"Go away!" "I'm grievously wounded!"
Wherein Jack has come BACK from the dead! And Wherein she explains her thoughts on girl characters.
I complain about girl characters a lot, I know I do. I've tried to get better about it and not whine as much, but I still have a tendency to do so. I thought it was time I did a post explaining these complaints.
First off, I don't dislike girls. I'm a girl myself - sure, a girl who grew up with brothers and therefore doesn't get girls sometimes, but I still like girls. Some of my best friends are girls. That said, I've never been huge on the whole....I don't know the term for it. Women power thingy....I know, that is likely to get me in trouble, but let me explain.
I don't believe girls should be weak and cowering in corners, singing songs about how bad their lives are while waiting for their Prince Charming to come riding up and save them. For one, not all girls are distended to have a Prince Charming. Some girls might never get married, for some reason or other. (I sometimes think I might end up as one of those girls...though marriage doesn't sound horrible to me and I'd love to have at least five kids.)
For years, these were the kinds of girls put into movies and books. Helpless, defenseless, unable to stand up for themselves. (Think Disney Princesses for a basic example.) But then this idea of helpless women began to change until now we have the Disney movies were girls are mostly saving themselves. And while telling a girl she can stand up for herself, can fight for herself and those she loves isn't so much a bad thing, how it was handled - I believe - is.
As an author, I know there are tons of ways to handle characters. One could start with a shy, scared girl and by the end of the book have her facing her fears and fighting for something she believes in. Or you could have the independant girl who thinks everyone around her is stupid and she doesn't need their help and in the end having her rely on her friends. This is called character development and I am all for it in boy and girl characters. I love it, it makes characters more endearing. So that is not where I am targeting my complaint.
In the book Seraphina, this is used. Phina is shy and withdrawn and scared. She is too scared to accept help, to admit to the world what she is. In the end of the book she stands up to her worse fears and at the same time allows her friends to come to her aid. She is confident at the end of the book, able to stand up for herself. But she is still sweet.
Rapunzel, from Tangled, is another example. In the beginning she does what she is told and even though her means of facing her fears might not have been the right thing, in the end she was able to stand up for herself - even if Flynn did kind of save her in the end - though they were even, because she saved him back.
Both are girls that normally would be looked down on. Why? Because of extremities.
Let me go back a little, to the Disney examples above. In Snow White she is sweet and innocent and childish and trusts everyone and it gets her killed, then her Prince Charming comes in and saves the day. In Mulan she dresses like a boy, fights like a man, and saves China. (Though she's kind of a bad example because she never thought boys were dumb and didn't need their help, she was just doing what she could to save her dad. But I will use her as kind of the other side of the coin. A girl who didn't need anyone to save her.) Characters like Mulan were created to tell girls, "Hey, look. You can stand up and fight. You can be brave and courageous and you don't have to just stand back and wait for someone to run in and save you. Sometimes you can save yourself." Good message, right? Girls shouldn't have to suffer some things in the hopes someone will fix it. Sometimes they will have to fix it themselves. But my problem with this is all the sudden it wasn't, "You can be like this," but the message was, "You MUST be like this! And if you like sewing and singing and girly things you're a wimp and the world is going to walk all over you." Like with Snow White, girls were being told what they HAD to be if they are to be admired. (Note, I like Disney. I am just using examples because they are ones most people will understand.)
So what if a girl likes sewing? Baking? Fencing? Hiking? Farming? Flowers? Why can't a girl have the kind of characteristics that are embedded into her? Why does society think they have to tell a girl how she should act and what she should like? (Same goes for boys.)
And this is why I have girl character issues. I am so tired of reading books and watching movies where it is considered wrong for a girl to accept help, to take an interest in girly things. Where it is bad for a girl to want to be a mother. Is that what we want girls to grow up thinking? That being mothers is degrading, that they should all get jobs that are considered man jobs? That of they like flowers and butterflies they are somehow doing something wrong and will be miserable for the rest of their lives? That they should look down on men and never accept their help? Why not have different kinds of characters - which, I am pleased to say, I have been seeing more of - and show them that, no matter what you like it is okay. (You know, within moral laws and such.) My point is, so much time and effort has been put into making girls more manly that I think the real problem has been overlooked. The whole point of books and movies and characters. It is meant to give a vast range and difference, to show that no matter what kind of characteristic you have, you always strive for something better.
I was one of those girls so this hits close to home. I was taught liking dolls and pink and frilly dresses and painted nails was a bad thing. It turns out, I like all of those things, and I also like swords and battles and adventures. It even got to the point where I thought it was horribly bad to let anyone - especially a boy - help me with anything. I thought if they offered I had to turn them down with great protests. It has taken me a long time and many years to realize there is nothing wrong in accepting help and it is still hard to say yes when someone offers to assist me with something. It took me a long time to figure myself out because the things I would have enjoyed I always thought were very bad. And in my writing, I have determined to try and do all I can to fight against these trends and show people that the best person they can possibly be is themselves.
And now we come to the last part of this post. My one iffy point with The Hobbit. The girl elf. Generally, I didn't mind her. Having elves in Middle Earth movies is never a bad thing. And she was kind of fun and I loved her hair - I wanted her hair. It was WHY she was there that irked me. In the book there were no girls. I don't think Tolkien had anything against girls, read some of his other works, but in The Hobbit he just didn't put any in. (Sometimes authors just don't want girls in. Maybe because they have hopelessly romantic characters and would like to write a book without romance and the best way to do so is leave out any and all possible love interests. I speak from experience.) And I never saw a problem with this. So what if it was just boys? It was a great book!
Therefore, the girl elf in the movie was there for only a few reasons.
One, to add a bit of romance to draw the girls in. As if it was needed. Plenty of Ringers are girls and they would have come without the romance. (And those that weren't Ringers would have likely gone for Kili and Thorin.) Therefore, she was a marketing scheme which really wasn't needed.
Two, having a movie with just guys in it might have ruffled the fur of those for women's...power or whatever. And there would have been rites in the streets over how unjust Tolkien was to leave out women. Another thing I don't think anyone had to fear. How many of them even know of The Hobbit?
Three, she was there to show up Legolas. *Snort* As if anyone can do THAT.
Four, Peter Jackson just wanted someone in there with fabulously long hair. Yes, that might be a good reason. Any excuse to show off that amazing again.
Five, she was needed to add some more gracefulness to the elven fights. Doubtful. Legolas is graceful enough. He was gracefully shooting Orcs from the dwarves' heads.
Six, she was in one of the in between stories and I have yet to meet her. (Anyone who has read them...was she?)
Seven, she was there to had a feminine touch to all the killing. Because, apparently, the world needs more feminine touches, even while killing Orcs.
Aside from the possibility of her hair, I just don't like the REASON she might have been there. Herself, she was pretty cool. If only she was there for another reason though.
And now I shall end.
What do all of you think? Do you agree or disagree? And what kinds of girl characters do you like or dislike?
Quote is from The Avengers, a conversation between Steed and Mrs. Peel - another well done girl character. They've been trying to find a murderer in a department store and things have been going badly. Steed gets punched, and his Britishness can't get over the fact someone did that too him. (There has never been and never will be a character more British then John Steed.) And he is whining to Mrs. Peel but she, as usual, has no sympathy for his pouting.
Allons-y!
I complain about girl characters a lot, I know I do. I've tried to get better about it and not whine as much, but I still have a tendency to do so. I thought it was time I did a post explaining these complaints.
First off, I don't dislike girls. I'm a girl myself - sure, a girl who grew up with brothers and therefore doesn't get girls sometimes, but I still like girls. Some of my best friends are girls. That said, I've never been huge on the whole....I don't know the term for it. Women power thingy....I know, that is likely to get me in trouble, but let me explain.
I don't believe girls should be weak and cowering in corners, singing songs about how bad their lives are while waiting for their Prince Charming to come riding up and save them. For one, not all girls are distended to have a Prince Charming. Some girls might never get married, for some reason or other. (I sometimes think I might end up as one of those girls...though marriage doesn't sound horrible to me and I'd love to have at least five kids.)
For years, these were the kinds of girls put into movies and books. Helpless, defenseless, unable to stand up for themselves. (Think Disney Princesses for a basic example.) But then this idea of helpless women began to change until now we have the Disney movies were girls are mostly saving themselves. And while telling a girl she can stand up for herself, can fight for herself and those she loves isn't so much a bad thing, how it was handled - I believe - is.
As an author, I know there are tons of ways to handle characters. One could start with a shy, scared girl and by the end of the book have her facing her fears and fighting for something she believes in. Or you could have the independant girl who thinks everyone around her is stupid and she doesn't need their help and in the end having her rely on her friends. This is called character development and I am all for it in boy and girl characters. I love it, it makes characters more endearing. So that is not where I am targeting my complaint.
In the book Seraphina, this is used. Phina is shy and withdrawn and scared. She is too scared to accept help, to admit to the world what she is. In the end of the book she stands up to her worse fears and at the same time allows her friends to come to her aid. She is confident at the end of the book, able to stand up for herself. But she is still sweet.
Rapunzel, from Tangled, is another example. In the beginning she does what she is told and even though her means of facing her fears might not have been the right thing, in the end she was able to stand up for herself - even if Flynn did kind of save her in the end - though they were even, because she saved him back.
Both are girls that normally would be looked down on. Why? Because of extremities.
Let me go back a little, to the Disney examples above. In Snow White she is sweet and innocent and childish and trusts everyone and it gets her killed, then her Prince Charming comes in and saves the day. In Mulan she dresses like a boy, fights like a man, and saves China. (Though she's kind of a bad example because she never thought boys were dumb and didn't need their help, she was just doing what she could to save her dad. But I will use her as kind of the other side of the coin. A girl who didn't need anyone to save her.) Characters like Mulan were created to tell girls, "Hey, look. You can stand up and fight. You can be brave and courageous and you don't have to just stand back and wait for someone to run in and save you. Sometimes you can save yourself." Good message, right? Girls shouldn't have to suffer some things in the hopes someone will fix it. Sometimes they will have to fix it themselves. But my problem with this is all the sudden it wasn't, "You can be like this," but the message was, "You MUST be like this! And if you like sewing and singing and girly things you're a wimp and the world is going to walk all over you." Like with Snow White, girls were being told what they HAD to be if they are to be admired. (Note, I like Disney. I am just using examples because they are ones most people will understand.)
So what if a girl likes sewing? Baking? Fencing? Hiking? Farming? Flowers? Why can't a girl have the kind of characteristics that are embedded into her? Why does society think they have to tell a girl how she should act and what she should like? (Same goes for boys.)
And this is why I have girl character issues. I am so tired of reading books and watching movies where it is considered wrong for a girl to accept help, to take an interest in girly things. Where it is bad for a girl to want to be a mother. Is that what we want girls to grow up thinking? That being mothers is degrading, that they should all get jobs that are considered man jobs? That of they like flowers and butterflies they are somehow doing something wrong and will be miserable for the rest of their lives? That they should look down on men and never accept their help? Why not have different kinds of characters - which, I am pleased to say, I have been seeing more of - and show them that, no matter what you like it is okay. (You know, within moral laws and such.) My point is, so much time and effort has been put into making girls more manly that I think the real problem has been overlooked. The whole point of books and movies and characters. It is meant to give a vast range and difference, to show that no matter what kind of characteristic you have, you always strive for something better.
I was one of those girls so this hits close to home. I was taught liking dolls and pink and frilly dresses and painted nails was a bad thing. It turns out, I like all of those things, and I also like swords and battles and adventures. It even got to the point where I thought it was horribly bad to let anyone - especially a boy - help me with anything. I thought if they offered I had to turn them down with great protests. It has taken me a long time and many years to realize there is nothing wrong in accepting help and it is still hard to say yes when someone offers to assist me with something. It took me a long time to figure myself out because the things I would have enjoyed I always thought were very bad. And in my writing, I have determined to try and do all I can to fight against these trends and show people that the best person they can possibly be is themselves.
And now we come to the last part of this post. My one iffy point with The Hobbit. The girl elf. Generally, I didn't mind her. Having elves in Middle Earth movies is never a bad thing. And she was kind of fun and I loved her hair - I wanted her hair. It was WHY she was there that irked me. In the book there were no girls. I don't think Tolkien had anything against girls, read some of his other works, but in The Hobbit he just didn't put any in. (Sometimes authors just don't want girls in. Maybe because they have hopelessly romantic characters and would like to write a book without romance and the best way to do so is leave out any and all possible love interests. I speak from experience.) And I never saw a problem with this. So what if it was just boys? It was a great book!
Therefore, the girl elf in the movie was there for only a few reasons.
One, to add a bit of romance to draw the girls in. As if it was needed. Plenty of Ringers are girls and they would have come without the romance. (And those that weren't Ringers would have likely gone for Kili and Thorin.) Therefore, she was a marketing scheme which really wasn't needed.
Two, having a movie with just guys in it might have ruffled the fur of those for women's...power or whatever. And there would have been rites in the streets over how unjust Tolkien was to leave out women. Another thing I don't think anyone had to fear. How many of them even know of The Hobbit?
Three, she was there to show up Legolas. *Snort* As if anyone can do THAT.
Four, Peter Jackson just wanted someone in there with fabulously long hair. Yes, that might be a good reason. Any excuse to show off that amazing again.
Five, she was needed to add some more gracefulness to the elven fights. Doubtful. Legolas is graceful enough. He was gracefully shooting Orcs from the dwarves' heads.
Six, she was in one of the in between stories and I have yet to meet her. (Anyone who has read them...was she?)
Seven, she was there to had a feminine touch to all the killing. Because, apparently, the world needs more feminine touches, even while killing Orcs.
Aside from the possibility of her hair, I just don't like the REASON she might have been there. Herself, she was pretty cool. If only she was there for another reason though.
And now I shall end.
What do all of you think? Do you agree or disagree? And what kinds of girl characters do you like or dislike?
Quote is from The Avengers, a conversation between Steed and Mrs. Peel - another well done girl character. They've been trying to find a murderer in a department store and things have been going badly. Steed gets punched, and his Britishness can't get over the fact someone did that too him. (There has never been and never will be a character more British then John Steed.) And he is whining to Mrs. Peel but she, as usual, has no sympathy for his pouting.
Allons-y!
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