“Whenever you think of a creature, think of a lion—how a lion can be absolutely malignant or benign, majestic, depending on what it’s doing. If your creature cannot be in repose, then it’s a bad design.” - Guillermo del Toro
I love this quote. The first sentence perfectly expresses the concept of 'repose', and the second sentence explains why it is so critical to creation.
Every time you want to make something new, consider what it's doing in its spare time. When a monster isn't killing humans, what does it do? If there were no humans at all, what would it be doing?
This concept works on more than animals and mythical beasts, though. It works quite well for humans, too. Think about the nastiest bitch you know. Think about that annoying girl who is always complaining and blaming people for everything and whining about their lives. That woman will be in repose at some point during the day.
Even if only for an hour or two (not counting being asleep), there are times when she is doing something quietly, either in silence or at low volume. There are times when she is not upset or angry, and may be genuinely happy.
All humans are three-dimensional. We have desires and responsibilities. We seek action and need peace. Nobody does one thing all the time. Nobody has only one mode or one thought. We are complex beings who are affected by our surroundings and our upbringing.
When you are creating people, just as you are creating a monster, ask yourself what they want, what they do in their off time, and what they would be doing if they weren't being affected by their current environment.
If your characters cannot be in repose, then it's bad design.
Entry from Kevin's idea notepad:
"Real Life Bitch - It's weird to meet a bitch when she's not being one."
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Now when you are referring to a "bitch", is this in reference to your opinion of the person in general, your opinion of how they act towards you, or your opinion of how they have reacted to a particular situation?
ReplyDeleteAfter you answer that question, Maybe you can answer this one. Is the purpose of your...blog, I guess, to call attention to your hostility towards a situation, your ability to endure such situations with a high opinion of yourself for seeing past it, or just to simply send a message to writers who are creating characters so that they know a better way, in your opinion, to create one?
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bitch?s=t
ReplyDelete3. Slang . a.
a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, especially a woman.
The purpose of my blog is to make people think.
Giving the definition of bitch does not answer the question of what way you were referring to the "bitch". But I do appreciate you spending your free time to research a word that did not need to be defined.
DeleteHow you placed the word was what I was inquiring about. Was this an opinion of the person, a particular action, or their general behavior towards you?
Also, saying that you put up a blog merely to provoke thought is a very ambiguous statement. A blade of grass can inspire a thought, your awkward breath, words on a random blog, etc. You should really know what types of thoughts you are trying to inspire by putting a post demeaning a person then demonstrating your ability to look past your own judgement.
I defined the word because that was the definition I was using. In all seriousness, if I had said, "It's weird to meet a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person when she's not being one", would you be taking issue with my words?
ReplyDeleteAs far the thought-provokingness of my blog, I tend to leave it ambiguous because I want it to be ambiguous. I want as many possible reactions to my words as are possible by humanity (provided they don't inspire people to cause harm to others). And frankly, any reaction is a good reaction to me. The worst reaction I could get is nothing but a shoulder shrug and a "meh".
I am spouting my observations and my opinions. I expect people to agree and people to disagree. I even added those checkboxes on the bottom for people who want to do one or the other quickly.
Of course, I always welcome comments. I always hope they will lead to discussions. Ideally, I want people to question the world around them. I want them to think about the things they take for granted. I want them to understand every part of their lives as deeply and as thoroughly as possible. I also want them to do all of that to themselves.
I personally found the diction to be quite clever. I think it’s also important to note that everyone, regardless of gender (even if it is a term ‘especially’ for a female), has the ability to be a bitch and all things considered, everyone is a bitch at one point in time or another. But reading your words, we all know someone like this, someone the majority of the people familiar with the person would call a bitch.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of ‘bitches in repose’ makes one wonder about the circumstances which have led this person to generally be known as a bitch. We all have friends, or perhaps acquaintances, that we would, and they themselves may even, recognize as a bitch, but why are they this way? When they are in repose, why are they that way? What are the differences in situations and circumstances? We’re all fighting our battles, why do some of us weather the storm more or less viciously than others?
As for your goal to make people think, kudos, mission accomplished.
Also, Guillermo del Toro FTW!
I find the diction to be irrelevant. The term "bitch" is a subjective judgement. If the intention was to make people think about how people became the way they became, the subject has been broached on numerous occasions. This blurb adding derogatory titles to people who HE finds in a negative nature does not make the curiousity any more unique.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of blurbs that "make people think" about how people became the way they are. But what a more unique twist would be on this blurb would be how do you work together with these people, utilizing their strengths, changing their weaknesses into strengths, or just making a more pleasent enviornment for the both of you, so as not to provoke their "bitch" that you see.
Obviously, you chose this diction in particular because it was something on your mind. Latent anger, maybe. But a better question to ask is, why do people think of me the way they do? I'm sure, even our writer of CheffSalad has done something "bitchy" to someone. Who knows, he may have even made one mistake that betrayed a friend, forever changing their opinion of him in their eyes from something positive to something negative. What in his life could have effected HIM so poorly that he felt that betraying a friend was worth it (hypothetically speaking).
Jesus Christ, the author of Cheff Salad may have slaughtered forty small children in front of their respective parents and buried them all in a shallow mass grave in his Connecticut home. If you're going to be needlessly ridiculous, at least do it with some panache.
ReplyDeleteAllow me to clarify an earlier point. I don't want to "make people think" in a meaningless fashion. I want people to actually consider thoughts. I want people to explore those thoughts. And most importantly, I want them to seek answers.
And to that degree, I would like to know what your actual problem is, Anonymous. I have been openly critical of people in general regularly. I have singled out specific groups more than once. What is it about this post that has drawn your ire? What specific thing or combination of things is it that has you so riled that you make the effort to write this comment, and then to keep coming back and continue the criticisms?
Please don't misunderstand me. I appreciate it. You have beliefs and you have conviction in them. I simply don't understand what your beliefs actually are and how I have so sorely betrayed them.
Sensitive, much? To be honest - I've only read this and maybe one other post. So what you have written in other posts won't really effect me. Other than that, making people consider your thoughts is not the same thing as making people think as you stated earlier.
ReplyDeleteI used you betraying a friend because that was a switch of a positive opinion of you to a negative opinion of you, If you really have screwed over a friend and are sensitive about that, I do apologize.
I am not emotionally offended of attached in any way to this post. Because I had read it, I made a comment. I like to respond when other people respond though, hence the return comments.
I know that this blog must be important to you, but there is no need to take everything said so seriously. I am not attacking you personally, until now, just remarking on the particular comments both within the blog and in the returning comments. I check back here in particular to see if anyone has responded to my comments.
But after the few blurbs I have read, I'm not really a returning reader of yours. No offense to you in any way, but the thoughts written in this blog are not insightful or helpful within the context of my life. I've done so much with my life and being someone who has constantly taken risks and sacrificed comfort for the sake of adventure and bettering, it was a nice vacation hearing the thoughts and opinions of someone who has SEEMINGLY (not definitely before you get offended, again) not lived their life in this fashion.