Sue statistics time. Bwahaha.

[araeph]

We all like to laugh at Mary Sue's penchant for describing her features as rare, exotic, or beautiful. However, I don't think we've ever done a test to see exactly how many Sues have these traits. Just how special is our average PotC Mary Sue? Well, by going through all of the Sue descriptions that we have, I managed to gather some interesting

Comments

[araeph]

Huh. I've never heard or read the first definition outside of Suefic. It's always been the second. The rest of the definitions also tend towards using the word as a person that has dark hair, as opposed to a hair color. (I've always thought of saying "she had brunette hair" as saying something like, "she had redhead hair," which sounds silly.) I've learned something new today, and edited the post--though I still don't know where to categorize it, since "brunette" can refer to brown or dark hair.

Thanks for letting me know!

[bizarreoptimism]

*blinks* You're not alone, Araeph -- I, too, had (outside of Suefic) only heard the word "brunette" used to actually describe a person ("My mum's a brunette"), but never had heard it used to describe the hair itself ("My mum has brunette hair"). To me, it really DOES sound like one is saying, "My mum has redhead hair," which of course isn't right ...

Except that "brunette hair" is. Welp. Go figure. ;-)

[erinya]

*is short and slim, with ample chest, green eyes, and extremely pale skin*

Shit, I'm a Sue. But I have brown hair (at least nowadays) so maybe I'm okay? My point being that "normal" is kind of a misnomer.

But yes. I think what you're seeing is an emphasis on the Suethor's OC looking interesting in lieu of actually being interesting.

[araeph]

Exactly. It's one thing to say that a character looks like, for example, you, and quite another to REQUIRE all of your original female characters to have features toward one extreme or the other. Rarity--or what Suethors think of as rarity--seems to be mandatory in this fandom, and yet their personalities are all alike.

Also, what actually IS normal doesn't matter so much as what the Suethors THINK of as normal, which I believe is the brown-haired, brown-eyed, girl of average build that I described in my conclusion. (They don't think in terms of character so much as physicality, of course.)

[kitsune106]

Yikes. Although, given these are mary sues, it makes sense, the under 30 part. I mean, what would gray haired old ladies be called?

And I wonder, if the sues might be trying to compensate their poor interior qualities, like compansion and all, with a stunning exterior? Or am I overgeneralizing again?

[araeph]

I would say that they are, for the most part, trying to do just that, but I don't think it's a conscious effort. Time and time again, for example, I have seen authors describe their Sues as fiery and independent, as opposed to all of the other women, who were of course all meek, subservient, and completely dependent on men. Problem is, that isn't even true of the HISTORICAL Caribbean, let alone the PotC universe as we know it from the movies. Think of the women with speaking parts in this trilogy:

Elizabeth
Tia Dalma
Anamaria
Scarlet
Giselle
Estrella the maid

What percentage of these women fits the description that the Suethors believe applied to most females in that time period? Even Estrella speaks her mind in the very few lines she has.

Although I still think that the characters' appearences, for the most part, overshadow the weak Sueish personalities, there is some sort of effort to make Sues different personality-wise. That's what a Sue likes to think she is most of all: different. Not like all of the other women that (

[bizarreoptimism]

Think of the women with speaking parts in this trilogy:

Don't forget Mistress Ching! *grins* I'd like to see how much patience SHE'D have with a Sue showing up to boss her around ...

[starsong24]

*Considers self.*

Tall, skinny, blonde hair, green eyes, annoyingly large chest...bother. I never realised how Suey I look.

Then again, while they often mention hair/eye colour, they rarely if ever discuss features. Slanty eyes; low, broad cheekbones; expressive but not full lips; a slightly turned-up nose...NOW I know what the person looks like, as opposed to hair and eye colour.

On a slightly unrelated track, blonde hair isn't that rare. It's a lot less common than brown, but in my class of twenty or so, about six to eight have blonde hair. (With varying definitions of 'blonde' -- some are wavering on the 'brown' line.) Blue eyes aren't dreadfully uncommon either, though it's usually a washed-out blue-grey.

Skin should not shimmer. Not unless it is dreadfully sweaty, which is rather unattractive...

[araeph]

Then again, while they often mention hair/eye colour, they rarely if ever discuss features. Slanty eyes; low, broad cheekbones; expressive but not full lips; a slightly turned-up nose...NOW I know what the person looks like, as opposed to hair and eye colour.

You're right; they don't discuss features. They mostly just put the entire self-insertion under the blanket adjective BEAUTIFUL.

Blond hair isn't that rare, but the fact that it's more common than brown here, and that red hair, which is rare, is just as common as brown, becomes a little strange after a while. Also, Suethors seem to think that these hair and eye colors are a lot rarer than they actually are. (If they didn't think this was the case, I doubt they'd give these colors to their Sues.) I remember one Sue that boasted of her green eyes because no one else in the Sue's school had them. On that same post, several of our members commented on the fact that actually, we have green eyes, too, and they're not as rare as everyone thinks

[starsong24]

The problem with 'beautiful' is that it's so dang variable. Funny how they never realise this.

Emerald green is...silly, yes. *Blinks.* Most green eyes I've seen are green with brown or grey mixed in. And 'lapis lazuli', well, the stone tends to come in different shades (weird but true). Also, apart from brown, most eye colours tend to be either very dark or rather drab, not bright.

I personally think 'Suethors have somehow got it into their heads that 'brown and normal' is 'ugly'. Seriously. It's the only way any of this makes sense. And since most people have brown hair/eyes, they've decided that normal is also ugly.

A personality? But having a personality takes so much work! Surely it isn't worth all that bother to write an interesting story!

[araeph]

personally think 'Suethors have somehow got it into their heads that 'brown and normal' is 'ugly'. Seriously. It's the only way any of this makes sense. And since most people have brown hair/eyes, they've decided that normal is also ugly.

And yet, the human race continues not only to survive and reproduce, but to suffer from overpopulation. Well, dang. Apparently enough men have thought enough "normal" women were beautiful to put 6.6 billion people on this planet!

Of course, chances are those men aren't Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom, which matters just a little too much where Suethors are concerned.