[Lorric]

Now why can't a companion snap you out of depression? It depends why you are in depression in the first place. Maybe all you need is a friend. It comes down to I guess you think these things have an influence, but at this level, I just think you're either being paranoid, or the effect will be negligible. Real relationships are everywhere. You just have to open your eyes and look. Or you can even read people's true stories.

Hi.

I want to chime in here with one single pointer: No matter what happens, you will NEVER *snap* out of a depression. A depression can take years to build up, and it can take even more years for the person to actually notice that he is in a depression as those negative thinking spirals make you hate everything that you think caused the spirals to trigger, whilst the actual problem (the negative thinking spirals of doom themselves) flies under the radar. Just meeting the right person, or indeed, being transported to a much better enviroment feeding the positive thinking spirals, does not change the fact that you will still have bad days, as the causes of your depression are still embedded in your mind, and it takes a lot of time to actually mend those. In fact, you will always still be more prone to otherwise unexplainable anger and sadness then others.

I won't say that getting into the right enviroment doesn't help (it certainly does). It simply does not go as easy as you say it could be. Ocasionally, it can even make it worse (fear of losing that enviroment, or the change being too rapid triggering "I don't deserve this" thinking).

Hello.

Yes. I never meant snap in the sense one minute depressed, the next, not depressed. You know I actually hate the phrase "snap out of it". As if people wouldn't have done that already if it was that easy. Even the MPDG character must persist over time to succeed. And I think the movie characters have clear reasons for being depressed.

What you say about not having clear reasons, or being wrong about the reasons is interesting though. I wonder how you find what the real cause is.

[Grizzly]

That varies a lot, actually. Campaigns making people aware helped for me personally, nusually it's outside help. The big problem lies in recognizing the problem itself. One can usually turn to professional help after that.
Note that I am only what is so-called an "Experience expert" (I only know of me and a few people I know who had similar issues, both of which did not detect it in me), so I geuss I am rather unreliable.

[Lorric]

That varies a lot, actually. Campaigns making people aware helped for me personally, nusually it's outside help. The big problem lies in recognizing the problem itself. One can usually turn to professional help after that.
Note that I am only what is so-called an "Experience expert" (I only know of me and a few people I know who had similar issues, both of which did not detect it in me), so I geuss I am rather unreliable.

Do you have any links or could it be searched for? As in something specific to search for please?

[NGTM-1R]

The E demonstrating he can find stuff he likes (and familiarity with the genre, something that I'm not getting from you; your persistence in failing to cite examples or make reference to the reality of filmmaking is odd, considering the nature of the topic).

For a subversion of this trope, I recommend the film High Fidelity. In it, the protagonist is dumped by his long-term girlfriend, and tries to get out of the ensuing depression by dating a bunch of what he hopes will be MPDGs. However, as it turns out, all of them are much too complex, much too adult to actually fit the role (Not that they want to, them being actual characters and all that), and so he is forced to actually deal with the real issues he and his girlfriend were having. Now, while Laura isn't given anywhere near the same amount of screentime as Rob, it is still clear that she is a full person with needs and wants and a life of her own; something none of the characters commonly referred to as MPDGs are.

I generally do not like RomComs as a genre, because of the various tropes surrounding them (and me being rather sensitive to bad plotting and script contrivances). But that does not mean that I do not appreciate well done entries in the genre (Like, say, High Fidelity, or Out of Sight), as long as the films treats its principal characters with verisimilitude, a quality not often found in the RomCom genre.

Seriously, watch High Fidelity. The character of Rob has a lot of screentime while he works through his issues with the way he approaches relationships, but every female character he meets (Lauren especially, but even the women he just tries to reconnect with over a single date) is a fully formed person, with issues and wounds and a life. That life isn't actually shown on screen; but we get enough actual hints (as opposed to something the viewer has to imagine) as to their normal lifes. Hell, the fact that Lauren is a complete character and that Rob has to learn how to deal with that is the entire point of the movie! And yet, it's a very lean and fast-paced movie with little filler material.

If you take a typical romcom script and just bolt on pieces to make the female role more interesting, then yes, you'd get a boring movie. Which is why a good filmmaker will not do that, but write his script with full characters from the outset.

As for Battuta, I could spend a few hours mining the forums for commentary on this sort of thing from other topics, but I need to go attach a sprinkler head to a water line so I'll just note that the your comment re: finding things they like is unrelated to the subject at best and an appeal to an irrelevant authority at worst.

But hey, I could find answers in this topic in posts you actually quoted, implying you read them. (Again.) So I figure it's worth the five minutes it took me just to demonstrate that you should already know the answer.

[Lorric]

The question was is it difficult, not is it possible.

[Mr. Vega]

Cdr. Shepard springs to mind.

Hah! I'm replaying Mass Effect 2 right now. Certainly my Shepard pulls this off but everyone has their own conception of the Shepard they made, so I didn't use her.

[NGTM-1R]

The question was is it difficult, not is it possible.

so I'll just note that the your comment re: finding things they like is unrelated to the subject at best and an appeal to an irrelevant authority at worst.

Also.

But hey, I could find answers in this topic in posts you actually quoted, implying you read them. (Again.) So I figure it's worth the five minutes it took me just to demonstrate that you should already know the answer.

[Lorric]

Now you're just being silly.

[NGTM-1R]

It's like you're not even reading what you're quoting.

[Lorric]

I could say the same about you.

[General Battuta]

I could say the same about you.

No you couldn't, otherwise he wouldn't be able to select it to post.

[NGTM-1R]

I could say the same about you.

Do explain.

Because frankly this is no longer amusing to most of the forum I imagine; it's certainly no longer amusing to anyone not quite as hardened to such matters as a veteran of the EVE strategic mobility debates. You are going in circles; you have been for a couple pages. That's the only reason I can do this.

Your question to them can be interpretative as a logical fallacy of several kinds, an appeal to the people for assistance (this thread can be interpreted the same way, and from the breakdown of replies and votes, one you have lost), or the beginnings of a personal attack on them for their taste in movies. What it can't be interpreted as is a question that is in any way relevant to the discussion at hand.

If you can explain how it is relevant, if that explanation is judged sufficient and my rebuttal for it not sufficient by a neutral third party we can both agree on, then I will exit this thread forevermore and will never again complain about the fact you've already been answered on a point in any thread again.

Do you agree to these terms?

[Lorric]

I could say the same about you.

Do explain.

Because frankly this is no longer amusing to most of the forum I imagine; it's certainly no longer amusing to anyone not quite as hardened to such matters as a veteran of the EVE strategic mobility debates. You are going in circles; you have been for a couple pages. That's the only reason I can do this.

Your question to them can be interpretative as a logical fallacy of several kinds, an appeal to the people for assistance (this thread can be interpreted the same way, and from the breakdown of replies and votes, one you have lost), or the beginnings of a personal attack on them for their taste in movies. What it can't be interpreted as is a question that is in any way relevant to the discussion at hand.

If you can explain how it is relevant, if that explanation is judged sufficient and my rebuttal for it not sufficient by a neutral third party we can both agree on, then I will exit this thread forevermore and will never again complain about the fact you've already been answered on a point in any thread again.

Do you agree to these terms?

Alright, let's see if I understand what you want right.

You want me to tell you why I want to know about the taste in movies and games, and how it is relevant to the discussion, and you want a neutral third party to judge whether my explanation makes it relevant to the discussion?

And there are no consequences to me aside from being told by the neutral third party that I am wrong?

If what I wrote above is correct, I agree, if of course we can find a neutral third party, and I'm not sure how this is to be done.

[FIZ]

Voted thumbs down, didn't read anything but OP.  When she started I was thinking books, what came to mind was 'Angels and Demons,' although the last fiction book I read was Crichton's 'Sphere' which didn't support the trope at all.  Then she started listing a bunch of flicks, most of which seemed to be 'chick flicks' that I have not seen... I did like 'Almost Famous' and I think that what's her face barely fits that trope at all - she definitely has issues.  The only other movie I've seen was Eternal Sunshine and I really didn't pay attention to that movie and just was never engaged but from what I recall it was about removing Jim Carry's mind so he could fix his relationship with the same girl.

Video seemed more like a rant about chick flicks with a fancy title.

[NGTM-1R]

You want me to tell you why I want to know about the taste in movies and games, and how it is relevant to the discussion, and you want a neutral third party to judge whether my explanation makes it relevant to the discussion?

And there are no consequences to me aside from being told by the neutral third party that I am wrong?

Aside from the fact I'm allowed to rebut your explanation of relevance, correct.

(Anyone interested, unless the admins or mods show up, feel free to PM Lorric or I.)

[Lorric]

What the?!

Forum Deathmatch? You never said anything about one of us dying in this! 

 

Please be neutral.

What if the rebuttal ends up going back and forth and back and forth?

[Lorric]

Wait, I think the neutral party needs to be known here.

[FIZ]

So read all the posts and kinda bored with the topic, surprised '50 First Dates' or 'True Romance' were not brought up.

But seeing how this is now a pissing contest I reckon I shall piss off.

[Lorric]

So read all the posts and kinda bored with the topic, surprised '50 First Dates' or 'True Romance' were not brought up.

But seeing how this is now a pissing contest I reckon I shall piss off.

He's right, is there any point to this? I mean really, I have been thinking this before he put that post, and no one is coming anyway, we're just sat here like fools. Shall we shake hands and call it a day and agree to disagree? I don't think either of us can change the other's mind at this point about the subject matter, we're just wasting our time here.

In general, the topic has gone on without any animosity. Shall we keep it that way, and just let the poll continue in peace?

[NGTM-1R]

What if the rebuttal ends up going back and forth and back and forth?

Not like that. Whoever it is gets in touch with us. You post. I post. They look at posts. They decide and post their decision. Everyone makes only one.

He's right, is there any point to this?

I remind you you have literally nothing to lose, save perhaps your self-respect or the respect of others, while it could have real consequences on my actions.

But you're still posting, and I'm still posting, so maybe if you just want to stop there isn't. As for the rest of us, we clearly perceive a point in opposition to the ones you have attempted to make.