Blogflog - George R. R. Martin is a Steely-Eyed Hard Ass, or I’m a Wimp

[blogfloggery]

Link: George R. R. Martin is a Steely-Eyed Hard Ass, or I’m a Wimp
Disclaimer: This blog entry is verbatim, as originally posted on LKH's blog. Copyright belongs to Ma Petite Enterprises.
Mod note: LKH.org is currently down, so here's a cached link.

Comments

[dwg]

I love that this completely misses the point of why GRRM kills off characters.

Also the last time we had this kind of wailing and shirt-rending was when she killed Haven, which had like zero emotional impact on any of the characters (it'd probably help if her characters had emotions to start with instead of just telling us "I feel bad about X") and then everyone swooped in to reassure Anita that what she did was the right thing, for the greater good, and that Haven was Smirky McEvilbad anyway. So what are the odds that this will repeat itself here with some character nobody really cares about?

(Also I made the mistake of scrolling through comments on her FB page and I really, really do not understand the folks who are like "I hate killing off my characters/doing bad things to them! I had to undo it immediately it was so bad!" When I was 15, I was upset about my character possibly dying in an RPG and sobbed like a baby, but my then-arch nemesis gave me a pep talk and I haven't looked back since. I am a great and terrible god to my characters; I will put them through hell - sometimes literally- if they want a happy ending. They need to fight for it. They'll get broken and rebuild, they'll quit and go do something else, but ultimately it's better for them and the plot. It probably doesn't help that I'm currently writing "Terrible People: The Illustrated Story of Bad Life Choices.")

[ext_1626743]

Did you see the person who claimed George R. R. Martin was a sociopath for killing off his characters? I seriously dislike his books on both a moral and a "craft" level, but that's going waaaaaay too far.

[dwg]

I DID. And I'm laughing at the "he's viscous[sic] and mean!" comment. GRRM being viscous would totally explain why people had to wait so long for Dance of Dragons. Beyond that, everything I know about the books comes via fandom osmosis and the tv show, but even going by that...don't all the deaths actually serve a purpose? Like, if there's going to be an argument about unnecessary deaths, at least bring up Joss Whedon or fridging. A death as a cheap vehicle for drama is more LKH's style, much like all the tragic backstories of woe that all the dudes seem to have so their woobies can be sexed away by the heroine.

[world_dancer]

Gail Simone?

She worked on Villains United and Secret Six for a while, and those are hardly heroes. Also, Deadpool, which is hardly feminist.

I haven't really followed those as much as Birds of Prey (which maybe some of the other members would find interesting for having kickass women). The character of Black Alice, who is a part-time villain who drives off our heroines from her home town and gives the finger to both the good and bad guys stands out as a character who wasn't proved wrong just so that the heroes could be right. And the conflict between Spy Smasher and Oracle, where Spy Smasher was ultimately proved wrong, was really a conflict of leadership styles and how far one goes for control.

I know she's also worked on Wonder Woman, but I haven't followed her specifically, so I don't know how her plotlines evolved there. I'm also not sure what the personal stuff you've mentioned is. A lot of people were confused and upset over her firing, I know. Along with a lot of other mismangement at DC at the time.

[desert_vixen]

I don't enjoy GRRM, but that's a bit much.

It would be super unrealistic if people didn't die in the books. Some of the deaths matter more than others - like Ned's where you're like, "wait, I thought this was the good guy..." where others you're just happy the characters have been put out of their misery. I like to argue that Ned is probably one of the luckiest characters, because he just dies. Everyone else has to live.

[wanderingworlds]

Uuuugh. Now I'm remembering the "breakdown" scene Anita had after killing Haven in the shower where Richard had to come console her.

Then JC promptly did her hair up by putting it in curlers.