This one is going in my vocabulary!
Ana Mardoll, who has written a series of posts analyzing C.S. Lewis's Narnia books and frequently getting all rage-smashy over their sexism, decided to add a post about the movie adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from a few years ago. She was bothered by what she perceives as extra sexism added to the movie, especially in how Susan, who was obviously not Lewis's favorite Pevensie sibling to begin with, comes off even worse in the movie than in the book. Anyway, I love this line from Ana's post because it so neatly sums up my own problems not only with that particular adaptation but with a lot of other adaptations too, plus SO VERY MANY discussions in fandom and a good many derivative and transformative works themselves:
It's like you get that telling girls that they shouldn't fight in war is sexist and controversial, but you can't get that completely changing a brave character in order to be The Great Doubter of Temptressness is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
Just change a key phrase or two and it applies to so many different situations:
It's like you get that telling girls that they shouldn't fight in war is sexist and controversial, but you can't that completely changing a politically savvy character in order to be The Spoiled, Naive Girl Who Does Whatever Feels Good at the Moment, Regardless of Consequences is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
It's like you get that telling girls that they shouldn't fight in war is sexist and controversial, but you can't get that completely changing a clever, skilled, and powerful character in order to be The Representative of All Little Sisters Everywhere So That a Man Can Save Her To Make a Point and Not Even Because He Likes Her As an Individual is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
It's like you get that telling girls that they have to get married and become mothers is sexist and controversial, but you can't get that insisting that a character who marries a partner you disapprove of and/or has more children than you think she should is a Completely Worthless Failure whose mistakes in her personal life erase everything else she has ever been or done is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
This is going to be very useful to me because almost every time I check out a discussion of sexism or any other prejudice in fandom, I notice people complaining about potholes and suggesting the alternative of jumping off a cliff.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/62734.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
It's like you get that telling girls that they shouldn't fight in war is sexist and controversial, but you can't get that completely changing a brave character in order to be The Great Doubter of Temptressness is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
Just change a key phrase or two and it applies to so many different situations:
It's like you get that telling girls that they shouldn't fight in war is sexist and controversial, but you can't that completely changing a politically savvy character in order to be The Spoiled, Naive Girl Who Does Whatever Feels Good at the Moment, Regardless of Consequences is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
It's like you get that telling girls that they shouldn't fight in war is sexist and controversial, but you can't get that completely changing a clever, skilled, and powerful character in order to be The Representative of All Little Sisters Everywhere So That a Man Can Save Her To Make a Point and Not Even Because He Likes Her As an Individual is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
It's like you get that telling girls that they have to get married and become mothers is sexist and controversial, but you can't get that insisting that a character who marries a partner you disapprove of and/or has more children than you think she should is a Completely Worthless Failure whose mistakes in her personal life erase everything else she has ever been or done is maybe side-stepping a pothole to fall off a cliff.
This is going to be very useful to me because almost every time I check out a discussion of sexism or any other prejudice in fandom, I notice people complaining about potholes and suggesting the alternative of jumping off a cliff.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/62734.html. Please comment there using OpenID.