Indecisive Deconstruction: Difference between revisions
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Basically, there are many questions that can be raised about what counts as a deconstruction.
There are at least three potential subtypes of
* ''Unintentional'' Deconstruction, where the work can be read as a criticism of the tropes it plays straight, even if there is no critical intent on the part of the author (or the author has not expressed any critical intent whatsoever). ''[[Half-Life]]'', as stated below, can be read as a deconstruction of the [[Trope Codifier]] ''[[Doom]]'', but the authors have never implied any critical intent. ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' can also be read as a deconstruction of traditional romances, because Edward is sometimes [[Alternate Character Interpretation|seen as an abusive, manipulative control freak]], yet [[Stephenie Meyer]] has stated she believes Edward is the perfect boyfriend (thus, no critical intent exists).
* ''Partial'' Deconstruction, where the work deconstructs several tropes, but whether or not it actually criticizes the tropes [[Genre Deconstruction|essential to the genre]] (or ''enough'' of the tropes essential to the genre) is debatable. This category exists for [[Genre Film
* ''Attempted'' Deconstruction, where the work postures as a [[Genre Deconstruction]] but isn't. This is the reverse of Unintentional Deconstruction; deconstructive intent is present, but the deconstruction is hampered by too many tropes being played straight. ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]'' fits here. Arguably, some of the [[Darker and Edgier]] [[Dark Age]] [[Comic Books]] (which [mostly unsuccessfully] attempted to emulate ''[[Watchmen]]'' and ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]'') also fit under this category.
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* ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' is somewhat in that it essentially [[Deconstruction|Deconstructs]], or at least lampshades, many of [[Power Rangers|the series]]' tropes ("sometimes when I morph, there's a giant fireball behind me," not to mention Venjix's real reason for sending in [[Monsters of the Week]]), but also takes itself very seriously, to the point of being a [[Reconstruction]] following a [[Dork Age]].
** [[Power Rangers Ninja Storm]] likewise tries after the low-point that was ''Wild-Force'', by having lots of Lampshading and also trying to explain the 1 monster at a time deal (though they did it in a comedic way) and didn't seem to know if they were going to be serious or not, so it ended up failing more than RPM did.
* ''[[Glee]]'' contains elements that parody high school underdog story shows riddled with [[Glurge
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== Video Games ==
* Most [[BioWare]] games do this with their various settings. ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' for the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'', ''[[Dragon Age]]'' for Tolkienesque fantasy, etc. If a Trope isn't deconstructed, it's reconstructed, or parodied, or played straight with a [[Lampshade Hanging]] hung on it.
** Case in point, ''[[Mass Effect]]'': The series has plenty of [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructed tropes]] (for instance, the Krogan are deconstructions of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy
** In a lot of ways, it's a [[Reconstruction]], kicking decades of darker and deconstructed sci-fi to the cub and going "hey! look! [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|blue space babes]] and you save the galaxy! And look at the cool spaceship and your alien buddies! That's AWESOME, right?" The whiplash comes in when it turns out that all of the reveled-in tropes are real people after all.
*** Even the [[Planet of Hats]] trope is inconsistent. In the first game, it's emphasized that you can't expect a species to act a certain way, and that the other species aren't better or worse than humans, they're "jerks and saints" like everyone. But in the second game, it turns out that humans really '''ARE''' [[Humans Are Special|special]]. They're more diverse than the other species both in genetic makeup and in their outlooks. While this is very relevant to the plot, it feels like it borders on [[Broken Aesop]].
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