Comments | hated_character: Never Live It Down

sarajayechan in hated_character

Never Live It Down

Mar 01, 2011 15:14

Another pattern I've noticed in fandom is that whenever a character slips up or does something noticeably Not Too Bright, they become forever defined by it no matter what else they do.

( Examples. May contain spoilers )

"how dare you make a mistake!", "your penis offends me!", fanon =/= canon, female characters, crying "sensitive = weak", male characters, "you're not allowed to live it down!", crying "how dare you be realistic!", rant, crying "child = immature!", character exaggeration, "good traits? what good traits?", "stop having a vagina!!", "durrr what's character development?"

Comments 18

beccastareyes March 1 2011, 20:21:51 UTC

Same here. Especially since character development is a major plus for me. Aang's whole arc is about growing into his role as Avatar, just like Zuko's arc is about learning to trust his own internal sense of honor, rather than the one his father imposes. Seeing Aang as the kid who ran away because he couldn't deal with being a grown-up yet is the same as seeing Zuko as the child desperately seeking his father's approval -- they started out like that, but not only that, and grew past those flaws. (Not to mention Katara trying to deal with some deep shit as well as wanting to be a teenaged girl sometimes in a society that has pretty much asked her to grow up since her father left, Toph's issues regarding her independence, the whole damn Beach episode, and Sokka's need to keep up with the super-powered members of Team Avatar.)

sarajayechan March 1 2011, 21:39:54 UTC

Word to that. Sometimes I feel like about half the ATLA fandom missed the boat in one way or another, especially regarding character development and humanity. :/

beccastareyes March 1 2011, 22:13:43 UTC

Which drives me nuts since one of the main selling points to me of A:tLA is how awesome and dynamic the characters are and how they grow over 3 seasons.

slayerofgod March 1 2011, 23:44:44 UTC

Relena.

Enough said.

sarajayechan March 1 2011, 23:55:14 UTC

YES. I was going to put her on the list and somehow forgot. Yeah, she yells "HEEEERROOOOOOOO!!!!" from the top of a cliff and suddenly it's all she EVER did.

kankurette March 2 2011, 13:09:31 UTC

And Sakura screams for Naruto to come back and all the healing and good work she did in that arc is cancelled out.

Just can't win... ext_396781 March 2 2011, 05:51:37 UTC

It's amazing that people complain about the lack of complex characters, deriding the existing ones as "one-dimensional and bland," while when they do have complex characters, they criticize the one error they make (regardless if it's minor or not) and never let them live it down. It's more like they're saying "We want complex characters, but only make them be what we want them to be" (I.E. Basically be their surrogate characters). Make up your mind, people! *shakes head*

Re: Just can't win... akai_senshi March 2 2011, 18:04:41 UTC

THIS.

Fictional characters can't win.

hikari318 March 2 2011, 07:21:34 UTC

I understand if people don't like some characters because of their flaws and mistakes if they're part of their personalities, but when those are part of their character development (and they, you know, outgrow them), it makes me crazy. It's like they never bothered to look at the character except during that fail-y moment. Seriously...

kankurette March 2 2011, 08:15:05 UTC

People in the Naruto fandom will never get over how Chouji or Sakura behaved in Part 1. Character development? What's that? Chouji will always be the stupid fat kid and Sakura will always be the ignorant bitchy fangirl. It's particularly irritating when it comes from Ino fans who call her a bitch for breaking friends with her. She was a little kid, for fuck's sake. The two of them kissed and made up and are friends now. But some people won't let it go ( ... )