Про писателей и макулатуру

[vit_r]

В рассылке по аниме и менге пробежал интереснейший анализ убийства автором главной героини.

The comparison to grand opera leads to some interesting considerations about plots and the difference between "structural" and "ad hoc" plot elements.

A "structural" feature of a plot is one that is built in and intrinsic to the story, and cannot be eliminated without completely altering the ENTIRE story. In Aida, we have such a structural element when we learn AT THE OUTSET that Aida is the daughter of the enemy king whom Radames is fighting and ultimately defeats. If we change that, the whole story disappears down the drain. Hence, when Radames falls in love with Aida -- he has captured her and her father, the king -- and she falls in love with him, the plot STRUCTURALLY has reached an impasse. They CANNOT marry: she is an enemy of Radames' Egypt. There is no way to rewrite the plot to allow Radames and Aida to marry, let alone live happily ever after. They refuse, however, to forswear their love for each other, and die together in the end.

By contrast, your summary of the Gurren-Lagann plot does NOT entail such a structural relationship between Nia's death and Simon's decision. First, it would have been quite possible for the script writers to do a MINOR workaround -- that is, an ad hoc change -- and have Nia say "Yes, I will stay with you and together we shall use our LOVE as a tool against the dark fate that seems to await us!" Or SImon could say the same thing. And why not? Who says that Love, with a capital L, couldn't defeat the nasty spirals and anti-spirals? Second, there is no structural or intrinsic reason why Nia's dependence on Anti-Spiral's energy would kill her if Anti-Spiral vanishes. That's just a made-up detail, which condemns Nia to death for no reason I can see. It's ad hoc. Maybe she just shrugs when Anti-Spiral vanishes and takes some more Vitamin B6 -- which fixes up everything.

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