Story Logic

The Planet Heroes are currently all the rage in the Murawski household. The Planet Heroes are a line of action figures put out by Fisher Price that are aimed at taking advantage of the fact that Kiernan loves learning about the Solar System. I'm convinced this is the only reason they exist. Kiernan was given one of these action figures by his friends Ryan and Kyra for his birthday, and because he's so nuts about all things planet this toy immediately became one of his favorites. This figure is called Earth Ace, and his planet is, of course, Earth. The other Planet Heroes are similarly paired with planets, and each one basically has a personality that somehow matches his planet. Zip is the dude associated with Mercury. Because Mercury is a fast planet. Rings is the fellow associated with Saturn, for obvious reasons. Daz is the Planet Hero that goes with Venus. She's a hot chick, because Venus is...um...hot.

Since Kiernan was so immediately enamored of Earth Ace, we went online and checked out The Planet Heroes website (surfing note: for some reason I can never see the site with Firefox, only Internet Explorer, so YMMV if you click on the above link). Surfing about the site we found voices to go with each Planet Hero, which is all well and good unless you're the person who has to then do those voices ALL DAY LONG. There are also three video episodes on the site that you can watch for free, as well as companion comic books that you can read or print out. We've read the comic books a few times and Kiernan has watched the video episodes a few times as well. I think they're fairly goofy, and clearly exist only for marketing purposes, but then again, what doesn't? Plus, he just loves these things.

In one of the episodes, a traitor infiltrates the ranks of the Planet Heroes. He is named Slash Red Giant (or something) and Commander (the sun) inducts him into the Planet Heroes group, or league...whatever they call it. What Commander doesn't know is that Slash Red Giant is working with Black Hole Professor Darkness, the nemesis of the Planet Heroes whose sole purpose appears to be to destroy the Solar System. At a crucial moment in the episode--erm...SPOILER ALERT--Slash Red Giant zaps all of the Planet Heroes with his gravity ring power (or something), trapping them.

Or most of them. For some reason Earth Ace and Zip are not at first trapped by the gravity ring power. From a screenwriting point of view this is so that Earth Ace can escape and come back to save the day with a Giant Space Cow (I'm sure you saw that coming). What about from a story logic point of view? Who cares, you ask? Well...Kiernan does.

The two of us were eating dinner the other night, and during a lull in our conversation, Kiernan asked the following question:

"Why didn't the gravity get Zip or Ace?"

Two things here.

1. There was no segue prefacing this . It just came out of nowhere. Sort of. I mean we are always talking about the planets at the dinner table. Have been for months. Our regular dinner routine consists of asking about the day of someone at the table, then launching into a story about the Interstellar Intergalactic Super Detectives. Kiernan gives me a story prompt, usually something about one of the planets stealing something that belongs to us, and I spin a tale about the planets. Again, we've been doing this for months. I believe I've mentioned this before, and I say that because I intend to write these stories and turn them into a franchise, and will use this blog as evidence that I'm not stealing from the Planet Heroes, which we just discovered on November 29, 2008. There. That should work as adequate evidence.

2. I have barely watched these videos myself. I'm not saying they are insipid, but let's just say I'm not the target audience. Plus, almost any time a video is on at our house--especially when Wendy is away on a business trip, as she is this week--I spring into action and go crazy trying to get stuff done, stuff I cannot do while entertaining what has to be the most high-maintenance four-year-old on the planet. Seriously. He demands live entertainment constantly. Even while sitting on the toilet. We have no one to blame for this but ourselves, of course, as we figured that reading to him was a good way to facilitate potty training. But still, I'm just saying.

So not really having paid attention to the Planet Heroes video episodes, it took me a good few moments to pick up on what the heck he was asking about when he asked "Why didn't the gravity get Zip or Ace?" I suddenly remembered Slash Red Giant (or whatever) zapping and trapping the Planet Heroes with his gravity ray. I subsequently recalled the fact that Zip and Ace hadn't been caught. That Zip tried to sneak away, that is until his boot creaked on the floor of the space station and Slash Red Giant zapped him. Earth Ace takes this moment to have a conversation with Commander about what he should do, a conversation right under the nose of Slash Red Giant that Slash Red Giant totally misses because, I don't know, he's busy cleaning his andirons or something. And he doesn't even own a fireplace. Not that I'd know this...

So I came up with something. That Slash Red Giant missed and eventually got Zip, and Ace escaped, and Kiernan said,

"Ace jumps back but the gravity gets the floor instead."

Which is totally what happened. Red Giant eventually becomes aware that Ace and Commander are having a conversation and tries to zap Ace, but Ace jumps back and the gravity power harmlessly slams into the floor.

Later in the episode, as Ace is riding in to save the day with Lunar and the Giant Space Cow, the Planet Heroes are released from the gravity and turn on Slash Red Giant. But the actual how of this isn't explained. It just kind of happens in the action of the climax of the episode. Whatever. It's just a marketing video. Again...not good enough.

"How did the Planet Heroes get out of the gravity?"

Again, I was stumped. So this time instead of making something up I just said, "I don't know."

And Kiernan replied with, "I think it didn't show."

Now, if you're still with me, let me say two more things.

1. Good for you.

2. Sorry this was so long.

I couldn't help it. I'm just crazy about this kid's mind. He tracks story logic in the things he watches, lets it bounce around his brain, and then later on starts picking it apart. Do you get how freaking awesome that is? Do you? He watched this video episode on the computer probably ten or twelve hours before, then out of nowhere at the dinner table he starts asking questions about the holes in the story. He gets that these are story problems, and he's not willing to let them just slip by.

I love it. What an amazing mind.

Next post: he does the same thing to one of my stories.

*Picture Note: Kiernan trying on his new planet pajamas, a gift from Pap-Pap and Sandi. He would wear them that night and all day the next day. No joke. All day.