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Flanderization: Why does it happen, and how can it be avoided?


Kuzu

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If you been on the Internet long enough, you've probably read this term once or twice. It's documented enough to even get its own entry on Wikipedia hilariously.

For the uninformed, simply put; Flanderization is the process of a character's defining traits being slowly exaggerated over the course of a serialized work. The result is generally a character being reduced to a caricature of their former selves, and is often seen as a sign of decline in writing quality for a work. Named of course after Ned Flanders of Simpson fame, who underwent such a process themselves in the show's 30+ year run.  It can also be seen in shows like Family Guy and South Park, and pretty much any bit of media that's existed for an extended period of time. 

 

So...why? Why does this happen? Is it laziness on the staff's part? Lack of creativity? And how it can it generally be avoided and for a serial work to maintain some consistent level of quality? 

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Maybe chasing what the audience likes.

John Character did a daft thing in 1x3 and it got a big reaction do more of that. Fast Forward to 10 seasons and you're left with a character too stupid to be believeable.

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Didn’t you…already make this topic, Kuzu?

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16 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Didn’t you…already make this topic, Kuzu?

If I did, I sure as hell forgot about it. But now that you mentioned it, I probably did.

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I did find it but it's fine just to move forward with this one. Older topic will be locked.

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  • 1 month later...

I believe it is caused by new writer leaving the notes of how a character should act. For example the basic notes of Ned Flanders would be Kind, and Christian so he became less layered. And if the show or game goes on for a long time then odds are that new writers shall be hired, and then it repeats. That's why Knuckles being gullible turned into idiocy, and why Ned became "The Christian Guy".

 

Thanks for reading if you do.

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Either because the writers have ran out of ideas when it comes to a specific character and they just take on a personality of that character and expand it more, despite the fact that it could cause the character to be caricatures of themselves.  Or it's because the company or the creators don't want the character to change and therefore, they let the characters act the same way they do when they first started out.

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I think it usually comes down to different writers. In a long-running franchise it’s inevitable that new writers will be brought in at one point. Said writers have no idea what to do with a certain character so they pick one trait and make it the character’s whole personality.

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