Old Stories and Cliches

I often read criticism about a book, movie, or a game that includes a jab at ideas that we've seen before. The hero's journey arc, the love triangle, a destined hero. These are cliches, or tropes. Something in a story that has been used over and over again. If they're so bad, why do they even exist. Because once they were new. Once they worked. But here's the secret. They still do work.

A story is only derivative or cliche if you've read the same kind of story over and over again. If your favorite food is macaroni and cheese it's very possible that eating macaroni and cheese every day you'll get tired of it. Familiarity breeds contempt. But that doesn't mean that there's necessarily something wrong with macaroni and cheese. It hasn't changed. You have. The novelty has worn off, and now you can see the flaws that you missed before.

Critics are especially prone to cliche overload because their job is to watch everything under the sun and then point out what's wrong. Some critics can appreciate the fact that their tastes are going to be skewed. They realize that even though they've seen a certain theme played out, not everyone has. They can criticize the weaknesses of the work (prose, concept, execution, etc.) and still see the value the work provides especially for someone outside of the business.

Everyone's a critic. We all expose ourselves to a certain kind of story. Some of us seek out the familiar. Some of us want something different. All of us have our own preferences. And when we see something that we've seen before, it necessarily has less impact than it did the first time.

But here's what gets me. Cliches worked. They were new and novel once. The first time I saw bullet time in The Matrix, all of the right emotions fired. I thought it was cool. But most of the subsequent movies that use bullet time are less impressive...at least less impressive in the novelty factor. Sometimes I still see bullet time and I enjoy it. I realize that I'm enjoying something old in an interesting way.

Don't worry so much about avoiding cliches. Blue is a color that has been used in millions of paintings. That doesn't mean Blue is cliche. If you have an idea that someone else has used, present it in the best way you can. Explore cliches and see what made them interesting in the first place. If it was just the novelty, then you can probably skip it. But if there's any basis there that touched your imagination, then you can use it again. Tell that story your way. We're a society that thrives and celebrates novelty. But some of the best stories never die. They are repeated and retold with hundreds of small variations. Be wise about cliches, but worry about telling a a good story first.