Unpopular Opinion: Plot Clichés Are Not Cheap

Unpopular Opinion: Fanfic Plot “Clichés”

After reading tons of rants on aff, I have jumped on the bandwagon and decided to write a rant too. I’ve realized that lots of people do all these rants and I feel that while they are not entirely wrong, they might be viewing these things through biased lenses. Upon sharing these rants with a friend, we disagree with probably more than half of these rants. The first one up is fanfic plot “clichés”. 

Note: These are not fully substantiated because I don't have time and these are my opinions alone. It doesn't mean I am 100% right and accurate.

Before I start, can I just say that ranting about clichés is kind of cliché?

  1. Let’s be real, some clichés shouldn’t be named as clichés

This explains the open inverted commas in the title. Clichés are usually things that are overdone and unoriginal and people don’t want to consume these things. They are like food gone mouldy and disgusting and you don’t even want to touch them. That’s not true for some of the “clichés” that people use. I’d rather call them tropes because such things are very much still relevant in any story, really.

  1. No such thing as original

Sure, the word original exists in the dictionary but very few authors manage to bring out the true essence of the word itself. Just look at every Korean drama out there. They all use a similar formula, despite the context and au differing. Tell me a story which has absolutely no clichés at all, I’ll give you free karma points. Even the most original story probably uses clichés but turns them around. Does this mean clichés are irrelevant? (No.) It means that clichés can actually be used as a tool to better your story.

  1. Clichés resonate with people

Why do you think we watch korean dramas over and over again, where there is a love triangle, viewers suffer from second lead syndrome and they actually know they main protagonists would end up together anyhow? I myself like clichés. Knowing that two people who quarrel all the time could potentially end up together gives me hope for someone like me (who is forever single.) Reading that a plain girl can go from undesirable to beautiful in the eyes of someone is uplifting, it’s nice to read that some people might actually look below the surface. Sometimes, clichés are well-liked – which is probably a reason why the featured fics were a whole lot of plot tropes in the past. Sometimes, the most ordinary things are the most powerful, because they are the most relatable.

  1. Why can’t clichés be good anyway?

It seems like there is a terribly negative connotation towards the word. Why can’t a person write clichés? If it is delivered well, I don’t see why not. Some of my favourite fics are clichés. Just because something is overused, it doesn’t automatically fall under the category of stories that should be buried in seventh hell.

 

One of the things that I despise the most when people rant about clichés is this:

One should never blame bad behaviour on parenting. “Almost every ed up character can trace his issues back to being ually abused or slapped around by parental units.”

I despise this claim because I think even though it’s pretty much overused, but I don’t see what’s so wrong about it. It’s logical and sound. Might be a bit lazy in fanfiction but I believe that abuse is something that is very real and obviously has an adverse effect on people. As long as that abuse is written well, I don’t see why it cannot be a legitimate justification for bad behaviour.

But this is probably a rant for later, if I do eventually manage to end up ranting about rants on characterization lol.

 

Baseline, you shouldn’t try too hard to avoid clichés and clichés aren’t all bad so let’s not all have this crowd mentality. (Let's be fair and objective, yes?)

If anyone wants to start a discussion on plot clichés, feel free to comment :)

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bohubear #1
Are cliches truly cliches, though? I have read stories that have the same trope and all differ from one another. The setting is the same, the reactions are somewhat the same, but the feeling is often different. Cliches are nice to read about, sure nothing too in-depth, most of the time, but they aren't meant to be as such. We consume the same type of media day after day for years and we almost never complain as much as when it comes to fanfiction or stories in general, although even there, the buzz over cliches isn't all that big. Cliches keep popping up in fanfiction because they work, because we consume and enjoy them. There's nothing wrong with using a popular trope. There's something wrong when there are way too many similarities between your work and another's, but then we're talking about plagiarism.
And without a doubt one's upbringing and childhood shapes the way they grow up. It's not an excuse, but definitely a reason. One can change, though, with enough trying or if there are means, but upbringing definitely plays an important part in one's life and disconsidering it is extremely harmful and takes away the attention from the real issue. Not all those who have had a good upbringing end up being nice people, however, just as those who have had a less than decent one don't turn out to be abusive and toxic themselves. It's a sensitive topic and a broad subject that can't just be talked about in a few sentences. But yes, the hates tropes seem to be getting in the recent years on AFF is ludicrous and stupid and should stop, especially since it gives away an air of elitism and elitist people are never nice.
Hayaley #2
I agree especially with #3 and #4. Cliche can be good and fresh depending on how the author spins it. It could be through the plot, the characters or the dialogue.
nikatsu #3
If a "cliche" or trope makes a story worthwhile, I don't care if it does it over and over again.
noxaudere #4
I think this meaning of cliché and my meaning of cliché is very different. When I say/use cliché, it's usually with a negative connotation. If I find a cliché, I'm instantly turned off. I remember my English teacher warning me about clichés when I was in high school. But it is a broad term, hard to tell at which point does something stop being covered by the term cliché, because of course, as it is in real life, everyone more or less experiences the same thing, so why can't stories be the same?

In my opinion, the originality therefore comes in how the scenes are played out, how the lines have been delivered, what imagery the author utilises, where the scene takes place and the characters (really fleshed out characters) interacting at particular scene, etc. I think that's when the cliché doesn't become a cliché anymore.
junxiety #5
just another thought before I leave,

isn't love a whole huge cliché on it's own?
junxiety #6
wow u rlly did it mate
I feel that clichés are fine, I like clichés, I read clichés, I write clichés.
Name me a single story that doesn't have a cliché.
Tbh many stories were kind of "original" at first but slowly became a "cliché" as other stories follow the first one's creativity.
Take for example Hunger games. the first time I read it, I was intrigued by its brutal dystopian concept. But what happened aft that? A sudden surge of dystopian novels with strong female leads who always do the same thing: struggle to stay alive (and also to choose a man)

god im starting to rant I think I need to go hm frm sch and type a proper reply on the laptop
My_Type #7
I totally agree with you! I think 'clichés' are clichés for a reason it resonates with them/people like them/it's a fantasy for them and so the idea gets used again and again until it becomes a cliché. I believe all clichés were once considered original and all original plots will become clichés because if people like the idea it will be used again.
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