Comments | scrollgirl: Fannish Pet Peeve

scrollgirl

Fannish Pet Peeve

Dec 05, 2009 00:33

Seriously, can we please stop with the "noble heroes are boring" crap? I would really, really like for this to happen. When did "hero" and "noble" become dirty words? What happened to boasting about our Big Damn Heroes? When did we start thinking "good" = "perfect ( Read more... )

meta:good guys, tv:the west wing, fandom, canon:tamora pierce, canon:harry potter, meta, tv:numb3rs, tv:highlander, tv:buffy

Comments 12

(The comment has been removed)

scrollgirl December 5 2009, 06:21:13 UTC

Big Block of Cheese Day! Oh, Leo. *sniff*

I didn't read X-Men growing up, so alas I don't really know Scott except through the cartoons. But yes, I think too often people dismiss the "good guy" for the "bad-ass" without even trying to look for depth and layers.

slybrarian December 5 2009, 06:15:43 UTC

I agree completely. Noble heroes can be incredibly interesting if they're done right. Give me Cam Mitchell or Carrot Ironfoundersson over some brooding, half-psychotic Batman figure any day.

scrollgirl December 5 2009, 06:23:34 UTC

Noble heroes can be incredibly interesting if they're done right.

Absolutely! And I hate that too often noble heroes are dismissed without giving them a chance to stand on their own merits.

(Which isn't to say I don't love Batman when he's not psychotic.)

gaffsie December 5 2009, 11:38:00 UTC

Carrot! OMG YES! I love him like I love Benton Fraser (that is to say, a lot). And people who think that Carrot isn't interesting are insane. After all, you have to be incredibly smart to be that simple. :D

slybrarian December 5 2009, 18:31:18 UTC

And possibly incredibly devious, too. There's always that niggling little doubt in my head that Carrot knows damned well that he's manipulating everyone around him, but I can't help but think that even if he is he's obviously doing it for a good reason. Right?

Thread 5

gaffsie December 5 2009, 11:38:44 UTC

People are dissing Fraser? :( Well, looks like Ray has some head-kicking to do.

scrollgirl December 5 2009, 14:04:55 UTC

No, they're purposely *not* calling him a Noble Hero as a *compliment*. They enjoy his character and think he's too damaged to be a hero, they'd rather call him a "flawed protagonist", which I think is a completely useless descriptor. Of course he's flawed--he's human! It doesn't mean he's not a big damn hero too, or that his sacrifices aren't noble. As if heroes can't be human.

gaffsie December 5 2009, 14:16:18 UTC

Well duh. Obviously he has flaws. Everyone does. Doesn't make him less of a noble hero though. He's pretty much the archetype of one!

amenirdis December 5 2009, 11:44:56 UTC

I am with you 100 ( ... )

gehayi December 5 2009, 12:28:18 UTC

It can be such a disappointment when writers topple heroes from their pedestals, too. I remember how deeply upset I was--indeed, how deeply upset most of the Highlander fandom was--as a result of the Ahriman Arc, when Duncan killed his student and surrogate son, Richie Ryan. It wasn't just that Duncan knew he was hallucinating (as he'd done in the past on several occasions), or that he had a number of opportunities to hand over his sword to prevent himself from hurting anyone. It was the way the writers wrote the aftermath of Richie's death. Afterwards, Duncan was initially shocked...but then went off to a monastery in Kuala Lumpur or something for a year. The audience never saw him experience any grief or guilt ( ... )