Dave

Staff member
Anyone else sick and tired of movies and books where kids are the heroes and do all these amazing feats? Kids are fucking stupid, man. They do dumb shit and don't have the physical or mental capacity to be the "chosen one" or hero of the story.
 
Anyone else sick and tired of movies and books where kids are the heroes and do all these amazing feats? Kids are fucking stupid, man. They do dumb shit and don't have the physical or mental capacity to be the "chosen one" or hero of the story.
Or stories that could be solved with a Frank discussion with an adult?
 

Dave

Staff member
Those movies and books are for kids Dave.
Not all of them. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Home Alone, etc. Books include the Belgariad, Harry Potter (which KINDA started as a kid's book but morphed very quickly into dark fantasy for more adults), The Chronicles of Narnia. Yes, I know you are going to say the Lewis wrote a YA series, but you have to remember that "To Kill a Mockingbird" is also labeled a YA novel.

The "Kid Hero" trope remains annoying as fuck.
 
The Phantom Menace is the kiddiest kids movie that's ever kidded a kid. Lucas says as much himself.

Harry Potter books aged with the audience.

That shit is fer kids mate.

I agree, the kid hero trope sucks balls. It's kid's stuff for kids.
 
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is entirely written from a young girl's perspective and glosses over a lot of issues that she wouldn't understand. This was done explicitly so that young readers could see it from their own perspectives, instead as adults who understand everything going on already.

To be frank, if "To Kill a Mockingbird" had been intended for adults, Atticus would have been the viewpoint character, Boo Radley would have been a brief note instead of a reoccuring mystery, and you wouldn't have the sections where Scout complains about her cousin while she's on that trip to the relatives during the summer. It would have been about Atticus preparing for a court case to defend a man he views as sub-human, mostly out of the principle of the thing.
 
I think it's a really easy to fuck up device, and is also often found in works not aimed at older audiences... That doesn't mean it's bad, or shouldn't be used.

I guess it also depends on what you mean by 'kid'. I find 12-16 to be fantastic starting character ages for fish out of water stories and hero journeys.

Hell, one of my funner ongoing Unisystem games involves a trio of 11 year olds escaping a research facility and surviving in the slums of cyberpunk!Singapore. It's a good challenge for the players, since the kids aren't specially bright.
 
I think it's a really easy to fuck up device, and is also often found in works not aimed at older audiences... That doesn't mean it's bad, or shouldn't be used.

I guess it also depends on what you mean by 'kid'. I find 12-16 to be fantastic starting character ages for fish out of water stories and hero journeys.

Hell, one of my funner ongoing Unisystem games involves a trio of 11 year olds escaping a research facility and surviving in the slums of cyberpunk!Singapore. It's a good challenge for the players, since the kids aren't specially bright.
Hero's journeys and fish out of water aren't what bother me in YA or youth fiction, it's the chosen one stuff that gets me. The being born important stuff always rubbed me the wrong way.
 
Anyone else sick and tired of movies and books where kids are the heroes and do all these amazing feats? Kids are fucking stupid, man. They do dumb shit and don't have the physical or mental capacity to be the "chosen one" or hero of the story.
Ahh, I see you’ve been watching the new live-action Richie Rich.

...which brings me to the other trend I hate, that of the dumbass dad. Dumbass male in general, actually, since the trope is that “dumbass male” is always paired with “smartass/streetwise kid” or “condescending female.”
Garion was the Belgariad. Errand was the Malloreans.
Garion and Errand were both in the Belgariad, though the Belgariad was more about Garion becoming Belgarion while the Mallorean was more about Errand becoming Eriond.

—Patrick
 
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Not all of them. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Home Alone, etc. Books include the Belgariad, Harry Potter (which KINDA started as a kid's book but morphed very quickly into dark fantasy for more adults), The Chronicles of Narnia. Yes, I know you are going to say the Lewis wrote a YA series, but you have to remember that "To Kill a Mockingbird" is also labeled a YA novel.

The "Kid Hero" trope remains annoying as fuck.
You should be using Ender's Game as your prime example.
 
Anyone else sick and tired of movies and books where kids are the heroes and do all these amazing feats? Kids are fucking stupid, man. They do dumb shit and don't have the physical or mental capacity to be the "chosen one" or hero of the story.
Now that you mention it, this is why I've pretty much given up on anime. I hate that almost everything has teenage protagonists. I can't stand the social and mental ineptitude that plagues anime teens.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Now that you mention it, this is why I've pretty much given up on anime. I hate that almost everything has teenage protagonists. I can't stand the social and mental ineptitude that plagues anime teens.
I feel you so much there. And now that you mention it, all my favoritest anime works all feature adult protagonists (Black Lagoon, Cowboy Bebop, GITS:SAC, OPM, Stien's Gate, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure... ok, Code Geass is a bit of an exception, but most of the ancillary characters there are adults...).

I do like some anime about teens, but generally those are coming-of-age rom-coms and not "hero's journey" epics, so the social/mental ineptitude is usually more believable and less irksome. Like, say, Toradora or Tsuredure children. Those are two good examples of dumb teenager animes that are charming instead of infuriating/exasperating.
 
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My favorite characters in Attack on Titan are the adults. (And by that I mean Hange)

My husband commonly refers to Aizawa (MHA) as his spirit animal.
 
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Dave

Staff member
These guys all lived on their own and traveled around the country. They were in their 20's. I never understood the whole "meddling kids" thing.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
These guys all lived on their own and traveled around the country. They were in their 20's. I never understood the whole "meddling kids" thing.
Have you seen the way Boomers talk about Millennials? The youngest millenials are 22, and they still get talked about like they're ignorant children.
 

Dave

Staff member
I know. I fucking hate that. Like when they were young they weren't the scourge of the fucking earth. Mother fucker I grew up with you! Don't act all high & mighty because I know the shit you pulled!
 
I know. I fucking hate that. Like when they were young they weren't the scourge of the fucking earth. Mother fucker I grew up with you! Don't act all high & mighty because I know the shit you pulled!
Gas and I were just discussing how we're old now because teenagers irritate the fuck out of us.
 

Zappit

Staff member
Question: Should I adapt Supervillainous into a Middle School-level novel? I've been thinking about doing it for awhile, especially with the comic nearing the end. Plus, if on some long shot I could get it published, it would be really, really cool to see it on the bookshelves of the library in my school.
 
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