While editing the first part of Catgirl Roommate, I've run into an interesting question:
How many bad things can happen to a character before it stops being funny?
How many bad things can happen to a character before it stops being funny?
Wile E. Coyote: testing the limits of this question since 1949.
In the case of the hapless furball above, most of his pain is self-inflicted, so we're free to laugh at his fur-scorching, face-flattening antics without guilt.
But what about cases like straight-arrow college student Sam, whose suffering is caused by his innocently misbehaved catgirl roommate?
In many of the scenes I recently edited, Sam's pain was limited to exasperation and frustration, but there were a few instances when he actually got hurt. Not few enough, I soon concluded, which led me to alter several scenes to remove or soften the physical consequences of Nyla's shenanigans.
After all, we're supposed to be laughing at his minor misfortunes like the crowd of softcore sadists that we are, not cringing at his actual physical pain.
While contemplating the line between funny farces and the laughter-crushingly cringeworthy, I thought I'd get your opinion on the matter:
Where do you draw the line between hilarious misadventures, and stuff that's too painful to be funny?
Does it largely depend on the degree of the damage, whether it was self-inflicted and/or deserved, or some other factor I haven't mentioned?
I look forward to reading your comments.
But what about cases like straight-arrow college student Sam, whose suffering is caused by his innocently misbehaved catgirl roommate?
In many of the scenes I recently edited, Sam's pain was limited to exasperation and frustration, but there were a few instances when he actually got hurt. Not few enough, I soon concluded, which led me to alter several scenes to remove or soften the physical consequences of Nyla's shenanigans.
After all, we're supposed to be laughing at his minor misfortunes like the crowd of softcore sadists that we are, not cringing at his actual physical pain.
While contemplating the line between funny farces and the laughter-crushingly cringeworthy, I thought I'd get your opinion on the matter:
Where do you draw the line between hilarious misadventures, and stuff that's too painful to be funny?
Does it largely depend on the degree of the damage, whether it was self-inflicted and/or deserved, or some other factor I haven't mentioned?
I look forward to reading your comments.
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