Tons of fantasy fiction has the same recurring themes rehashed over and over.
I know witches and vampires are the biggest craze in pop culture now. (L J Smith, of whom I'll admit I am a huge fan, yet still is also guilty.)
But let us examine this entertainment trend a bit more closely. I notice that all the girl characters are vampire slayers. Or witches. (Crickets chirping.) Witches-- that means they are little middle-class white girls that complain there aren’t enough vegetarian foods in the cafeteria (Ten Things) and have onscreen lesbian kisses (Buffy). That is the extent to which pop culture defines girls in fantasy fiction.
Vampires in general are always depicted as being more powerful than their human victims. This is pretty much a consensus not just in recent pop culture, but also with Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, etc. And they are almost always male. Sexy, seductive, powerful. There are hardly any female vampires. (Don’t bother piping up with Lestat’s mother-- that was an insult to hypothetical female vampires.)
I'm getting the impression that authors are worried vampires are not feminine enough. The authors seem to be completely unaware that it is not necessary to give female vampires "male" characteristics. Female vampires could be beautiful and ruthless and poised and cultured. The characters could be every bit as powerful as male vampires without resorting to masculine-woman characterizations.
They never ever, and I mean never ever, portray, say, a female werewolf. Werewolves are actually powerful and wild, untamed. That is the popular culture portrayal. Yet you never see a female werewolf character in pop culture. This is definitely one that they obviously think is too masculine to be female.
What utter hogwash. I feel that this reveals the depths to which authors truly lack creativity. If such an astounding number of fantasy fiction authors are unable to cultivate a believable female werewolf character, then perhaps they need to go back to their creative writing programs and pick up a few more skills.
They could portray a werewolf who is warm and strong. Have these authors really never been acquainted with a woman in real life who is warm and strong, protective and nurturing? I.e., an ideal springboard from which to design a believable female werewolf?
Just because they are good does not mean they have to be pristine lily white angel goody-two-shoes, who don't even want any harm to come to their enemies. Yeah right. They can have just due to befall their enemies. That philosophy is called justice.
They can still be kickass and ferocious and fierce. A force to be reckoned with. Like Mulan. Mulan was awesome. She was brave, courageous, legendary, intense and dynamic. She also was from a single, solitary movie from three years ago. Nothing in recent memory even comes close to be level of heroicism.
In a fantasy fiction book once, there was a young guy character who was a widower. As if that weren't traumatic enough, he had also lost his two young children. Now I genuinely, truly do not mean to be insensitive to widowers (or widows) in real life, or to anyone who has lost a loved one. You have to believe me on that.
But we are talking about book characterizations and whether or not this is quality writing. And the fact is, the guy's experiences in life have given him strength. He has seen pain, he has experienced extreme heartache. He had made that emotional commitment to a wife at a point in his lifetime. Only to have it cruelly wrenched away from him. Because of his heartbreaks, he has grown as a human being; he is a stronger and better person for it.
Whereas the chick he's having sezz with is a silly, simpering, sheltered female who has never had to grow up or do a damn day's worth of work in her entire life. She still needs her mother to cook for her and take care of her. She has never been close to any searing, heartrending trauma such as watching your spouse or your own blood kin die right in front of your eyes. Ha! Yeah, right, are you kidding me? Not even.
Well, to reveal the whole story, her father left when she was slightly younger but first he made sure her mother had the house and the pension. (Eyes blinking boredly. Crickets chirping.) That is the extent of the merciless trauma she has endured. Yep, that's all folks.
The Bridget jones and Ally mcbeal. These are horrible excuses for your "modern woman." This is a sad sorry effigy parody of a "strong capable educated worldly sophisticated woman in charge if her own life." What the hell is feminism even there for if the intended audience is just squandering away all of the opportunities that this social movement has bestowed us? Feminism is there to broaden your horizons, yet all they do is choose to stick with tired old crap.
Anyways.
I know witches and vampires are the biggest craze in pop culture now. (L J Smith, of whom I'll admit I am a huge fan, yet still is also guilty.)
But let us examine this entertainment trend a bit more closely. I notice that all the girl characters are vampire slayers. Or witches. (Crickets chirping.) Witches-- that means they are little middle-class white girls that complain there aren’t enough vegetarian foods in the cafeteria (Ten Things) and have onscreen lesbian kisses (Buffy). That is the extent to which pop culture defines girls in fantasy fiction.
Vampires in general are always depicted as being more powerful than their human victims. This is pretty much a consensus not just in recent pop culture, but also with Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, etc. And they are almost always male. Sexy, seductive, powerful. There are hardly any female vampires. (Don’t bother piping up with Lestat’s mother-- that was an insult to hypothetical female vampires.)
I'm getting the impression that authors are worried vampires are not feminine enough. The authors seem to be completely unaware that it is not necessary to give female vampires "male" characteristics. Female vampires could be beautiful and ruthless and poised and cultured. The characters could be every bit as powerful as male vampires without resorting to masculine-woman characterizations.
They never ever, and I mean never ever, portray, say, a female werewolf. Werewolves are actually powerful and wild, untamed. That is the popular culture portrayal. Yet you never see a female werewolf character in pop culture. This is definitely one that they obviously think is too masculine to be female.
What utter hogwash. I feel that this reveals the depths to which authors truly lack creativity. If such an astounding number of fantasy fiction authors are unable to cultivate a believable female werewolf character, then perhaps they need to go back to their creative writing programs and pick up a few more skills.
They could portray a werewolf who is warm and strong. Have these authors really never been acquainted with a woman in real life who is warm and strong, protective and nurturing? I.e., an ideal springboard from which to design a believable female werewolf?
Just because they are good does not mean they have to be pristine lily white angel goody-two-shoes, who don't even want any harm to come to their enemies. Yeah right. They can have just due to befall their enemies. That philosophy is called justice.
They can still be kickass and ferocious and fierce. A force to be reckoned with. Like Mulan. Mulan was awesome. She was brave, courageous, legendary, intense and dynamic. She also was from a single, solitary movie from three years ago. Nothing in recent memory even comes close to be level of heroicism.
In a fantasy fiction book once, there was a young guy character who was a widower. As if that weren't traumatic enough, he had also lost his two young children. Now I genuinely, truly do not mean to be insensitive to widowers (or widows) in real life, or to anyone who has lost a loved one. You have to believe me on that.
But we are talking about book characterizations and whether or not this is quality writing. And the fact is, the guy's experiences in life have given him strength. He has seen pain, he has experienced extreme heartache. He had made that emotional commitment to a wife at a point in his lifetime. Only to have it cruelly wrenched away from him. Because of his heartbreaks, he has grown as a human being; he is a stronger and better person for it.
Whereas the chick he's having sezz with is a silly, simpering, sheltered female who has never had to grow up or do a damn day's worth of work in her entire life. She still needs her mother to cook for her and take care of her. She has never been close to any searing, heartrending trauma such as watching your spouse or your own blood kin die right in front of your eyes. Ha! Yeah, right, are you kidding me? Not even.
Well, to reveal the whole story, her father left when she was slightly younger but first he made sure her mother had the house and the pension. (Eyes blinking boredly. Crickets chirping.) That is the extent of the merciless trauma she has endured. Yep, that's all folks.
The Bridget jones and Ally mcbeal. These are horrible excuses for your "modern woman." This is a sad sorry effigy parody of a "strong capable educated worldly sophisticated woman in charge if her own life." What the hell is feminism even there for if the intended audience is just squandering away all of the opportunities that this social movement has bestowed us? Feminism is there to broaden your horizons, yet all they do is choose to stick with tired old crap.
Anyways.
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