Wiktionary

Flanderization

See also: flanderization

English edit

WOTD – 3 October 2021

Etymology edit

 
A man cosplaying as the character Ned Flanders from the American animated television series The Simpsons, the source of the word Flanderization, at WonderCon in Anaheim, California, USA, in 2014.

From Flanders +‎ -ization (suffix forming nouns denoting the act, process, or result of doing or making something), from the progressive shift in the character Ned Flanders on the American animated television series The Simpsons (first broadcast in 1989) from a good-natured Christian to a religious fundamentalist, though his portrayal later returned to one similar to the original. The word was coined on the popular culture wiki TV Tropes around 2006.[1][2]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

Flanderization (countable and uncountable, plural Flanderizations) (American spelling, Oxford British English, fandom slang)

  1. (uncountable) The progressive exaggeration of a single trait or set of traits of a fictional character until it overtakes all other characterization [from c. 2006]
    • 2009 June 7, tmc1982 [username], “Seasonal Rot – Television Tropes & Idioms”, in rec.arts.tv‎[2] (Usenet):
      Many fans say that season 5 was the beginning of its downfall as Flanderization occurred. JD went from being a little emotionally needy to a whiny man-child and Elliot became every negative stereotype about women instead of her usual neurotic but lovable self.
    • 2012 December 21, David Johnson, “Re: Elementary – Episode 8 – The Long Fuse”, in rec.arts.tv‎[3] (Usenet):
      Irene's whole gimmick is that she's the one woman in the world who can outwit Holmes. Although in the actual story, her victory is extremely limited, flanderization takes hold in adaptations.
    • 2015, Stuart Webb, “The Icarus Theory”, in Transformation: A Personal Journey through the British Transformers Comic, volumes 1 (1984–1987), [S.l.]: Solar Pool, →ISBN, page 129, column 1:
      Prime realises Swoop must be under some sort of external control as he's at heart a loyal Autobot (over the years Flanderisation will make the Dinobots more and more maverick) and does the one thing that he knows will so enrage his mind controlled colleague that Swoop will fight off the influence. He gives him a direct order.
    • 2017, Michael Sidgwick, “A Box of Fluffy Ducks”, in Development Hell: The NXT Story, U.K.: WhatCulture.com, →ISBN, page 101:
      A sympathetic wrestling savant, Eugene became, through a process of rapid Flanderisation (the process in fiction of a character being consumed by their identifiable trait, named after The Simpsons’ Ned Flanders), in Cornette’s words, “a fucking retard”.
    • 2020, Edward K. Eckhart-Zinn, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Rick and Morty”, in The Sequel Superior, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN, page 233:
      A common form of this ["character derailment"] is flanderization, in which a character's very singular, minor, yet notable attributes exaggerate as a serial continues. […] I would attribute flanderization to Rick and/or Jerry, if anyone of the main cast.
  2. (countable) An instance of this.
    • 2014 September 9, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor), “On My Shelves: The Stainless Steel Rat”, in rec.arts.sf.written‎[4] (Usenet):
      Part of the decrease was a "Flanderization" of the Rat […] his characteristics became exaggerated to the point that he seemed to me to be approaching self-caricature […] and Harrison's writing quirks began to dominate the story, rather than merely accent it.
    • 2019 September 20, Dhruv Sharma, “Crayon Shin-chan: Review, Premiere Date, Recap, English Dub”, in TheCinemaholic‎[5], archived from the original on 24 November 2020:
      '[Crayon] Shin-chan' can often get very repetitive with its humor, absurdity and the flanderizations of the main character; but then what more can you expect from a comedy anime that has been here since the past three decades?

Alternative forms edit

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ “Flanderization”, in TV Tropes‎[1], c. 2006, archived from the original on 29 August 2021.
  2. ^ Erica Lindquist (2020 November 19) “Flanderizing Characters”, in Aron Christensen, Erica Lindquist, Loaded Dice II: More Advice on Running & Playing from The RPGuide (My Storytelling Guides), Folsom: Loose Leaf Stories, →ISBN.

Further reading edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Flanderization&oldid=75962284"