Author Tract: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

All writers put something of themselves into their stories, but some of them go just that little bit too far. For them, the real point of writing is not to shape worlds or create characters, but to preach their ideological beliefs.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Earth Maiden Arjuna]]'' starts out as a fast-paced mature [[Magical Girl]] series. Then it quickly veers into ''very'' heavy-handed ecological preaching. Tolerable, because the animation is freaking sweet, because Theresa is really [[Badass]] and because Juna's transformation is [[Rule of Cool|damn cool]], but the storyline is still [[Anvilicious]] to the point of being distracting, and full to the brim of ''very'' [[Did Not Do the Research|bad science]] about why [[Science Is Bad]].

* Another Shoji Kawamori piece, ''[[Macross Zero]]'', mixes spectacular mecha battles with the seemingly-opposite message that ''all'' warfare is inherently evil. It's set on an island that's a mostly-primitive Eden, inhabited by [[Noble Savage|innocents]]. The [[Magical Native American|shaman/priestess]] freaks out over the arrival of UN forces to defend the island, saying they're possessed by evil spirits that are prophesied to destroy everything. {{spoiler|For the first half, this is played as "silly superstitious witch doctor". But by the end, you realize that she's ''[[Cassandra Truth|absolutely right]]''. The island paradise gets tac-nuked into a wasteland, and only her [[Heroic Sacrifice]] keeps the entire world from being obliterated.}}

* [[JLA: Act of God]] is entirely devoted to saying that Batman is right and the only way to fight crime is by being a normal vigilante with no special abilities. And also that superheroes are arrogant because only God should have power, it even goes so far as to have Wonder Woman {{spoiler|convert to Catholicism, in spite of her being an Amazon, who has met Greek gods before.}}

 

* ''[[Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality]]'' is, in part, its author's attempt to teach lessons in rational thinking through the medium of ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' fanfiction.

* Similar to and inspired by the above, ''[[Luminosity]]'' is designed to explain [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|luminosity]]—i.e., self-awareness.

* In ''[[Chrono Trigger Crimson Echoes]]'', {{spoiler|King Zeal [[What the Hell, Hero?|calling out Crono and the party]] near the end}} could qualify as this, given the context.

* Pretty much any time any fanfiction creates a [[Designated Villain]] based on the author's personal experiences/views/current events, it's getting into an author's tract. It can be excused in some cases, if it's related to the plot, but if it comes [[Ass Pull|out of the blue]] it looks like a giant lecture in the middle of an otherwise unrelated story.

 

== Film ==