Thoughts On Princess Mithian...

[ravenya03]

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.

Comments

[ravenya03]

I think all of human experience can be explained by the difference between expectation and reality, lol.

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?

Nice post

[ext_1071455]

I liked how you pictured the whole thing about the "Fairytale princess getting the boot" :) I googled it to find out if Mithian was from the legends exactly because of that, she was weirdly perfect, and I agree, they didn't show something that make you say "ok, I knew it was too perfect, Gwen is better than her". Anyways, nice post :) And comments.

Re: Nice post

[ravenya03]

Thanks! I'm a little embarrassed about how long my post turned out, so it's good to get positive feedback!

"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.