Thoughts On Princess Mithian...
Holy moly is this thing huge. What started off as a little meta that tried to pinpoint why I was so fascinated by this character's role ended up expanding into this giant essay. I'm not sure how it happened, only that it did. And after I told myself to take a break from "Merlin." Ah well. Maybe now I've finally purged it from my system.
( Who Art Thou Mithian...? )
( Who Art Thou Mithian...? )
I think all of human experience can be explained by the difference between expectation and reality, lol.
Btw, I'm not suggesting that meta commentary doesn't have value. Personally, I found your theories fascinating, and more importantly, better fleshed out than any narrative on the actual show, which says a lot more about the show than anything else. *sigh*
While I don't quite understand the fannish obsession with the show, I'm fascinated by fan reaction to particular characters, notably Gwen. Ignoring the race issue, at least for the moment, I think it's because the female lead in a show needs to be either (a) so removed from real-world analogies of beauty and competence that she's effectively a fairy tale princess or (b) so plain and ordinary that it's possible for the audience to simply ignore her (or better, insert themselves into her role). Gwen is far above the ordinary, but not quite extraordinary, so the audience doesn't know how to react to her, and they can't quite understand why Arthur and/or Lancelot react the way they do.
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Have you seen the expectations vs reality split-screen scene in "500 Days of Summer"? ;)
I'm fascinated by fan reaction to particular characters, notably Gwen.
Bingo - a lot of the writing of this helped me get over my frustrations with fandom (we've both been there). Gwen is so unlike any female lead I've ever seen in a fantasy show and Mithian so EXACTLY like any female lead in a fantasy show that the subversion in crowning one and not the other fascinated me somehow - whether or not it was the writers' intent; it happened. I probably would have been just as interested by the subversion had it happened on any other show/film/book.
Plus, this episode just got under my skin - I wouldn't say I'm part of the fannish obsession for the show so much as just this particular episode. (And after you've worked on something for a certain amount of time, you feel the need to complete it or else it feels like a waste! This meta kept growing beyond my control.)
And hey, if the shoe fits - wear it; if the theory fits - run with it. In this case, the idea (however slight) of the writers deliberating introducing a perfect fairytale princess just to give her the boot in favour of Gwen, was too, too delicious for me not to explore further. And I do want to give the writers/directors SOME degree of credit. I have no doubt that the shot in the forest in which Arthur stares at Gwen's ring and Mithian is depicted as out-of-focus behind him was a conscious choice.
Gwen is far above the ordinary, but not quite extraordinary, so the audience doesn't know how to react to her, and they can't quite understand why Arthur and/or Lancelot react the way they do.
And yet it's so obvious to me! Why don't more people get it?
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"Weirdly perfect" is a good way of describing Mithian - and I liked the implication that sometimes a character/person CAN be genuinely amazing, and yet still rejected simply because the male leads prefer someone who is imperfect.
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