Zombie Cliche Lookout: Bad News
This trope tends to show up more often in war movies than zombie flicks, but I’m going to use it anyway because I like it. What happen is that one or more characters discover something that could be potentially devastating to someone else in the group, and they really need that person for something in the near future. So how do they deal with the situation? They certainly can’t afford to lose anyone, so they either need to be very careful, or just not bother telling them at all.
About this Episode:
I had a hard time coming up with how Clark might tell the group what was going on. He’s a strange character, not really liking other people, but obviously appreciative to these guys for saving him (even if they hit him with their van in the process). He’s also pretty sarcastic and has an unusual manner of speaking, but that’s not always appropriate for situations like this. So what did i do? Kept it simple.
Other News: My First Video
In case you missed it, I did my very first video review recently, for the Special Forces Shovel by Cold Steel. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please do. And if you’re on YouTube, likes and subscriptions and comments are always cool.
At any rate, I think it came out fairly well, but I’m definitely interested in constructive criticism so that I can improve any future videos I happen to do. If nothing else, I’d love to do more “Can It Kill a Zombie” tests.
Discussion Question: Breaking Bad News
Let’s say you stumble upon some information that could be potentially devastating to another member of your group. How do you go about breaking the bad news to them? Are you blunt and to the point? Do you try to soften the blow? Do you just keep it to yourself and avoid the problem altogether?
LOL! Prisoners with guns.
The worst kind of prisoners.
Prisoners?I did not expected that…
This is actually a callback to earlier in the comic; we’ve seen these prisoners before.
I remember those guys! The same guys that took some shots at Murphy I believe.
Discussion: Even though most survivor would just be looking for a reason to kill themselves, we can’t waste any time. I have a friend that before telling me anything important/bad he always starts with, “You know me, I don’t talk bullshit, so let’s get to the point…”. I’m pretty sure I”l use that more than once.
Sounds like a good way to start a talk.
“I have no nice way to say this, so I’m just gonna say it: They’re watching Jeresy Shore in there…”
I laughed.
NOOOO IT CAN’T BE TRUE NOOOO 😛
And I laughed again.
“But there is some good news. If we get on their good side, we get their alcohol.”
Now that is just genius.
However, that was intended to be part way serious. I usually go with the first part about having no nice way to say something when I have to impart bad news. I really was answering the discussion question.
My personality usually requires me to deliver information in different ways but usually it’s like using a rubber mallet with me. I’m blunt but I word it in a way that softens the blow and makes the hit more acceptable.
I like the metaphor. Very appropriate.
Hey Dave, guess whose finnaly back after two months?
Who?
No its me AC, im back.
First off; bodylanguage gives away that there is bad news, short introduction (one or two sentences), give the bad news… no softening, give it like it is, after that give the person receiving the bad news time to deal with the emotions and try to help if and when possible… be there, after that phase you can give them more information as needed, and go back and fort between emotions and information. (this is the short version 😉 )
Don’t soften the blow, because then it’s like you’re giving him bad news twice or more (first time softened and then the full-blown bad news). And don’t make the introduction too long because then they will get to guessing… (‘don’t let them hang themselves’ as it is said).
I’m guessing the full version will be in the forums?
Sounds like a good idea to me.
I think an alternate trope for this could be “OOC (Out of Character) is serious business). Like you said, Clark is a sarcastic character, so him not cracking any jokes or being rude really highlights the intensity of the situation.
Good call here, Galt.
Where are Murphy and the rest of them? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen them. I just can’t wait to see how that general store model turns out. By the way, Dave, did you hear about the Left 4 Dead 3 rumors?
That’s sort of the trouble of having multiple different story arcs; it can sometimes be a while between them. We’ll be see Murphy as soon as we’re done with these guys.