If you google "fuck yeah controversial characters", there are Tumblr posts, if you can access them, defending so-called "controversial" characters in fiction, mostly in anime.
A character can be hated by the majority of a fanbase for numerous reasons - they are Mary Sues, they are obnoxious, they are annoying and a distraction, they are useless, they never experience change or growth overtime, etc. But disturbingly, a lot of the characters you will find who are deemed "controversial" are female, and the reasons for the hatred turned towards them are mostly because they display non-feminine traits. They are loud, assertive, make mistakes, are overconfident, are bitchy, are mean - the list goes on. In other words, they are hated for being human and flawed, something that popular male characters have always been praised for; and even if the men have no real flaws or are plain bad people, their actions are still excused again and again. Even the term Mary Sue, once used to describe too-perfect, fanfiction special snowflakes, has just turned into another way of saying, "A female character I don't like". Also take into account the reason for hating a female character when she is involved in a love triangle, and in the midst of a fan-shipping war. Nobody's ship should be a reason for hating a fictional character - that's just childish, and often has nothing to do with the actions of the characters themselves in context. If you doubt there being a double standard at play here, consider how many male characters are hated for not displaying traditional masculine traits (such as Shinji Ikari from 'Neon Genesis Evangelion').
Heck, what about the characters who are hated in-show but are beloved by the fanbase? See the TV Tropes page, Unpopular Popular Character, for examples of this. There's a flip-side for you.
Evidence suggests that sexism and misogyny do play a huge part in a mass loathing of a fictional character. And today I list the Top 10 female characters who are "controversial", either in-show or in their franchise's fanbase, but I like them anyway. I will defend them, believing, in own personal opinion, that the hate towards them is unfounded, unfair, blown out of proportion, or biased.
So, fuck yeah controversial female characters (warning, there may be more anger and profanity on this list than I've written before), here's my Top 10:
10. Leah Clearwater ('Twilight')
Ah 'Twilight', your treatment of women is beyond horrifying and grotesque. From a domestic abuse victim physically and emotionally scarred for life by a werewolf boyfriend whom she stays with, to Rosalie Hale, a gang rape victim who still wants children and is treated like crap for the absolutely terrible crime of not liking Bella Swan (she ends up liking her eventually though, because of course she does). But while Bella is disliked and treated with indifference even by 'Twilight' fans who cannot find one thing interesting about this author-insert avatar, in-universe she is seen as Jesus - everyone seems blind to how much of a manipulative, emotionless and sociopathic blank slate she is. With Leah Clearwater, it is the opposite. Leah is the only female werewolf in the entire franchise (it's 'Twilight', don't ask how that works, or is this like the Alpha Male view of "woman wolves are rare because they generally can't handle transformation pains like men can" bullshit popularized by Kelley Armstrong's 'Bitten'?), and she is treated like crap for being bitchy and, wait for it, not liking Bella. Leah is abandoned by her boyfriend Sam after he creepily imprints on her human cousin Emily, the domestic abuse victim I mentioned. Emily is kind and cooks, like she came out of Stepford, because what else is a woman to do? Leah is rightfully resentful and distrusting of Bella, for logical reasons, not just petty ones, but typically she is shut down and cast aside by others as just another nasty woman. She is the werewolf version of Rosalie, right down to being made to like Bella - who does what she does best, which is nothing - at the end of the series. You really do have to feel sorry for the women of 'Twilight' with personalities: If they had been in another franchise not written by Stephenie Meyer, they would have been treated a lot better. Leah is a werewolf Woobie girl, great in concept and character - so it's no wonder that people wish better stories for her; stories that respect her and don't waste on her potential. She deserves more, even if Meyer doesn't think so.
9. Pippi Longstocking
I've put Pippi low on the list because it's not like she's a universally hated children's character, or is hated in her own stories. On the contrary, everybody loves her in her books. I just think that the main reason for some people not liking or outright loathing her is that she's annoying. She's out of control. She's a criminal. She never shuts up. Yes. But Pippi Longstocking is a child. She's unsupervised, was never taught right from wrong, and has the freedom to do what she wants. But she thinks of others always, and will protect people from harm, from dangers not caused by her own actions. Heck, she wastes no time saving little kids from a burning building in her first book! No hesitation - Pippi's a hero. She is like a female Dennis the Menace, and look how popular he is. Pippi is more thoughtful, plus arguably more fun and innocent, than Dennis, so why the hate for her, who never intentionally causes trouble? Yeah, her innocence in that field could be considered more dangerous than if she were someone who knows she is being bad, but she is still nine-years-old! I love how Pippi, a fictional girl from the 1940s, doesn't give a hoot about gender roles, and is as loud and talkative as she likes. She is creative and imaginative. In a way, she is both a good and bad role model for children, and how awesome and complex is that to describe a female character? It is not about role models anyway; it is about having a fun, carefree personality for playing and going off on adventures. Pippi rocks.
8. Martha Jones ('Doctor Who')
While I don't watch 'Doctor Who' anymore, I remember the earlier companions. Martha was the Doctor's first black companion on his space adventures, but if the fanbase didn't hate her because they were racists, it was because she wasn't Rose Tyler. That's it. They just didn't like change. In my humble opinion, Rose was one of the most infuriating, smug, narcissistic Mary Sues ever put on the television screen, yet at the time of her run viewers loved her, even though she never did anything to lay claim that she is the Doctor's best companion ever. Martha Jones has much more personality, and Freema Agyeman played her very well even when she wasn't written to be dynamic or helpful. Now, some of the hatred or indifference towards her is understandable, what with her hopelessly pining for the Doctor, who constantly uses her as a means to an end, and that her doctoring training is rarely if ever put to any use in the show. Not helped that the writers keep comparing her to Rose, as if they refuse to let her go as much as the viewers. Hell, Martha even leaves the Doctor after her first season with him because she gets tired of him moping and missing Rose, ignoring her as her own person in the process. She is self-aware enough to get sick of playing second fiddle, and eventually realizes the Doctor isn't worth her pining and goes to become a real doctor in her own way. But then at the end of Russell T. Davies's run on 'Doctor Who', she is randomly married to Micky Smith, Rose's ex, with whom she had barely shared any screen time with, much less talked to. Aside from the fact that it was mentioned before that Martha had a different fiance - whom we never saw - Davies callously paired up the only two black characters in the main cast of 'Doctor Who' to each other. Did he not think that this was offensive in any way? Not to mention lazy. So yeah, Martha Jones got the short end of the stick since her first appearance, with nothing changing. But I liked her and her actress. She is nice. Like Leah, she deserved better.
7. Buffy Summers ('Buffy the Vampire Slayer')
It is my belief that Buffy is one of, if not the most, Woobie protagonists ever created. You'd think her writers must have hated her, judging by how she suffered so extensively throughout the seven seasons of her own show. Xander Harris is not the self-proclaimed Butt Monkey of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Buffy is. Her fanbase generally finds her to be the least interesting character of the bunch or "Scooby gang", but I like her the most out of everyone (though Tara Maclay comes close), simply because I feel so damn sorry for her. Why would anyone want to be like her? Her life sucks - pun intended. I know putting your characters through hell is a good way to develop them, to make them stronger, and happy people make for boring television, as Joss Whedon says. But with Buffy Summers, her "development" is nothing short of sadistic, almost misogynistic. She doesn't grow stronger as a result, only more Charlie Brown-ish. Buffy is a teenager forced into a deadly destiny against her will. She has depression and PTSD, none of which she is treated for, because therapy is ineffectual in TV land, so that must mean it is ineffectual in real life too, kids *sarcasm*. Twice she is almost raped, twice she gets kicked out of her own house by a family member, twice she is brought back from the dead. She finds her mother's dead body at home after a good day's work. Yet hardly anybody is sympathetic and supportive towards her, not even the people who call themselves her friends and parental figures. This is bizarre since friendship and family are supposedly the major themes of 'Buffy'. Really, it's a miracle Buffy never attempts suicide, and not to save the world for the billionth time. The so-called "strong female character" - something Joss Whedon also loves to say - is a miserable wreck who never catches a break no matter how many times she saves lives, and asks for absolutely nothing in return. If she can't ever be allowed happiness or a catharsis, then why should we bother following her? Buffy isn't a Mary Sue - she is hated too much by the writers and the other characters for that claim - but it is her continuing suffering that makes me want to give her a hug, not her "strong female" iconography. Rather than being strong, Buffy is just pathetic - with everything she's been through, how can you not pity her instead of looking up to her?
6. Captain Kathryn Janeway ('Star Trek: Voyager')
Speaking of hating women for being strong and just trying to do their job, 'Star Trek''s first female starship captain is of course considered controversial. I'm not a Trekkie, but nonetheless since childhood I've always found Janeway to be tough yet warm and kind when she needs to be. She stands up to bullies, and never lets anyone get in the way of her plans and moral code. She must make difficult decisions instantly every day, and she never breaks down, never avoids her responsibilities. She is assertive; always set on doing the right thing. Janeway is unstoppable. I call her Voyager's mother figure in the most positive light - disciplinary and also fair, and caring fiercely about the safety of her entire crew. Nobody's perfect. No captain of a starship can be perfect, especially one whose crew is lost in the deep nothingness of space, and is desperately trying for years to get back home. Janeway needs to be hard-headed for her job. Her flaws come from 'Voyager' being far from masterfully-written for the most part - it is extremely episodic, with slow character development given only to the white humans - but that's not her fault. Oh she got her crew stranded in the first place whilst saving an alien race. Captain Kirk is a violent, chauvinistic, reckless, male power fantasy, author-self-insert egomaniac (I'm sure I'm not getting him confused with William Shatner, here), who has gotten more people killed than she has. Yeah, clearly Janeway is the worst 'Star Trek' captain ever. Seeing a woman as a leader in a military and explorer service in a franchise that boasts about equality in a utopian future, it is a huge step-up. Kathryn Janeway, who loves 19th century romance novels and aesthetics as much as Captain Picard, was the best we could have asked for in the nineties, really. 'Star Trek: Discovery', please, you cannot afford to let anyone down, Trekkie or not.
5. Lauren Shiba ('Power Rangers Samurai')
A girl can't get any appreciation or respect, especially when she takes the place of a man. Of course it will only be temporary. Lauren Shiba is the 'Power Rangers' franchise's first female red ranger (one who isn't evil, anyway), and boy did 'Samurai' drop the ball on her big time. She is a kind, loving, cautious young woman who has been trained all her life to perfect a monster-destroying technique that requires complete concentration, and flawless balance of the mind, body and spirit. Yet from her first appearance much later on in 'Samurai' (or 'Super Samurai'), she comes across as a Woobie wanting a chance to make friends and live a normal life. But do the other rangers give her that chance? Hell no. They'd rather her younger brother Jayden remain the red ranger leader, because he was around from the start, when he was just supposed to be a decoy until she was ready to be a ranger. Lauren could have been their friend as well - the sheltered hermit is certainly nice enough - but for the crime of not being Jayden, she is shafted, barely given any time to be badass as a ranger. Spoilers - her lifetime's hard work doesn't pay off, and even then she receives no love from the rangers. She is like Buffy in the unappreciated department. What a waste of a girl red ranger leader - even her actress is exceptionally good for 'Power Rangers'. No wonder fans seem to like her arguably more than the rest of the cast. Give females a break, male writers, and let them be heroes in their own right, not overshadowed by Gary Stu male leads.
4. Billie Jenkins ('Charmed')
A young and blonde witch introduced out of nowhere in the eight season of 'Charmed', for the purpose of keeping things fresh (yeah, far too late for that), and for another spin-off opportunity. Billie Jenkins was loathed practically instantly by all 'Charmed' fans across the board. They said she's a Mary Sue who waltzes her way into the Charmed Ones' lives and house with no effort (even Paige, in her first appearance, had to gain the sisters' trust for a few episodes before moving in, and she is family), and is so powerful that it is impossible not to think where she's been all this time (but it's 'Charmed'; longtime viewers should have gotten used to continuity plot craters by then). The show started focusing on Billie too much in episodes with plots repeated from previous seasons. While these things are true, I put Billie on this list because, well, she is a genuine breath of fresh air in a show that had long past its sell-by-date and had gotten so repetitive. She takes the focus away from the Charmed Halliwell sisters - hey, that's a good thing! Piper, Phoebe and Paige had long since been dead to me by the final season I thought would never come. Billie has a likeable personality and wants to help people no matter what. She works hard to defeat demons and save lives. What do the Charmed Ones do? Nothing. Piper is a bigoted sociopath who embodies a large number of nagging housewife stereotypes. Phoebe is a narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-obsessed woman-child who does whatever she can to NOT help people and save the world from demons, and yet everybody loves her like she's Mother Teresa because her actress is a producer on the show. And Paige, starting out with promise, eventually falls under the spell of the lazy, selfish Halliwell sisters, who couldn't give a shit unless her own life depends on it. And yet Billie is the most hated character? Really, her inclusion is essential - somebody has to do something in this show! It's true that her character isn't original, or that compelling, but compared to the three protagonists whom we are supposed to care for, she is badass. If anything, she is one of the positive things about 'Charmed' season eight. And what is the fate of this "Mary Sue"? Her whole family is killed and she is given no screen time to grieve before being placed as the Halliwell children's babysitter. The Charmed witches are the real monsters, not the literal demons of the series. Billie Jenkins - poor girl, she shouldn't need to exist at all, but she did. She was in the wrong show at the wrong time.
3. Lola Bunny ('Space Jam')
I love 'Space Jam'. It is one of my favourite nostalgic movies, and it is still awesome without the nostalgia goggles. One of the things that people who weren't little kids in the nineties hate about this film is the creation of Lola Bunny. Lola doesn't just exist as a love interest for Bugs Bunny or for eye candy to me - she is a cool, expert basketball player. And honestly, how many female Looney Tunes can you name? Did I look up to Granny growing up? I never even knew Witch Hazel existed until I was an adult. No, Lola was all I had for a girl Looney Tune. She has the Smurfette Principle written all over her, but somehow I still adore her. She's not THAT much of a "strong female" with little personality who gets damseled in the third act as is customary in movies written by men. Like I said, she's cool, and clearly confident in her sexuality. Not as funny as the other Looney Tunes? Well, I think that any try-too-hard attempt to make a girl funny by a writing team nervous about "how" they could make a girl funny - as if gender is an issue - would have come off as desperate, and far less funny and fun than what we got. I only saw a little of the new 'The Looney Tunes Show', where Lola is rebooted into Bugs Bunny's obsessive stalker, and that is an example of what I mean by comedy writers being desperate, by resorting to negative gender cliches. But this is all just my personal opinion, and people can like whichever version of Lola Bunny they want. I like the Lola I grew up with, showing that girls can be awesome sports players without having to give it all up for a guy.
2. Meg Griffin ('Family Guy')
Meg. Fucking. Griffin. The penultimate product of lazy male "comedy" writers who made her a Butt Monkey. Meg is abused and shat on left and right whenever anyone bothers to even remember she exists and put her in a scene, because the writers actually didn't know how to write teenage girls. Well, hiring female writers might have helped, but given 'Family Guy''s rampant misogyny onscreen, it's not an unreasonable leap to come to the conclusion that the behind-the-scenes production team has serious issues with women as well. I hate 'Family Guy' with every fibre of my core, and that it is still going - despite even the showrunners admitting that it should have ended a long time ago - proves just how sad a state mainstream entertainment is in right now. It represents everything wrong with low-brow comedy and their non-jokes, substituting lazy, effortless shock value, dated stereotypes, and mean-spirited shit-thrown-at-the-walls, for real humour. But anyway, back to Meg Griffin, easily the most likeable and relatable character in 'Family Guy'; the only one not a sociopath. So naturally everybody in-show hates her. The writers give no reason for why she is constantly abused (played for laughs, because they have no idea how the real world is), other than...she is apparently ugly by 'Family Guy''s standards. Because the men who run this series are sexist, perverted fratboys who prefer women to be supermodel hot (including in cartoons!), and they see nothing wrong with targeting a teenage girl for her looks. As someone who has short brown hair and as a teen was also sensitive and self-conscious about her face and appearance like Meg, the violence against her continues to horrify me. Teenage girls face constant judgement over their looks by a patriarchal society everywhere; their self-esteem is forcibly lowered all the time by images of conventionally attractive, airbrushed women, and of "fat, ugly" girls getting punished for not living up to shallow men's standard of feminine beauty. 'Family Guy''s Meg Griffin embodies the cartoon's attitude towards women to a T - boys would rather kill themselves and their families than go out with her, a Facebook page is set up encouraging her to go kill herself because she's ugly, and she has to stay with her abusive family because she serves as a "lightning rod" for their dysfunction. She is only seen as a "hero" for enduring domestic abuse for the benefit of her abusers. This isn't funny. Teenage girls have self-harmed and committed suicide over issues such as these - not as exaggerated, of course, but they tie in to real life dangers and insecurities affecting girls in this day and age of superficiality and not giving a shit about the needs of women. 'Family Guy', go fuck yourself. The dark horse Meg deserves her own spin-off series without the monstrous Griffins, or Seth MacFarlane, with women writers doing her justice. Because women are funny, without being objectified; stop pretending otherwise like it's a fact.
Phew! Now, finally we reach my number one Hated Female Character in fiction, in-franchise or out. Who could be worse than Meg Griffin? Well, here she is...
1. Susan Pevensie ('The Chronicles of Narnia' series)
Google "the problem of Susan", and the issue speaks for itself. Susan Pevensie is perhaps one of the earliest examples of a female character that is hated by her own creator. In 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe', she is regulated to the mother role of the Pevensie siblings. She is mature, sensible, worries about matters such as food and clothing, and avoids violence whenever possible. And yet, C. S. Lewis, and by extension his other characters, see her as a nuisance, a nag, a damper on the fun of male-led adventures. For living grounded in reality, and for possessing basic common sense and survival instincts, she is reduced to just "being a girl", for voicing logical concerns. Every negative female stereotype imaginable is thrust on Susan in every 'Narnia' book she appears: She never fights in battles or uses a weapon, even when she is given one; she is vain and conceited for liking nice clothes; she is shallow and silly for disbelieving in magic and magical creatures; and she is overly emotional in life-and-death situations. All part of "being a girl". She also exists as a comforter for her siblings, never mind her own emotional and mental needs. In 'The Horse and His Boy' - where she is a queen of Narnia! - there is the real danger of her being kidnapped and held captive by a warring land, and being forced into marriage. She could get raped. But there is still no sympathy for her. It's apparently her own fault for being a stubborn, vapid woman. If only she'd just accept marriage! Susan represents the product of her time when adult women were - and to a tragic extent, still are - considered to be evil temptresses taking up too much space, while her sister Lucy always was a little girl in Lewis's view, and so her innocence is kept intact. Therefore forever-young Lucy is more human and worthy of good things than Susan. Madonna, meet Whore; the only complexity and difference between you two is how the patriarchy perceives you as human beings. But the biggest misogynistic kick to the vagina happens in 'The Last Battle', where - spoilers - it is revealed that every character is dead and Narnia is Heaven. But Susan isn't there, because she grew up and stopped believing in Narnia and started wearing lipstick, so she does not deserve to go to Heaven. So, her siblings, who she lovingly protected for about five books, are dead. But no time whatsoever is given to her point of view; to her undoubted grief. Her role is diminished so severely that she becomes an afterthought. Susan, one of the heroes and matriarchs of Narnia, is shafted out of Narnia, out of Paradise, because she became an adult woman in earth time. And this is a happy ending! What a crock. What double standard, medieval misogyny. Not once does Susan catch a break, or is cared for by anyone, not even her own family. It seems that to Lewis, Susan was merely a woman, a Lilith, an Eve bringing evil into the world, so she must be punished, or ignored. Heck, the White Queen cares about power and being in charge - no different from every male leader in 'Narnia' - and yet she is a villain. Susan Pevensie is a Woobie and fan favourite dark horse character, and not just by feminists. Even non-feminists can see how unfairly she is treated in these books. If there is one positive thing to take away from her character and her "problem", it is as a cautionary tale; a lesson for male writers on how not to write the female gender. Treat them with respect, major or minor.
There you have it, another list of mine. Hope you've enjoyed it, and perhaps learned something from it. Take care :)
No comments:
Post a Comment