Comments | alizarin_nyc: Noticing the Fridge Effect

alizarin_nyc

Noticing the Fridge Effect

Feb 21, 2013 00:25

I've been accumulating irritation over women being "fridged." (Not Fringe-ed, that would require amber BAH-DUM-DUM).

Wikilore definition:

The term women in refrigerators was coined by Gail Simone in 1999 to describe a plot device that she noticed as being particularly common in superhero comics. This plot device uses the victimization of a female ( Read more... )

ranty mcrant, fandomania, feminisogyny

Comments 19

thirdbird_fic February 21 2013, 10:41:39 UTC

Lewis's dead wife!!

draycevixen February 21 2013, 12:29:12 UTC

Which also reminded me of Jack's dead wife in New Tricks, also the victim of a hit-and-run.

alizarin_nyc February 21 2013, 19:32:32 UTC

LEWIS' DEAD WIFE. How could I forget THAT.

(Hathaway's dead lover! Oops)

draycevixen February 21 2013, 12:32:58 UTC

You know if we starting adding films to your list we'd be here for the rest of the week.

Elementary even kills off a character who canonically survives and outwits Holmes in order to create his manquish. <-- Rapidly becoming my new favourite made-up word. *g*

Reid on CM was one of the most flagrant cases I've seen in ages as it came out of nowhere and then they didn't even really tap in to the resulting manquish for more than, what, 20 minutes?

alizarin_nyc February 21 2013, 19:35:53 UTC

GOD that CM storyline was very, very poor. I loved seeing Parker, but I did not believe for a second that it was Twu Wuv as they'd never even MET, nor did I believe the storyline as it unfolded, nor did I believe the godawful ACTING, and finally, I did not believe in his manguish like, at all. Is it man+anguish?

And yeah, blam, he's over it. Or you know, throwing himself into his work. Whatevs.

I have a feeling that Adler on Elementary isn't actually dead, but the idea that she is is giving him indigestion/manguish for ages.

Films are so ridiculous with this trope. Bond, anyone?

draycevixen February 21 2013, 20:09:26 UTC

I always used to say "man pain" and then I saw someone do a little cartoon of "manquish" and it just stuck with me. *g*

A mate of mine who is a big Xena fan got all excited about the fact they married off Gabrielle and then killed her husband in the same episode as one of the few examples she'd ever seen of it happening in reverse.

This Time It's Personal executrix February 21 2013, 21:39:54 UTC

Lynda LaPlante is *always* killing off her heroine's husbands and fiances.

To be fair, though, a writer who wants Big Conflict or High Stakes is likely to turn to killing off people who are important in the protagonist's life, and if all they ever did was kill off brothers and comrades-in-arms and gray-bearded ancient fathers then we might say, "what are we, chopped liver?"

Thread 9

scribblinlenore February 21 2013, 13:36:17 UTC

Ugh! I am so with you. I would also add the killing off of Zoe on Luther.

Criminal Minds is the worst, I think.

alizarin_nyc February 21 2013, 19:37:06 UTC

YES. Zoe. Manpain for ages. At least Zoe was a character in her own right and not just a cardboard cutout but still.

Crim Minds is pretty egregious. Even Jennifer's husband got to live.

(The comment has been removed)

alizarin_nyc February 21 2013, 19:31:43 UTC

Ha ha, you know what I'm talking about. I get the sense, too that comics are a big transgressor in this sense.

entrenous88 February 21 2013, 22:49:00 UTC

I freaking hate that device too. And I totally thought of Ringer's Agent Vic Machado, and his dead-stripper-grilfriend-who-was-pregnant-with-their-baby-when-a-mob-boss-dismembered-her (and it sucked that it sort of *worked* for me narratively, probably because Nestor Carbonell is very good indeed with any sort of material). But no one else will think of this because I believe I was the only person on the East Coast to watch that damn show as it aired.