Complexity delusion?
Good evening everyone. Lately I’ve been noticing comments where some people keep saying that a manga/manhwa is “complex” and it got me thinking about something I wanted to share.
I’m just a reader sharing my take (not claiming to be a literature expert) and I’d like to know what you all think about it too.
I've seen this a lot specifically with BLs that handle themes like rape, sexual assault, murder, etc... Sometimes people justify a character’s actions by calling the story “complex” when in reality it’s just poorly written and I believe that people fail to realistically see what’s actually happening and end up excusing problematic behaviors under the excuse of "depth" . They see a story that’s confusing, has morally grey characters or includes extreme stuff like abuse or obsession and automatically assume there’s some deep meaning behind it. They think contradictions, shocking behavior or plot twists = layered storytelling.
Of course I think that complex characters can be morally grey or unpredictable but their actions must be justified in motivations you can trace. If a character’s behavior makes zero sense in context, that’s not complexity... that’s inconsistency if it makes sense. They aren't chaotic for shock value but they're following a twisted but coherent logic (for example horse-face Jaekyung vs Sangwoo).
But then again... How do you guys determine whether a story or character is genuinely deep and complex?
Thanks in advance for any answer.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
For me, what makes a story/ character intriguing is how much and to what degree they resonate with me, stir up my emotions, and/or how they reflect the deep societal issues (or a new perspectives to them) that are prevalent in the world around me.
Having said that, those are purely through my lens so subjectivi......
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