Okay. Here is a question. Does art exist in a vacuum?
I remember starting off one of my college papers with the statement “Art does not exist in a vacuum” and my teacher made some snide comments in the margin about how we could test this theory by putting the Mona Lisa into a rocket ship and shooting it into outer space. All kidding aside, art does not *not* exist in a vacuum. But how much should we let that fact affect our appreciation of it?
We are watching Buffy. We are also watching Angel. A short while ago, in Buffy, there was this fabulous episode called Tabula Rasa, where the whole gang goes under a spell and forget who they are and what they do (fighting demons and vampires, etc.) It’s quite a hilariouos episode, actually, and a good look into everyone’s personalities.
Now, a short while later, there is a fabulous episode on Angel call Spin the Bottle. In this story, a magic bottle causes the whole gang to revert back to who they were at age 17. Of course, they don’t know each other, they know nothing about demons and vampires, and hilarity ensues.
I happen to like both episodes very much, tho I must admit that the first time I saw Spin the Bottle, I was struck by its similarities to Tabula Rasa. For a moment I felt cheated (the same way I always feel cheated when an author pulls the “And then I woke up” card), but in a short while I decided the episode stood on its own, so I just sat back and enjoyed.
Now, Mary has a problem with the Angel episode. She calls it a “cheap rip-off” of Tabula Rasa. I think because of this she is putting up a wall, and not allowing herself to enjoy the episode on its own. So this is my question: if Tabula Rasa did not exist, or if it came *after* Spin the Bottle, would it affect the way we think about Spin the Bottle?
Can a storyline stand on its own, even if it is a “cheap ripoff”? If you don’t know about the “original” will the rip-off automatically seem better, more entertaining, more artistic? And….SHOULD it? Or do we have to view everything in its cultural context?
And how about this: does the fact that one author is responsible for both storylines make their similariy more acceptable or less? If a similar storyline had appeared on…let’s say, Charmed, would it seem worse because the story idea would appear to be “stolen”? Or is it better if one artist repeats their own story ideas? At least it’s not theft, it might just appear they are a bit lazy, running out of ideas.
Mary, I hope to see you respond to this issue. And I also look forward to comments from anyone else who would like to respond to this artistic dilemma!
I think in this case, if the shows weren’t from the same universe, it would be more easily forgivable. (Charmed is iffy… the shows are too similar. But since I can’t come up with a “spell goes wrong and hijinks ensue” plot that hasn’t been used before, I would prolly overlook it since there are bound to be many overlaps between shows like that.) For instance, if I read a book that’s very similar to one I’ve already read, I shrug it off. But if I get the latest book by my favorite author and realize the plot is more or less the same as her last book, I’m kinda annoyed. I guess because almost every idea has been used SOMEWHERE before, just because you use it too doesn’t mean you’re copying it. But if you’re rehashing something you’ve already done yourself, it’s just kinda lame. But most of the time as long as the newer version does not copy every element of the old one and is still entertaining, then it’s okay. It wouldn’t impair my enjoyment of the episode, but I might be a little annoyed and worried that the writers are running out of ideas they haven’t done before. But in this case I imagine that Tabula Rasa must have been a really fun story to write for the Buffy crew, so they wanted to find a way to play around with the Angel characters in the same way without copying it exactly.
The only thing that sucks is when at the very beginning you say to yourself, “Hey, this is a ripoff!” because then the whole time you’re comparing the two and getting angry about any similarities that pop up, and you don’t have any fun that way.
(Possibly worse is how as soon as I come up with a really great plot idea, it hits the bestseller list within a week. I’m still devastated at the loss of my literary detective agency. There are four sequels and I still refuse to read any of them. *sobs*)
My issue with it is not that it is a rip off. My issue is that it is a CHEAP rip off. As in it is a cliche storyline (like twins switching places or someone with powers getting a cold that affects said powers) that was done poorly. Even if it WEREN’T a cliche storyline I wouldn’t have liked it. More later, gotta go to work.