[ SECRET POST #3149 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3149 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 071 secrets from Secret Submission Post #450.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[(Anonymous)]

So I'm not sure I can hold fiction to a higher standard (even if fiction's is the one that's supposed to make sense).

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[kallanda_lee]

This is truth.

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[(Anonymous)]

+1 I frequently don't get whay various IRL couples see in each other but I accept they see it.

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[intrigueing]

Uh, what? No, it's the complete opposite! Of course you can hold fiction to a higher standard -- that's sort of the whole point of fiction, to write a story where the author has control over it, unlike real life.

Fiction is meant to tell a story that communicates something to the viewer/reader (even a story that's intended to be "meaningless" has some kind of meaning -- like 'life is random and nonsensical' or something.) Unlike real life, where people really don't have control over their feelings, in fiction there's absolutely no excuse for an author to both write a shitty and unbelievable romance AND intend for the audience to see it as good and believable -- you can have one or you can have the other, but if you have both it is bad writing, pure and simple.

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[(Anonymous)]

Congratulations on missing the whole point of entertainment.

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[intrigueing]

How is that missing the whole point of entertainment? I'm not saying that something you communicate has to be "deep" or have a moral or a message or a point or anything. What it communicates can be as simple as "this is fun! Lets have fun!" and be perfectly good.

But if the author is trying to communicate something poignant - like "this romance is good, care about these people" and instead comes off as saying something not poignant - like "this romance is awful" it isn't entertaining (unless of course it's so extreme it falls into the 'so bad it's good' territory, or stuff like that).

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[(Anonymous)]

I was referring to suspension of disbelief.

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[intrigueing]

Suspension of disbelief =/= "it's fiction, so believe it because I say so," especially when it comes to emotions/psychology rather than external stuff like magic, sci-fi, special effects, improbable coincidences, etc. Even if it's not realistic according to real life, it has to still be convincing/believable in the story itself.

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[(Anonymous)]

But fiction is always held to a higher standard than real life!

Fiction is expected to make sense, even though reality doesn't. Fictional characters are supposed to act in ways that are understandable, even though real people don't. Fiction is supposed to be engaging and interesting and entertaining at all times, while real life is full of boring, unexciting shit nobody wants to hear/read/write about.

I don't want to read about an "inexplicable" romance any more than I want to read about a dude cleaning his bathroom.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

The problem I have is that, by all accounts, Katherine's husband is wonderful to her and nothing about Ralph Fiennes' character really stands out and makes me understand why she would throw all that away, nor what is so special about her that Ralph Fiennes is willing to inject so much drama in his life.

If, for example, he had been shown to be lonely or she had been unhappy in her relationship or we saw them connect on some fundamental level that her husband didn't understand (for example, in terms of a shared passion or deeply-held belief) then it would make sense to me. But we don't.

And that, on its own, isn't a HUGE deal if the romance is ancillary. But it's such a huge part of the story and forms such a huge part of their characters/motivations that it makes the entire movie plodding and unbelievable.

A real life romance might very well be inexplicable, but I'm not being asked to invest in it.

Re: I feel like a lot of real life romance is inexplicable, too.

[ninety6tears]

I think romance as well as many other aspects of writing good fiction comes down to that fine balance between it being mundane and simple enough to feel real but also a little larger than life so that it's captivating to watch/read.