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| - A plot common to stories that focus on the arts (such as painting or writing), or on sports that require mixing physical ability with creativity (such as dancing or skating). Basically, it is a contrast between a highly skilled and critically-acclaimed artist, and a crowd-pleaser. Say two people have the same hobby. One is our heroine Alice, the other is The Rival, Betty. Betty has been dancing for years. She's highly thought of in her field, her mentors find her a dream to teach, and all the male students are desperate to be her partner. She's up at the crack of dawn, spending hours in front of the mirror going over every single move, ironing out every tiny imperfection. She's so devoted to her art that she probably doesn't have much of a life outside of it - sometimes extending to issues with her own family, such as a domineering parent/coach who's trying to live vicariously through their child. Her dancing may be flawless, but she may have a love-hate relationship with her art; secretly resenting the long hours of practice, for example, or angry that she had to give up a romantic interest because her teachers were worried that he'd distract her from dancing. Or maybe she really does want to be perfect, but can't seem to ever achieve it in her own eyes. Alice isn't quite as capable. She sleeps in. Her daydreaming drives the teacher up the wall. No matter how hard she tries, there is always one move that she can never quite pull off. But she loves to dance, and her passion comes out in every performance. Even if she lands flat on her tail, she leaves the audience smiling. Unlike Betty, she probably has a close group of friends, a solid family background, and an optimistic outlook on life. If her pastime stops being fun, she'll stop doing it. As long as they're competing for marks, Betty will win every time. Put the pair in front of an audience, however, and it's a different story. The audience doesn't know what to make of Betty. They're pretty sure she's good, but she spent the whole performance with a face like a wet weekend. She may not even have her own personal style: instead, she mimics the technique of other, more successful artists. Alice was much more interesting. She turned a pratfall into a quirky dance move, made faces at the kid in the front row and laughed her way through the final act. Betty will likely spend most of the next episode wondering what Alice did to get a standing ovation, while all she got was a polite smattering of applause at the end of her dance. Betty's "mistake" is usually that she dances for an impersonal ideal that others expect of her, while Alice dances for the sheer joy of the art. Some people watching won't realize exactly what a "perfect performance" is, but they know when the cast are enjoying themselves...and even those in the audience who do know what perfection is would rather see originality and entertainment. Red Oni, Blue Oni rivalries where the two are rivals in the same field often feature this with the blue oni as the Technician and the red as the Performer. Since blue types are often loners or social misfits who put a lot of importance on their one extraordinary ability, having their red counterpart outperform them (even if only in the mind of the audience) can lead to some nasty results or a breakdown. Perhaps, if they can reconcile, Defeat Means Friendship will take hold, and the girls will each learn from each other: Betty will learn to loosen up and rediscover the joy of her art, and Alice will try and emulate Betty's dedication and practice. Obviously, the form that Alice's "originality" manifests itself in will depend on the art/sport she's involved in. She might be an imaginative writer who can't spell, or a painter of simplistic, cheerful paintings in an art school full of students who tend to produce Mona Lisa style works. She may be the ice skater who zooms around the ice happily, but can't quite pull off that tricky spin, or a musician that finds classical music boring and likes to jazz them up with their own variations (with varying degrees of success). Whatever the scenario, the individuality that makes her "unperfect" is the same individuality that endears her to anyone watching. Generally, the narrative will be in favour of the enthusiastic performer (who sometimes has The Gift, but not always) rather than the diligent technician. This can be seen as a Family-Unfriendly Aesop, since it means undermining the hours of practice the technician has put in to get to that level. At its best, the trope sings the praises of enjoying yourself and being unique; at its worst, it implies that superior skill hamstrings individuality. Differs slightly from (but is related to) Hard Work Hardly Works. In this trope, there is no denying that the Technician is usually better at what they do, but the Performer is more fun to watch, while Hard Work Hardly Works adds insult to injury by giving a cheerful slacker superior skill than those around them who actually practice now and then. Also similar to Weak but Skilled; similar in that there is a better trained performer against a stronger or more talented rival, but different in that the one with the best training wins, usually through cleverness and skill. If paired with Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training, then the Family-Unfriendly Aesop can get worse as it implies not only is hard work foolish, but harmful. Sometimes the technician might be technicaly better, but the performer can still be superior due to creativity. Examples of Technician Versus Performer include:
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