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Town Without Pity
Jul. 27th, 2014 05:23 amSo against my better judgment, I am now writing two Mannix fics concurrently, because I was dying to start the "town with a dark secret/town without pity" fic. Of course, I doubt I'm ever writing just one fic at a time, but I usually don't have two simultaneously going for the same category. I worry that will confuse people and make them mad, so I try not to do it.
Anyway, so the theme of the fic is "Town Without Pity" and out of curiosity, I looked up the lyrics for the song. It's been years since I've heard it. And honestly, I had to scoff and snark. It sounds like some melodramatic/over-dramatic teenager. The whole town turned against two people because they fell in love?
It would be different if there was some indication in the song that the pairing was somehow not what people would expect: one or both people being from the bad part of town, big age difference, something. But by all accounts and purposes, they're just an ordinary couple, one that people wouldn't generally bat an eye at.
I suppose the problem could be that they're considered too young to be seriously involved, but would a town really be absolutely violently and cruelly opposed if that was the only issue? Oh, I suppose maybe there's some that would be, but it sounds kind of ridiculous. Not it wouldn't always be ridiculous to ostracize people to the extent the song indicates is happening, but if it was that, say, one person had a bad reputation, that would be at least somewhat more understandable than some other reasons.
I also take issue with the song a bit for saying that "only people in love" know how cruel a town without pity can be, etc. That sounds pretty whiny/self-important/arrogant. There's a lot of people in real-life who have been hurt in towns without pity and many times it had nothing to do with romance. Of course, since the characters in the song are proclaimed "young", I suppose they're at a stage where they really could act whiny and self-important. And looking at it that way, the line makes sense, if that was deliberately how it was intended to come across.
Anyway, I am seriously amused by the song when I shouldn't be and I couldn't find any workable lines to use as a title for the fic except the title of the song.
It's interesting that the song comes off the way it does, really; it originated in quite a dark and tragic movie of the same title, and the movie does have some dark and tragic and cruel reasons why the townspeople are acting the way they are. The movie brings out the worst of human nature and makes a cold sense, unlike what the song is making. I'm not even sure what the song is making.
Anyway, so the theme of the fic is "Town Without Pity" and out of curiosity, I looked up the lyrics for the song. It's been years since I've heard it. And honestly, I had to scoff and snark. It sounds like some melodramatic/over-dramatic teenager. The whole town turned against two people because they fell in love?
It would be different if there was some indication in the song that the pairing was somehow not what people would expect: one or both people being from the bad part of town, big age difference, something. But by all accounts and purposes, they're just an ordinary couple, one that people wouldn't generally bat an eye at.
I suppose the problem could be that they're considered too young to be seriously involved, but would a town really be absolutely violently and cruelly opposed if that was the only issue? Oh, I suppose maybe there's some that would be, but it sounds kind of ridiculous. Not it wouldn't always be ridiculous to ostracize people to the extent the song indicates is happening, but if it was that, say, one person had a bad reputation, that would be at least somewhat more understandable than some other reasons.
I also take issue with the song a bit for saying that "only people in love" know how cruel a town without pity can be, etc. That sounds pretty whiny/self-important/arrogant. There's a lot of people in real-life who have been hurt in towns without pity and many times it had nothing to do with romance. Of course, since the characters in the song are proclaimed "young", I suppose they're at a stage where they really could act whiny and self-important. And looking at it that way, the line makes sense, if that was deliberately how it was intended to come across.
Anyway, I am seriously amused by the song when I shouldn't be and I couldn't find any workable lines to use as a title for the fic except the title of the song.
It's interesting that the song comes off the way it does, really; it originated in quite a dark and tragic movie of the same title, and the movie does have some dark and tragic and cruel reasons why the townspeople are acting the way they are. The movie brings out the worst of human nature and makes a cold sense, unlike what the song is making. I'm not even sure what the song is making.
