the road to power is smooth sailing?
So, I watched 'Wanted' with a few friends the other day, and I must proclaim it an absolute waste of my time. Every action movie stereotype in the genre was used for the yawningly predictable plot, which tried to redeem itself with plot twists that tended towards the even more yawningly predictable. The characters were unlikable and lacked any depth outside of their allotted action movie roles, and the main character in particular was a mewling, whiny, arrogant tool. I don't mean 'tool' like 'bastard' or 'jerk', I mean 'tool' as in the thing people use. Because that was all he did this whole movie: allow himself to be tugged along and molded by whatever new stranger spilled information to him. He took everything at face value, despite every fuck-up that occurred when he did. (I mean, seriously. You agree with the story of the girl who has serious PSTD and find her opinion rational enough to take killing orders from random 'code' found in fabric? You're a moron.) In no way did I see him come up wih an original thought or opinion.
I personally loathe 'heroes' like this. This is also a big part of why I disliked the character Jaenelle from the Black Jewels Trilogy. Not only because she had super powers and most everyone loved her. I think I could get along just fine with her being Witch, superpowered, and Queen/Healer/Black Widow. No, what I disliked was that she never accomplished anything on her own power, but instead was practically reliant on the circle of friends and 'family' that she collected throughout the series. She didn't work for her power, it was given to her a silver platter. She was born with it. That she didn't want it is irrelevant. (Actually, it makes it worse. Is there something wrong with being happy about having that power, having the ambition to use it to make the world better? She seemed content to simply live her life, sheltered and protected by Papa Saetan, until the massacre of the unicorns. Even then, no active strike against the corruption in Terreille.) While she did suffer, and she did go through an awful childhood, those problems were unrelated to her path to rule as Witch. They might have happened because of what she was, but they didn't impede her politically.
She never worked for her position, either. Since the Black Jewels world is a highly classist caste system, as a black-jeweled Queen, her position might as well have been secured at birth. She didn't exert any energy becoming the political figure she was, she never suffered to gain the power she did. It all fell merrily into her lap, despite her demure protests of 'Oh, I never wanted this.' And still, once she becomes Queen of Ebon Askavi, we don't really see what she does to handle her territory. We see her making healing brews, which...y'know, the Healers could take care of. We see her going to plays and haring off to rescue someone because of what she sees in a tangled web. But we never see any of the political issues she may need to deal with, assuming the Queen functions like any political leader we have today. No, she wanders around, visiting people and occasionally doing Healer work.
Meanwhile, I just SCREAM. It's bad enough that she never worked for what she achieved. It's bad enough that everyone who really matters automatically bows down to her authority, making it a stupidly frictionless political environment. It's bad enough that she never even WANTED the highly important position and can't seem to manage something like an army. (Does she even HAVE an army? Am I giving her too much credit for organization?) But she manages to accomplish nothing with her power until she, well, saves the world. Even then, she just lets out a burst of power and kills the bad guys. It's quick, it's flashy, and frankly, it's boring.
Did I mention that the only reason she came to be alive in the end was because a bunch of talking animals and a crazy Black Widow went behind her back and made the plan so it wouldn't kill her?
I like heroes who have to work to achieve what they have. I like them with ambition, passion, and drive. I like them with self-confidence, and I like them to struggle and occasionally fall along the way. Having a main character who everyone, but the people who don't actually matter automatically loves...is cheating. Having a character who falls into every good fortune in their life without having to make an effort is both impractical and unsatisfying writing.
I personally loathe 'heroes' like this. This is also a big part of why I disliked the character Jaenelle from the Black Jewels Trilogy. Not only because she had super powers and most everyone loved her. I think I could get along just fine with her being Witch, superpowered, and Queen/Healer/Black Widow. No, what I disliked was that she never accomplished anything on her own power, but instead was practically reliant on the circle of friends and 'family' that she collected throughout the series. She didn't work for her power, it was given to her a silver platter. She was born with it. That she didn't want it is irrelevant. (Actually, it makes it worse. Is there something wrong with being happy about having that power, having the ambition to use it to make the world better? She seemed content to simply live her life, sheltered and protected by Papa Saetan, until the massacre of the unicorns. Even then, no active strike against the corruption in Terreille.) While she did suffer, and she did go through an awful childhood, those problems were unrelated to her path to rule as Witch. They might have happened because of what she was, but they didn't impede her politically.
She never worked for her position, either. Since the Black Jewels world is a highly classist caste system, as a black-jeweled Queen, her position might as well have been secured at birth. She didn't exert any energy becoming the political figure she was, she never suffered to gain the power she did. It all fell merrily into her lap, despite her demure protests of 'Oh, I never wanted this.' And still, once she becomes Queen of Ebon Askavi, we don't really see what she does to handle her territory. We see her making healing brews, which...y'know, the Healers could take care of. We see her going to plays and haring off to rescue someone because of what she sees in a tangled web. But we never see any of the political issues she may need to deal with, assuming the Queen functions like any political leader we have today. No, she wanders around, visiting people and occasionally doing Healer work.
Meanwhile, I just SCREAM. It's bad enough that she never worked for what she achieved. It's bad enough that everyone who really matters automatically bows down to her authority, making it a stupidly frictionless political environment. It's bad enough that she never even WANTED the highly important position and can't seem to manage something like an army. (Does she even HAVE an army? Am I giving her too much credit for organization?) But she manages to accomplish nothing with her power until she, well, saves the world. Even then, she just lets out a burst of power and kills the bad guys. It's quick, it's flashy, and frankly, it's boring.
Did I mention that the only reason she came to be alive in the end was because a bunch of talking animals and a crazy Black Widow went behind her back and made the plan so it wouldn't kill her?
I like heroes who have to work to achieve what they have. I like them with ambition, passion, and drive. I like them with self-confidence, and I like them to struggle and occasionally fall along the way. Having a main character who everyone, but the people who don't actually matter automatically loves...is cheating. Having a character who falls into every good fortune in their life without having to make an effort is both impractical and unsatisfying writing.