Article

2016-07-13 The Grand Turk

Hostility toward Syrians grows after deadly fight in central Turkey

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Steve White 2016-07-13 00:00|| || Front Page|| [6 views ] Top

#1 Kick the Dog

When a character does something evil for no apparent gain, because the author wants to demonstrate that he's not a nice guy and shift audience sympathy away from him.

Why this trope works could be expressed in the words of William Cowper: “I would not enter on my list of friends (though graced with polished manners and fine sense, yet wanting sensibility) the man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.” In other words, a cruel act, no matter how trivial, establishes someone as a cruel person.

Asshole Victim

Normally when something bad happens to an individual you feel some degree of pity for them. But then when that person is a Jerkass, when horrible things happen to them it is less sympathy and more satisfaction. They are not directly responsible for THIS particular misfortune, as that would be Laser-Guided Karma, but their behavior means something like this was going to happen eventually. This can range from the victim merely being a dick to being a far worse criminal than the person he or she is a victim to.

In other words, when a corpse-shaped or victim-shaped hole in the plot is filled with a character who is in some way sufficiently repugnant that the audience feeling bad about their death (or other victimization) is unlikely.

Posted by Slutle Snore7910 2016-07-13 01:19|| 2016-07-13 01:19|| Front Page Top

#2 As far as Turkish prejudices go, they're all Arabs... though it'll get interesting if it turns out the Gazans are actually genetically left-over Philistines.

Yea, sure

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2016-07-13 04:20|| 2016-07-13 04:20|| Front Page Top

23:53 Varmint Sinatra9677
23:25 746
23:24 Bov Flimbers
23:23 746
23:20 746
23:04 Skidmark
22:26 charger
22:18 magpie
21:35 Alaska Paul
21:22 phil_b
21:16 phil_b
21:04 Frank G
20:34 trailing wife
20:32 trailing wife
20:18 Frank G
20:07 Bobby
19:54 JosephMendiola
19:42 JosephMendiola
19:42 Charles
19:38 JosephMendiola
19:33 JosephMendiola
19:27 JosephMendiola
19:24 JosephMendiola
18:59 Regular joe