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Monday, July 30, 2012

Cheering for the Underdog

I hate predictable endings—can’t stand them. If I’m watching a movie or reading a book that feels predictable, I’m likely to find an excuse to not to finish. The book might be great; the movie might be an award winner. I don’t care. If it’s predictable, I don’t like it. That also applies to heroes. If the hero was already great, and success was expected, I’m not enthralled. It doesn’t mean I don’t like them, it just means I’ll be less impressed when they win.
On the other hand, I’m a sucker for underdogs. Show me an unheralded protagonist with everything against them and I’m likely to be interested. Give me a hero who was never meant to be and I’ll cheer for them every day. There’s a part of me that’s drawn to underdogs. I can’t get enough.
This is one reason why I love watching the Olympics. Anything can happen; anyone can be a winner; heroes rise from obscurity. There are champions and titans, winners and heroes. I’ll be cheering for every event, but chances are I’ll cheer loudest for the underdogs.

4 comments:

  1. Surprise reverses are really exciting too. Like in the men's 400m free relay? I totally thought the US was going to win. But France turned things around. So suspenseful--it was like a plot twist. :D

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    1. That was an exciting race. Really gives a perspective about how good the competition is.

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  2. I'm with you. I like endings I don't expect. AS LONG AS they still make sense.

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    1. Exactly. Sometimes surprise endings come out of nowhere and have nothing to do with the story at all.

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