involved. But in her story there's also a tremendous divide between the wizarding world and the muggle world that only crosses over at specific points in the story. There's also a thinner vein of comic relief that runs throughout the story, making the comedy feel less out of place.
That may not be so easy to replicate; the bigger the magic, the more the impact it would have on the world, the more it plays into the plot, and the better your explanation needs to be. There's a whole slew of go-to horror fantasy tropes with built in explanations, of course. Vampires, werewolves, monsters, Cthulhu. But it's a challenge as you try to be more original or draw upon more traditional elements.
druidofwinter
Mystagogue
I much prefer complete fantasy worlds. The reason I read fantasy is to get out of this world.