People do that all the time though, often to disastrous effect. Once it stops happening IRL we’ll stop making art about it*.
* while it does happen all the time IRL, I think some writers use it as a shortcut to get to the plot they want to pursue without going through the character development that establishes why a character might act this way. That is lazy and annoying writing, but it doesn’t invalidate the whole trope. People really are like that. Clear communication is hard work and a lot of people just don’t do it a lot of the time.
Sure, sometimes people are like that, but even if it meets the absolute minimum standards of plausibility, why on earth would I waste my time watching/reading it? It’s just bad writing either way.
Relatedly: everything is art, but not everything is good.
I don’t think it’s an automatic “bad writing” if a character does something that a human might do, even if it’s a monumentally stupid thing to do. Humans are just like that sometimes. Sometimes it adds to a story, sometimes its incidental to an otherwise fine story, sometimes it’s a lazy device to help a writer deliver pages on a deadline. Whether it’s bad writing is contextual.
Re: your relatedly: I highly recommend bad art. We’re appallingly bad at classifying art as “good” and “bad” to begin with, and even when we have an agreed-upon standard, most art is a mix of the two. I have found that not taking other people’s opinions on art at face value has led me to some very enjoyable art.
People do that all the time though, often to disastrous effect. Once it stops happening IRL we’ll stop making art about it*.
* while it does happen all the time IRL, I think some writers use it as a shortcut to get to the plot they want to pursue without going through the character development that establishes why a character might act this way. That is lazy and annoying writing, but it doesn’t invalidate the whole trope. People really are like that. Clear communication is hard work and a lot of people just don’t do it a lot of the time.
Sure, sometimes people are like that, but even if it meets the absolute minimum standards of plausibility, why on earth would I waste my time watching/reading it? It’s just bad writing either way.
Relatedly: everything is art, but not everything is good.
I don’t think it’s an automatic “bad writing” if a character does something that a human might do, even if it’s a monumentally stupid thing to do. Humans are just like that sometimes. Sometimes it adds to a story, sometimes its incidental to an otherwise fine story, sometimes it’s a lazy device to help a writer deliver pages on a deadline. Whether it’s bad writing is contextual.
Re: your relatedly: I highly recommend bad art. We’re appallingly bad at classifying art as “good” and “bad” to begin with, and even when we have an agreed-upon standard, most art is a mix of the two. I have found that not taking other people’s opinions on art at face value has led me to some very enjoyable art.