meganbmoore: (next stop: amnesia)
meganbmoore ([personal profile] meganbmoore) wrote2008-11-18 02:35 pm
Entry tags:

Disney Channel and romantic tropes

My DVD player has died and I've been compensating by watching Disney Channel shows.  Do not ask.  I think I've mostly thinking about how they'd be so cool if I were 12.  All the supposedly charming or cool or cute guys need a ounch in the face.  The goody girls who I'm supposed to like are snooty and superior, all other girls are supposed to be annoying, materialistic comedic relief, but are more entertaining.  The smart boys are supposed annoying twats and the "cool" boys are annoying brats who could do with being grounded for years.  I think the only character I like is the hyper competitive and academic sister in some show that's a Brady Bunch knockoff that's named after her irritating stepbrother.  I despair over her taste in boys, though.  (The only show whose title I know is The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.  That one is entertaining, though I keep wondering why the adults haven't murdered all the kids.)

Make me stop watching them.

ANYWAY!

Over at Dear Author, they have a poll about favorite and least favorite romantic tropes.  Since this is a type of topic I never tire of (people's likes and dislikes) give me some of yours.

[identity profile] ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, the Disney Channel. I still haven't forgiven them for what they did with So Weird. When I was 11-13 I was also smitten with Lizzie McGuire, and while I don't like it now, I still believe it is leagues better than most of the shows they have on there. I enjoy Life with Derek, but it's not actually a Disney show. It's a Canadian sitcom that gets shown on the Disney channel, hence the very different style. Suite Times with Zack and Cody is also decent, sometimes. There was a very weird episode that involved them putting on a production of High School Musical. I haven't watched any of these shows in forever, and really don't know what the current line-up is. I remember thinking Naturally Sadie would be something that might appeal to my inner 12-year-old before realizing that it really didn't.

Hm. I'll give the Romantic Tropes thing some thought.

[identity profile] rhap-chan.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. My. God. I hate to hijack other people's posts but I loved So Weird so much. It was literally the first TV show I watched that wasn't a cartoon. It went all weird when they changed the main character, though.

[identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Hijack to your heart's content. I never care as long as there aren't spoilers flying around, and things are kept civil and relatively clean.

[identity profile] ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
^_^ Oh, I miss that show very much. I wish desperately that Disney would release it on DVD. I would most definitely purchase the first two seasons as soon as I could.

It did. It became less based in folklore, and lost a lot of the edge to its writing. Also, it's just . . . it was much more enjoyable when you had Fi, who was short and had dark brown hair and whose main talents were computers and an encyclopedic knowledge of the supernatural. And, then they replaced her with Annie, before even finishing her story. Tall, blonde, musically talented, guarded-by-a-spirit-panther Annie. *sigh*

[identity profile] rhap-chan.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
The folklore part was what fascinated me. I keep an interest in the paranormal to this day, probably inspired mostly by this show. Fi was definitely more interesting than Annie... Oh, Disney.

[identity profile] mekosuchinae.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
So Weird! Dead before its time.

[identity profile] ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Of the tropes listed in this poll, these are the ones I dislike:

The Secret Baby
The Big Misunderstanding
The Virgin Widow
Blackmailed for Her/His Love
Amnesia
The Will Made Me Do It
Forbidden to Love

I also find myself somewhat skeptical towards love at first sight.

[identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com 2008-11-18 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah. That explains why the production values and such are so much higher.