Different tropes are designed to appeal to different readers and viewers, and, as the dragons have said on many occasions, there is nothing inherently wrong with tropes. Why not give your audience more of what it wants? However there are tropes that are packaged in such a way as to close the narrative of a story to perspectives other than the default, and do so under the guise of providing a strong female lead or co-lead. These tropes can be damaging and need some re-engineering. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at one of the most infamous character tropes - the Manic Pixie Dream Girl - and it's possible antithesis - the Nervous Timid Goth Boy. On the slab this episode - Scott Pilgrim, Weird Science, The Belgariad by David Eddings and many more.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 162: Bring Out Your Dead - Sickness and Pandemics in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 161: That's not Historically Accurate - the Fallacy of Fantasy Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 160: The Kids are Alright - Why do we need a NA Genre as well as YA?
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 159: I See Dead People - Psychics, Mediums and Communing with the Dead
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 158: Dominion, Mastery and Emancipation - Portrayals of Slavery in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 157: Chosen Ones and Fated Champions - the Phenomenon of the Special Snowflake in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 156: Childcatchers and Trunchbulls - Portrayals of Abuse in Children's Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 155: All in Your Head - Portrayals of Mental Illness in Modern YA Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 154: Death and Sex Appeal - Assassins in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 153: A Pirate's Life for Me - Myths, Stories and Crime on the High Seas
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 152: The Universe in Motion - Expanding Series & Reader Opinion in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 151: Reading Like a Writer - How Critical Reading Informs the Writing Process
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 150: The Twilight Zone - When Fandoms are Attacked in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 149: 2018 - The Good, the Bad and the Utterly Bizarre
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 148: The Holly and the Ivy - The Root of the Carol
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 147: Trading Capes - When Villains become Heroes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 146: The Hollywood Treatment - What the Movies Changed
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 145: Away with the Faeries - Girls versus Supernatural Queens
Dissecting Dragon: Episode 144: Private Eyes and Underworlds - Crime Meets Urban Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 143: Making Sh!t Happen - Avoiding the Number One Writing Fail
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