Ace of Spades HQ

July 05, 2010

Obama, Designated Hero
— Gabriel Malor

One of the cardinal sins of inexperienced writers of fiction is their tendency to violate the rule "Show, Don't Tell." Instead of giving the reader or audience a chance to see the character's attributes, the writer has the narrator or another character or (in the worst case) the character himself, tell the audience about his attributes. More than that, usually, if the audience were never told about the supposed attributes of the character, they'd never know from his or her actions.

A subtrope of "Show, Don't Tell" is the designated hero. This is where the writer tells us who we're supposed to be rooting for and it's a good thing too, otherwise we'd never figure it out.

Politics has much in common with fiction. Here's the Economist's attempt at a designated hero:

Note the headline: "Obama v BP". The hero is alone, but not giving up. See his lowered head, his obvious heartache as he turns half-away from the sight of the offshore rig. Don't miss his rolled-up sleeves, his arms akimbo. The hero's not done yet.

Needless to say, the accompanying article is vomit-worthy.

Here's the original, un-doctored photo:

Oops. Not so alone, is he? Oh, and his head's not lowered, he's just looking at debris. And he's not shying from the gut-wrenching sight out in the ocean, but just turning toward that woman talking to him. Actually, he kinda looks like a doofus. Hey, maybe pretend to be listening to her, huh? A little eye contact, maybe?

Many violators of the Designated Hero rule run into the same problem. Their hero is an awful, frivolous, and empty person. You end up having to tell the readers to like him because if you don't they'll assume he's the bad guy.

The Economist has the same problem when writing about the President. In fact, he's done more to frustrate efforts to protect the Gulf than anyone. His drilling moratorium will cause more damage to the region than the BP spill itself. In fact, he hung the Gulf states out to dry while he had another round of golf.

Hence, Obama becomes the designated hero. He's the good guy because they say he is, not because he's done anything heroic. And, paradoxically, the fact that he's the (designated) hero means we're supposed to overlook his patent flaws. His lack of humanity. His inability to get anything done without six months of polling first. And his spiteful disregard for the designated villains.

Because that's the flipside. If this story has a hero, well, it has to have a villain. BP takes that role in the Economist piece, but the Republicans are not forgotten.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:35 AM | Comments (86)
Post contains 447 words, total size 4 kb.

1
fuck 'im

Posted by: i like big butts, i cannot lie at July 05, 2010 08:39 AM (SNJ3/)

2 One of the cardinal sins of inexperienced writers of fiction is their tendency to violate the rule "Show, Don't Tell."

Hey, I'm experienced and my stupid brain-melting trash still sells like hotcakes as I violate this rule eight times per sentence!

Posted by: Dan Brown at July 05, 2010 08:41 AM (KPT/i)

3
btw, Lindsey Graham blasted Michael Steele for Steele's stupid comments regarding Afghanistan.

But Graham rebuked Steele for all the wrong reasons. What Graham said was nothing more than a defense of Obama as if Steele was out of line insulting Obama. Graham was sticking up for Obama.

Two assholes. Steele and Graham.

Posted by: i like big butts, i cannot lie at July 05, 2010 08:41 AM (SNJ3/)

4 Man, I can't believe I drove this far into the bunker. The yellow tape must be out of bounds, so I got lucky.

Posted by: Barry, Hero of The Back Nine at July 05, 2010 08:42 AM (FcR7P)

Woman: Obvious signs of hobo investation right here.

Hero: Curse these damned hobos.

Posted by: Hexenkessel at July 05, 2010 08:42 AM (Hj/Wp)

6 The Photoshop is good. I approve.

Posted by: Uncle Joe Stalin at July 05, 2010 08:43 AM (HjPtV)

7 Were those Thomas Covenant books the one where the protagonist rapes some girl he meets in the first thirty pages or so? I remember trying to read a book like that when I was about 11, thinking it was going to be like the Belgariad or something. Yeeccch.

I had the same problem with the Sopranos. I watched three episodes and wanted them all to die. The fact that Tony was framed as the central character didn't actually create any sympathy for him, even though he was "quirky". And I usually like mob movies.

Posted by: See-Dubya at July 05, 2010 08:45 AM (/zqUx)

8

For a second there I thought he was distraught because that was one of our oil rigs Chavez just stole from us, but then I should have known better.

Posted by: Blazer at July 05, 2010 08:46 AM (t72+4)

9
Also, the big story of today and this month and for the rest of the year is the illegal alien epidemic in this country.

If the Republicans were smart, which they're not, they'd come out swinging against Obama and the illegals.

You see, Americans like it when politicians side with them. We're funny like that.

Posted by: i like big butts, i cannot lie at July 05, 2010 08:46 AM (SNJ3/)

10 Is there one single thing this shitbird has actually done that has either improved the cleanup response or hastened the relief well? Thought not. The Seminar Leader remains in water 100 feet over his head.

Posted by: Fresh Air at July 05, 2010 08:46 AM (UR1qj)

11 Just want to say excellent post, gabe.

Posted by: nine coconuts at July 05, 2010 08:46 AM (DHNp4)

12 Looks like the 52% and the media won't get the message until Osama Obama completes his destruction of the nation.

Even the tools at Fucks News are shying away from digging up the true story of the Traitor-in-Chief's perfidy in this and many other areas. It's easier to yap about irrelevant boobs like Michael Steele.

President Affirmative Action, the Muslim, white-hating Marxist, has achieved the goals of the Soviets, circa 1917. And more. They wanted to control industry and the lives of the proletarians; Obama's goal is destruction.

Posted by: MrScribbler at July 05, 2010 08:47 AM (Ulu3i)

13 I'm your huckleberry, Mr Sotero. I'm your villian, if you wish. Now let's dance muthrephukr!

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 08:48 AM (ZVEnR)

14 The Narrative begins as clay. Then is carefully shaped by lies, hardened by deception, and painted by manipulation. Isn't it beautiful?

Posted by: eman at July 05, 2010 08:49 AM (132iP)

15 Caption..."So you're say Jon Kerry, who served The Vietnamese, can't windsurf today?".

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 08:49 AM (ZVEnR)

16 Yup a full blown hero alright. King of the Doofuses. And an incompetent whining putz as well.

Posted by: Comanche Voter at July 05, 2010 08:50 AM (ktYjH)

17 I FOUND THE PHOTOSHOP FIRST!!!

Posted by: Charles Johnson at July 05, 2010 08:51 AM (7+pP9)

18 Caption..."Phuck, my teleprompter isn't waterproof!".

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 08:52 AM (ZVEnR)

19 Barry Kane "Bp was drilling for oil here...really slick move.......YAAAAAAHHHHHH".

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 08:54 AM (ZVEnR)

20 "Man this shit is blacker than Michelles heart".

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 08:55 AM (ZVEnR)

21 Needless to say, the accompanying article is vomit-worthy.

I once read a copy of that magazine at the Dentist's office while waiting. It was a POS liberal Democrap PR rage just like 90% of all the rest of the magazine trade.

And yes, their "economists" were all for socialism which tells you how much the magazine had to do with economists.

Posted by: Vic at July 05, 2010 08:55 AM (6taRI)

22
"Should I use the sand wedge or the 5 iron?"

Posted by: i like big butts, i cannot lie at July 05, 2010 08:55 AM (SNJ3/)

23

So you're saying this oil spill mess is causing my approval numbers to drop drastically ?

Well.......looks like we're gonna need.......a rigged election.

*puts on sunglasses*

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!!

Posted by: CSI, Gulf of Mexico at July 05, 2010 08:55 AM (t72+4)

24 "Oil is supposed to be slippery...how is this oil story sticking to me?".

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 08:56 AM (ZVEnR)

25 "Maybe I can sell these rigs to Hugo...what? He stold 24 from us yesterday....damn, I love that guy...get him to come and steal these".

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 08:59 AM (ZVEnR)

26 "Look at that...it's so stuck all you can see is the funny colored top on my golf cart". "You'de think Ted Kennedy was driving"

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 09:00 AM (ZVEnR)

27 I guess we should be happy The Economist didn't photoshop a halo around the incompetent dillhole's skull.

Posted by: Waterhouse at July 05, 2010 09:03 AM (KPT/i)

28 Number 4; that has to be photoshop-worthy. Get a club into his hand and some other "golfy" stuff. I think that would resonate.

Posted by: MikeB at July 05, 2010 09:06 AM (Y7Exx)

29 I had the same problem with the Sopranos. I watched three episodes and wanted them all to die.

Same here. The first episode I saw was on a trip. It was the one with the guys bitching about exploiting Italian culture at the Starbucks. I laughed.

I saw another episode when I got home. It disturbed me. After another couple of episodes, I had my fill of that shit.

The one upside to the show is that it got me thinking deeply enough about organized crime to realize that anyone involved in racketeering deserves summary execution. I know that the law doesn't see it that way, but that's just one of hundreds of ways that the law is dead fucking wrong.

Posted by: Richard Rodgers at July 05, 2010 09:06 AM (lBmZl)

30 Sock off.

Posted by: MikeO at July 05, 2010 09:07 AM (lBmZl)

31 1
fuck 'im

I'd rather not, thanks. The thought's kinda sickening...

(Besides, what if Michelle wanted to join in?)

Posted by: Phineas at July 05, 2010 09:08 AM (eabeg)

32 THANK YOU. I've been saying this for ages: you can dissect a lot of what the MFM is doing if you pay attention to the essentials of fiction writing.

For example, it goes beyond the "designated hero." How about "informed abilities"? That's when a character doesn't actually have any of the abilities that the narrator says he does, but because the narrator says it, all the other characters treat the central guy like he does anyway. The media has taken on the role of the narrator, spamming us with the idea that Obama is Good, Obama is Heroic, All Glory to the Obamatoad, etcetera. It doesn't matter to them if he doesn't actually demonstrate any of those characteristics--he's the hero of the piece, so he must.

Have you also noticed the increased number of liberals writing bad fanfiction? Charlie Sheen's fantasy interview with Obama, Ralph Nader's godawful novel, Time's (or was it Newsweek's?) "If Gore Had Won" timeline. I'm not even surprised by half the crap I read in the paper any more, because I've spent a lot of time in the fanfiction communities and know the teenage-fanbrat mentality. Oy vey.

(I've actually started thinking of this phenomenon as Eragon liberalism, after the awful fantasy novel. I'm writing a piece on it . . . dunno what I'll do with it when I finish, but damn, it's therapeutic.)

Posted by: Tungsten Monk at July 05, 2010 09:11 AM (CfDPe)

33 He's looking down like that because he just remembered Michelle wanted some romantic time when he got home

Posted by: Frank G at July 05, 2010 09:12 AM (4X0aT)

34 Have you also noticed the increased number of liberals writing bad fanfiction? Charlie Sheen's fantasy interview with Obama, Ralph Nader's godawful novel, Time's (or was it Newsweek's?) "If Gore Had Won" timeline.

The West Wing.

Posted by: AmishDude at July 05, 2010 09:18 AM (T0NGe)

35

He's looking down like that because he just realized he missed his tee time.

Posted by: Blazer at July 05, 2010 09:20 AM (t72+4)

36 Here's why we aren't Alinsky-worthy as a movement:

Who are the woman and the man cropped out? What are their names? What do they do?

The story is "Economist engages in journalistic malpractice in order to make President Douchebag look like less of a douchebag" but you don't do that. You find out who the shopped out people are and you write about them.

The thing that made the Stalin photo so chilling was that the man in the photo was a real person who was "disappeared". He had a name which was mentioned in the article.

We need this woman's name.

Posted by: AmishDude at July 05, 2010 09:22 AM (T0NGe)

37 OK, it's in the article.

Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard and Charlotte Randolph, a local parish president, standing alongside the president

Admiral Allen and Charlotte Randolph should be mentioned in every story on this.

Posted by: AmishDude at July 05, 2010 09:25 AM (T0NGe)

38 Great post Gabe.

Posted by: John at July 05, 2010 09:25 AM (90oki)

39

Obama isn't Vs.ing anybody. All he did was get BP to commit to a giant fund just so he could go off and golf without guilt. This guy has made every wrong decision imagineable concerning this disaster and I believe most of them were on purpose.

Posted by: Blazer at July 05, 2010 09:27 AM (t72+4)

40 We can't be too hard on the Economist for cropping that photo. After all there was a white woman right next to him. It would be racist for the Economist to have run a photo of the black President next to a white woman. Remember the campaign where there were photos/videos of Obama next to white women and all the blather that came out in the leftwing mainstream (sic) media, about how that was racist. Well, the Economist knows better and so, edited out the offending persons so that we would have Obama in all his purity. As for Obama this photo could be his audition for playing Hamlet (or maybe "Oilet")? Alas poor BP I knew it well, BiteMe! A company of infinite profits. It straddled me with endless campaign contributions. And now, how abhorred in our imagination it is! My throat rims at it. Here hung those lying lips though I have blessed them I know
not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, your public relations officers, that were wont to set the WH on a roar? We are here now, to mock your own despoiling of the Gulf in order to spare the democraps from blame! You are quite chap-fallen in the sum of more than 20 billions of dollars which we shall happily give to our democrap unions and interest groups!

Posted by: eaglewingz08 at July 05, 2010 09:28 AM (dv8zz)

41 I've been a subscriber to the Economist for 20 years and I can not get over how much the usually skeptical paper has Barry's dick up their ass.

It's is quite shameful. Must be White guilt, or they know about the Brits beating the shit out of his dad and feel guilty.

Posted by: Kemp at July 05, 2010 09:30 AM (2+9Yx)

42 C'mon, This picture is at least two photoshop layers deep.

A drilling rig just offshore? We wouldn't be having this problem if the rig were just offshore. Remember the part about the well being in 5000 feet of water?

We probably should just assume that every single image is essentially CGI and work from there.

I'm surprised they don't have the dink flying in tights already.

Posted by: Kyle Kiernan at July 05, 2010 09:33 AM (ElIcD)

43 What are we supposed to be gleaning from those links? They are long wiki articles.

WTF, are we supposed to read all of them?

Is that out homework or something?

Posted by: kinlaw at July 05, 2010 09:33 AM (YWwSw)

44 Eman--- As every mineralogist knows, the harder a stone is, the more brittle it is. The lies the MFM has been creating will be revealed in all the more stunning fashion when the edifice is shattered. In fact, I would argue we are already seeing cracks. There's only so much rubbish you can pile on top of structural unemployment of 22 percent and tripling the budget deficit.

Posted by: Fresh Air at July 05, 2010 09:35 AM (UR1qj)

45 Breitbart ought to do an interview with Charlotte on this. She's probably an Obama sycophant, but it doesn't matter. Do a light-hearted interview and ask her how she feels about being the next Commissar Yezhov.

She won't recognize the name and you can have fun with it, trashing the Economist in the process.

Posted by: AmishDude at July 05, 2010 09:35 AM (T0NGe)

Once upon a time, The Economist was a great read. Even though they clearly had a liberal (US style.) slant, the articles were invariably well-written, very witty, full of surprising information and history. Newsweek was never going anywhere with its ambition to become like The Economist, because the latter's articles were written by writers who taken First Degrees at Cambridge as well as dry sense of humor, while the former was written by journalism majors who took remedial courses at USC.

The Economist also exhibited an understanding of economics well beyond anything outside the pages of the Wall Street Journal or professional periodicals...On both side of the Atlantic.

But then again, The Economist endorsed Obama because they were hoping that he was LYING with he was saying, and was disillusioned when it came that on economic matters, Obama was going to do what he said. What are we to make of anyone who supported Obama because they hoped he was lying about what he said, because they hoped he believed otherwise?

Sad.

Posted by: cxt217 at July 05, 2010 09:35 AM (irbBW)

47 I've been a subscriber to the Economist for 20 years

Aw Kemp, say it isn't so!

Posted by: Vic at July 05, 2010 09:36 AM (6taRI)

48 44 I've been a subscriber to the Economist for 20 years and I can not get over how much the usually skeptical paper has Barry's dick up their ass.

Skepticism is out of fashion now. So shut up and enjoy the summer global warming.

Posted by: AmishDude at July 05, 2010 09:37 AM (T0NGe)

49 The Untruth of the un-President will be overwhelmed by the unrelenting reality of the unstoppable spill.

Posted by: eman at July 05, 2010 09:38 AM (132iP)

50 What are we to make of anyone who supported Obama because they hoped he was lying about what he said, because they hoped he believed otherwise?

There was a lot of that going around. But liberalism is built on deceit. Much of the liberal coalition is built on the notion that the politician is lying, but he's really on your side, he's just lying to get the votes of those other rubes.

Unfortunately, we are the rubes we've been waiting for.

Posted by: AmishDude at July 05, 2010 09:39 AM (T0NGe)

51 Good point. If you look at the rig, it's a zoom photo of a rig on the horizon.

Posted by: Abdominal Snowman at July 05, 2010 09:45 AM (xlmQD)

52 Fine writing and sharp analysis here, Gabe.

Posted by: Filly at July 05, 2010 09:51 AM (CNG84)

53 As far as I'm concerned Hussein's refusal to accept international help in a timely manner, his reluctance to use the Navy to contain the spill and his obstruction of Louisiana's governors' effort in keeping the oil from the shores are high crimes worthy of impeachment. In a sane country Hussein would be beaten and exiled, but this is not a sane country as evidence by the unqualified idiot in the White House.

Posted by: The Great Satan™ at July 05, 2010 09:53 AM (BedzM)

54 Liberals think you are stupid.

Posted by: toby928 at July 05, 2010 09:55 AM (4WbTI)

55 In the un-doctored photo it looks like Obama has them cleaning up the beach with American flags.

Very nice post Gabe.

Posted by: pity t. fool at July 05, 2010 09:58 AM (Sg8sX)

56 cxl217 - also consider that the Economist swallowed, hook, line, and sinker, the liberal-establishment line on climate change - it's real, it's big, and we need big, big regulation to, well, if not contain it, then at least get bags of revenue from it.

Posted by: mrkwong at July 05, 2010 09:59 AM (G8Eo0)

57 FOUR!

Posted by: b+rry at July 05, 2010 09:59 AM (Oo9vA)

58
'RUSSIAN SPIES INFILTRATE THE ECONOMIST'

Posted by: (could be true) at July 05, 2010 10:01 AM (kLKnf)

59 Caption for Obama alone: Damn, presidentin' is hard.

Posted by: huerfano at July 05, 2010 10:02 AM (rqC5o)

60 Gabe's been visiting TVTropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitleixk37p06 (Show, Don't Tell) http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DesignatedHero http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DesignatedVillain

Posted by: GamerFromJump at July 05, 2010 10:02 AM (8RV3W)

61 I remember discovering The Economist in high school. It seemed so much smarter and serious than the American weeklies. I wonder if, even in the late 1970's, it was as left-leaning as it is now?

Posted by: ParisParamus at July 05, 2010 10:04 AM (JbetV)

62 Also, Tungsten Monk's contribution: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InformedAbility

Posted by: GamerFromJump at July 05, 2010 10:08 AM (8RV3W)

63 Posted by: GamerFromJump at July 05, 2010 02:08 PM (8RV3W)

TVTropes is probably my favorite website. Errr...excepting the HQ, of course.
I've written about TVTropes several times.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at July 05, 2010 10:10 AM (1TvCg)

64 Oh, this is so good...

NEW ORLEANS Â— Kneeling to pick up tar balls on an oil-fouled beach and listening to Â“heartbreaking storiesÂ” of loss, President Barack Obama personally confronted the spreading damage wrought by the crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico Â— and the bitter anger thatÂ’s rising onshore.

Â“What can he really do?Â” said Billy Ward, a developer who comes to his beach house here every weekend and, like many other locals, had little positive to say about ObamaÂ’s trip to the beleaguered region on Friday. Â“If he wants to do something, let him get out there and pump some mud and cement into that hole. Just fix it. Help us.Â”

Posted by: Al Jazz era PR Dept. at July 05, 2010 10:11 AM (kb0wl)

65 57 Liberals think you are stupid.

Posted by: toby928 at July 05, 2010 01:55 PM (4WbTI)

Projection. Seriously. They are intellectually insecure. However, because liberalism doesn't reward intellect but "bien pensant" (good thoughts), they don't have to demonstrate it. If you hold the right views, voila, you are "smart".

Posted by: AmishDude at July 05, 2010 10:21 AM (T0NGe)

66 Puke. Is the rig even visible from shore? I thought it was seventy miles away or some such.

Posted by: gail at July 05, 2010 10:22 AM (f46PC)

67 It was his putative granddfather who got the shit kicked out of him. His putative father smelled of elderberries and his mother was a hamster.

Posted by: gail at July 05, 2010 10:33 AM (f46PC)

A drilling rig just offshore?

Just barry makin' it a small world after all!

------------------------------wallet-----------

------------------------------thoughts----------

------------------------------hope--------------

-------------------------------destiny------------

Posted by: hutch1200 at July 05, 2010 10:39 AM (ZVEnR)

Actually, he kinda looks like a doofus.

Kind of?!? He's an e to the x mega-doofus leaving Full Metal Biden in the dust.

Posted by: Captain Hate at July 05, 2010 10:39 AM (g9r5l)

70 No, you cant see the spill area from offshore Grand Isle La or Venice La . But I assure you as a 40 year resident of Louisiana and working in the offshore oil transportation job sector, you CAN indeed see oil rigs that close to shore, especially from the beach at Grand Isle, La.

Posted by: helofixer at July 05, 2010 10:55 AM (sHO1O)

71 "17 I FOUND THE PHOTOSHOP FIRST!!!
Posted by: Charles Johnson at July 05, 2010 12:51 PM (7+pP9)"

Even if it is true, who gives a flying ****? You were also the first turn-coat "conservative" to routinely block the accounts of once avid members who dared to disagree with you no matter how respectfully and who failed to stroke your enormous ego, to include the accounts of unapologetic Christians when you became obsessed with faith bashing threads.

You started a slanderous pissin' contest with Robert Spencer, and when silly me put in a good word for Jihad Watch -- the very next day my account was unceremoniously blocked. I was hardly alone: your Stalinesque purgings were reported throughout the blogosphere. Of what value is a keen eye for photoshopping when you've yet to issue an apology for having sold your ideological soul for thirty pieces of silver?

Posted by: Sojourner at July 05, 2010 10:57 AM (O8LeZ)

72 The Economist axed this version of the cover for some reason.

Posted by: George Orwell at July 05, 2010 10:59 AM (AZGON)

73 I don't know what frustrates me more:

The fact that Barry is EXACTLY what conservatives said he would be, or the media TOTALLY ignoring his lack of leadership, or Barry whining that the MFM isn't blowing him correctly.

If this were a Republican president performing so woefully horrible, we'd be hearing all about how this was a "SCANDAL"

Posted by: Melodicmetal at July 05, 2010 11:00 AM (9eTd5)

74 Have to hand to Obama, he does have a vast propaganda apparatus and the Economist is part of that machine. I think it is starting to fail, however. The hoi polloi are getting cynical. He can't survive that.

Posted by: Skinny Dave at July 05, 2010 11:18 AM (IfD0P)

75 I've been wondering. Obama has gotten BP to agree to pay damages for the spill. Who is going to have to pay for damages due to the government's interference in the cleanup efforts?

Posted by: Mindy at July 05, 2010 12:22 PM (v48nD)

76 I would like to hit his "Golf Balls" till the spill is stopped and The People get resolution !!!!

Posted by: Dw Pepper at July 05, 2010 12:39 PM (kNvMN)

77 I wonder if Walter Duranty wrote the Economist article on Stalin?

Posted by: andycanuck at July 05, 2010 01:19 PM (7b1Uc)

78 Well, this is a nice surprise. The terms "designated hero" and "informed attribute"--what Tungston Monk calls "informed abilities"--were coined at my website, Jabootu.com (now Jabootu.net). It's always a kick to see a phrase you've invented (Douglas Milroy first coined 'designated hero' at the site, though) make it out into the bigger world. Further such terminology can be found here at http://www.jabootu.com/glossary.htm.

Sorry for the unseemly crowing, but hell, if I don't do it no one will.

Posted by: Ken Begg at July 05, 2010 02:18 PM (9cfdX)

79 How unusual, Ken. Because it looks like the term "designated hero" was used ages ago in discussions of literature. A relatively recent one is this in 1989 from Daniel Hoffman.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at July 05, 2010 03:18 PM (1TvCg)

80 Well, Gabe, you got me there, then. I'd never seen an earlier provenance of the phrase before now. We first used it in 1997, and that was the earliest I'd ever seen it used. Thanks for the correction.

Posted by: Ken Begg at July 05, 2010 04:20 PM (9cfdX)

81 #82: Hell if I know, Ken. I picked it up lurking around the fanfiction sites in the late '90s.

Posted by: Tungsten Monk at July 05, 2010 04:21 PM (kwcvz)

82 good, thank you for sharing.

Posted by: zentai catsuits at July 06, 2010 05:55 AM (aBP5o)

83 "One of the cardinal sins of inexperienced writers of fiction is their tendency to violate the rule "Show, Don't Tell.""

Other than Hemingway. Or Fitzgerald. Or Dos Passos. And many others. They all violated the hell out of that rule but did it in such a way that people thought they weren't.

But, generally, yes, show, don't tell.

Posted by: skwiself at July 06, 2010 02:15 PM (XvlZj)

84 i,d like to put any one of you so called experts in this mans place & see if you can stand the heat. It sounds to me as if everyone is blaming Obama for the oil spill. When are people going to stop blaming the little fish ,for the bigger fish's problems. He is only human & given the right guidance will do a human job to his capacity as a person. Unlike the BP C E O who can hide under many rocks ,& to his own choosing, & shift the blame around to try & make BP look better. Well here is the truth of the matter. BP ARE THE MAIN PLAYERS IN THIS MESS & IT IS UP TO THEM & NOBODY ELSE TO BE FORCED TO CLEAN UP THIS MESS, AT NO COST TO ANYBODY ELSE EXCEPT THEIR SUB CONTRACTORS! AFTER ALL BP IS NOT BP WITHOUT OIL. And they are the ones who let this contract on reputation with no inspection of equipment or practices. You can be the judge if you like.

Posted by: hutch at July 06, 2010 02:42 PM (il+y8)

85 HERE IS ANOTHER UNRULEY THOUGHT. WHAT IF OUR TEXAS COUNTER PARTS HAD BEEN STILL IN POWER DURING THIS TIME.DO YOU THINK HE COULD HAVE MADE A BIGGER MESS. narhhh don't worry, some one would probably have given him a pat on the back after all he is from oil country. he proved beyond all reasonable doubt he could get it wrong, pulling the plug as he left, & leaving everyone to fend for themselves, or is this to close to the truth!

Posted by: hutch at July 06, 2010 05:39 PM (il+y8)

86 Do you crazy for NBA games? Have you hold your breath for the exciting moment? Are you one of NBA super fans? If the answer is YES, COME ON,GUYS!All kinds of NBA jerseys are designed as authentic styles with High quality,Competitive price, Fast Delivery and Intimate Customer Service . Choose your favorite jerseys to support your team. Enjoy your free style!
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Posted by: sunny at April 10, 2011 07:19 PM (wakeg)

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