Defending Ambiguous Plots

by Shawn Bruckner 

"Final Fantasy VII was a letdown to me in many ways, not the least of which was the ending. Anyone who has read my editorial 'An Attack on the Ending of FFVII' knows that I criticize not just the ending, but the entire latter half of the plot and the whole of character development within. Indeed, the more and more I learn about good writing and characterization, the less and less I think of Square's "masterpiece." I sincerely hope that Final Fantasy VIII has a different set of writers than those in FFVII. To leave so many characters undeveloped and create a generic, mediocre villain that is nothing more than some kind of faceless cypher is an insult to all the fans of Square." - Mike Lenzo

Now of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I would never say otherwise. But it deeply saddens me to see a paragraph like this... no, more of a worry, actually. Final Fantasy VII had a surprisingly ambiguous plot. Many people who criticize the plot of this game seem not to understand this. So, I'll explain what happens when writers use ambiguity as a tool...

Trying to understand ambiguity in any plot is often referred to as "reading between the lines." In reality, it isn't... it is the reader writing between the lines. Any writer can only provide a framework in which the reader writes. As a rough analogy, it's like handing the reader a half-finished story and let them write the rest.

Many times, the framework the writer presents really only allows one message in between those lines. There's nothing wrong with that. But increasingly, writers are becoming more willing to provide a larger framework... less complete, you might say. And in these frameworks, readers might be able to come up with two, three, hundreds, many even an infinite number of messages.

There is nothing wrong with this, either. It is a tool, and like most other tools, it can be used well and it can be used badly. But now I see editorials which attack Final Fantasy VII seemingly oblivious of the character growth and the plot that occurs "between the lines," and it worries me.

I'm pretty sure most of those who have attacked Final Fantasy VII in editorials here on this site are fiction writers, professional or amateur. Well, I have a very clear message for you. What you are calling incomplete and unfinished is actually a daring and original way to write a plot. I know that as writers, we can be control freaks, in a way. We want our stories to be interpreted the way we interpret them as we write them... the way we meant them to be.

The first time I played Final Fantasy VII, I admit to being slightly disappointed in the lack of clear character development and a clear ending, but later I started filling in those gaps... and I found I liked the challenge the writers of Final Fantasy VII had given me. They provided me with a story that I could find a message that meant something deeply personal to me. They provided real characters, characters who don't reveal themselves completely throughout a plot. People don't ever reveal themselves completely in real life, either. Most of us don't even know ourselves completely.

I found I liked the characters of Final Fantasy VII, not because I understood them 100% clearly, but because I didn't. They seemed far more real to me that way after all, I don't know any single real-life person I 100% completely understand. I would even say I understand myself about 99%... I know I don't understand myself completely.

The other interesting thing about the plot of Final Fantasy VII comes when you look at other's interpretations. Many of the editorials defending the plot of Final Fantasy VII gave their own very interesting interpretation. Every one I have seen here has merit. But, of course they all had merit, we are all entitled to have our own opinion.

The other part is that we are all entitled to change our opinions when we learn something new. I have run into about three or four editorials in defense of Final Fantasy VII that presented something I hadn't seen when I played the game, and it changed how I saw the plot in a couple cases.

You see, by choosing to give up some of your artistic freedom as a writer by allowing the reader to develop part of the story, you just created a story which is more likely to stick with your reader for some time. True, it does require that the reader possess an open mind and some analytical skill if they are to truly appreciate it, but I feel there is a large audience out that fits those qualifications.

"You may see some individuals, usually far too highly educated, try to quantify these standards, but all they really end up doing is limiting whatever media or genre to which they apply the standards. Games that break the standards are often successful because there is an audience that does not fit the standards to begin with."

Yes, I'm quoting myself, from my previous editorial "All RPG Standards are Subjective." In that editorial, I defined a standard as something from previous works that has proven itself over time. The standard of writing with little ambiguity is exactly just that. It works, but for some people, it doesn't work as well.

Taking a leap of faith and breaking the standards has been something which people have been doing throughout time. It used to be that almost all literature was written in poetry - epic poems were the great stories of the time. Now, most stories are written in prose. Somewhere, someone had to take the leap of faith and write a story without rhythm, meter, or any poetic structure, but writing it more like people writing letters to each other. And prose turned out to be successful.

I do not mean any offense or insult to anyone - I am merely saying what I believe. I feel that the inability to appreciate ambiguous plots comes from at least a degree of close-mindedness, or an unwillingness or inability to analyze a story by personal standards rather than intellectual ones, or both. Let's face it, the standards educators give you don't tend to change with the times, but change behind the times. People read or play what they like... standards don't generally mean a whole lot to them, other than their own personal standards.

Call me an amateur if you wish... The last time I expressed this opinion, that was the response I received. But, as writers, I think you're limiting yourselves by not being willing to turn over some of your story or message to the reader. I personally think it is both more fun and more rewarding to do so.