I hate how every cool, competent female character I used to admire on TV turned out to be a helpless little wisp of a thing hiding her vulnerability behind a tough-as-nails disguise to escape from the pain of her tragic past.
Writers, if the idea of genuine independence is too threatening for you, go find a different character type to play with! Demolishing a heroine's personality just so a big strong male lead can come along and replace it is such pathetic wish fulfillment.
July 5, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
At least there's always Utena. Not only did she reject the typical princess life, the series also showed how much it destroyed her when she tried to force herself into that role.
ReplyDeleteI also recommend a series called "The Twelve Kingdoms" for strong female characters. It's similar to Fushigi Yuugi in that it's about a young girl transported to another world, but the similarities stop there. Just imagine if there was no Tamahome or really anyone to help Miaka, and she was forced to fend for herself in a world where she had a bounty on her head. The character growth is excellent, with the leads becoming more independent and strong as the story progresses.
And as an added bonus, none of the lead females are 'coupled' by the end ;)
Well, women are supposed to be symbols of femenine strength.
ReplyDeleteUntil they fall in love, get in trouble, become angry, become sad, lose something/one, take their armor off, lose a fight, become injured, or have difficulty tying their shoelaces.
Did I miss any?
Either way, after that point, all responsibility falls to their more manly compatriots.
I am not a cynic, I swear.
LOL, Inspíderwiht, so true.
ReplyDeleteShinsetsu: I do adore Utena, and that's one of the reasons :D
Well as a man I can honestly say I am getting sick and tired of having to pull the women in my life up off the ground and stand in for them so I can deal with all their problems.
ReplyDeleteI know that extra X chromosome is slightly heavier than my Y chromosome, but you're going to have to deal with the burden on your own, ladies.
*manly flex*
... Is Kavan for real?
ReplyDeleteI try to avoid shows where the women go all helpless on you but it's not easy. Back in the glory days where the only anime you could get in Australia was EVA or Nadesico, I spent a lot of time disliking those women.
I still think Firefly was good at empowering its female characters and Witch hunter Robin had a spunky protagonist, underneath the nunniness.
I still wish Asuka *had* gotten herself strangled at the end of evangelion, she deserved to die after all that "can't pilot female-period angst" palava.
girl-wonder.org/girlsreadcomics
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone, man. Also try Designated Sidekick (There's a link to it on the first blog.).
It's nice to know there are other people angry about the complete subjugation of women as actual characters. :)
(PS: Blogs pimped are not written by writer of this comment. ;))
"... Is Kavan for real?"
ReplyDeleteSure hope not.