focsle:I hate tumblr’s idea of ‘problematic’ characters so much.
An example of a problematic...
I hate tumblr’s idea of ‘problematic’ characters so much.
An example of a problematic character would be a stock character of a marginalized group that’s reduced to a conglomeration of stereotypes that have a harmful effect on people from that group in the real world.
A problematic character is not a developed character with developed flaws and belief systems that people irl happen to be at odds with. It is not a character that interacts with other characters in ways that hurt them within the narrative. That’s what a story is. That’s what creating characters means. Developing a fleshed-out fictional person to serve a function within one’s narrative.
And characters that are solely mouthpieces for the creator’s own moral views and belief systems, regardless of what those views are, are bad characters, and make bad stories.
Right, but isn’t this why people use the term ‘problematic fav’? If people simply said 'this is a bad character that I really like’, now that is confusing. I think the term problematic in this case isn’t meant to imply that the character is poorly developed, because if it were it wouldn’t be anyone’s favorite. The term is meant to imply that this is a character that does things to hurt the reader, like making huge mistakes or betraying other character’s the reader likes. It’s the kind of character that makes you go “I hate you! You ass hole!” and then the moment they’re in any danger at all, go “omg no not this character, they are my heart and sole!” So really it’s just a jargon-like term that has a misleading meaning unless you know its meaning. Its a term that makes it easier for book nerds to talk about books without having to give a drawn out explanation like the one I gave every time they want to talk about their problematic fav.
