MovieChat Forums > Van Helsing (2016) Discussion > The stupidity of the characters causes m...

The stupidity of the characters causes me physical discomfort...

posted 8 years ago by Dejay
5 replies | jump to latest

I write this in the hopes that future show writers maybe read this and reconsider making their characters into imbeciles.

I really wanted to like this show. I held out until episode 4 but then it just got too painful to watch :(

First they wait forever to test the theory that she can turn the vampires back. It's so obvious! But of course she resists "no I'm normal! What if it doesn't work??"... groan.

And the survives all act high and mighty against the re-turned as if it's his fault. And they seem to want to kill anyone. That *beep* is an idiot as well always edging people. The marine with his "orders" - he must realize he needs a plan and can't just wait out his natural life in that hospital???

And in episode 4 she just runs away instead of insisting the marine comes with her. And then at the apartment they dilly dally instead of moving on while night is coming. And instead of the obvious, checking out her best friends apartment, she wants to go to the police station???

But the shocker really is that she sacrifices herself just like that for a random group of survives after just having learned that her daughter didn't die right away. Not only does she give up on her daughter, she also wastes humanities best hope of stopping her. She's immune and just lets herself be captured? Yeah the hero complex gone terribly wrong here.

Why do writers do this?

[–] sammyxander 8 years ago

The pressure of getting high ratings probably.. They kill the story for the sake of manufacturing drama in the hopes of keeping viewers glued..

Either that or they are just used to bad writing..

[–] Octavius_Chimera 8 years ago

I get tired of people who post complaints that clearly illustrate not the shortcomings of the writers but their own lack of comprehension, impatience or gnat like attention span.

Is it really so hard to imagine someone waking up to a world gone to hell and not believing they're imbued with some special power they never knew about and an enemy they never knew existed? You don't think it's perfectly reasonable to struggle with that, to question it, to doubt it?

And do you not understand the simple baseline of prejudice? People routinely exhibit bias towards people who are different or who were different. If you found out the guy living next door to you was in prison for twenty years for being a paedophile wouldn't you feel differently about him even if he told you he'd changed? Don't be a hypocrite.

If you'd stuck around longer you'd realize that the Marine does have a plan but his primary belief is that it's safer to stay put than to leave the hospital. Again, perfectly reasonable since when all his Marine buddies left they all got slaughtered or captured.

In Ep.4 she ran away AFTER a scene in which she told the Marine they needed to get out of there and he clearly said that wasn't going to happen. So she escaped knowing he'd keep her from leaving if she didn't. Did you take a nap during that scene?

She stayed in the apartment because there was more food than they could carry, it was her only link to her missing child AND it was still light when they left. Since there was Police tape over the front door it would suggest the Police where there. If so they would likely have taken her kid or have known where she was.

Last, she didn't sacrifice herself as she was trying to protect a child who was much the same age as her missing daughter AND she had no way to know she couldn't bite them all and escape. the vampires who came for her at the end were different from the feral kid she'd fought thus far...her actions had unexpected consequences.

So a lot of what you bumped on just isn't a bump. It's not illogical or lazy writing. I'd suggest you weren't paying enough attention OR you just would have written it differently. But don't blame the writers...the show's gotten really complex and interesting since the first few.

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

Maybe it's simply a matter of general intelligence?

We see in the outcome that they took stupid actions. That outcome was predictable because someone already done the exact same thing and nearly got everyone killed (or worse).

Yet she does it again for X reason. You say I somehow am stupid for missing that reason, when the reason given by the writers is obviously flawed. (How is she going to save her daughter without help, without planning, without even taking a gun or doing some training)

Maybe that is what makes me cringe? It's clearly stupid and irrational behavior, inability to communicate and solve conflicts without violence. Like it's a given that 5 people with different opinions of what to do next cannot come together to make a sensible plan and solve problems without force.

It's either:
1. normal behavior and I'm living in a bubble,
2. considered normal behavior which make the writers idiots, or
3. an attempt to normalize this behavior which makes this show systemic propaganda for more authoritarianism.

And yeah your next reply is going to be "OMG YOU'RE SUCH A CUCK". Yeah go ahead. Just don't think I replied to your rude and idiotic comment, you are simply a fascinating specimen to explore this question.

[–] Octavius_Chimera 8 years ago

Well, if your idea of a good show is where a group of people get together and all agree on everything then we have a very different comprehension of what drama is. Drama is conflict. It's people making bad decisions out of pride, ignorance, self belief, naivety, misguided principles. Drama is watching people fail, learn and fail again...and sometimes win. Drama is screaming at the TV "Don't go in there because the killer is in there" and then watching the character do exactly that. There's no drama in watching people make logical and carefully considered decisions that turn out to have a positive outcome. But hey, go make THAT show and see how many people enjoy it.

We just watched a deeply divided America split their vote 50/50 over two very polar opposite candidates for President. Depending who you talk to the backers of the other candidate are idiots and a danger to America. If the entire population of the country can't come to any accord in times of relative peace and prosperity why would you expect it of characters in a post apocalyptic TV series? People generally aren't rational, especially in chaos.

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

Oh man I thought I give this show another try but it's so PAINFUL!

In Episode 5 after she turns her best friend back into human she asks her "what happened to my daughter" and what does she say? *beep* NOTHING! Just "leave me here".

It's that kind of bad writing that I can't stand. Sure people make bad decisions, but these aren't decisions, these are just freak idiot spasm. Plot induced idiocy.