tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363838446991842850.post7830512091934683193..comments2023-10-23T17:08:08.542-04:00Comments on Married to Calamity: writing a strong female protagonist, part deuxlexcadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18094072290983267178noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363838446991842850.post-85478019065473800252010-04-22T17:54:59.479-04:002010-04-22T17:54:59.479-04:00@mayowa - to be honest, i don't think that peo...@mayowa - to be honest, i don't think that people understand the concept of a strong female protagonist. we grow up on these images of helpless women in fairy tales and a lot of movies. women have this need/desire to be "swept off their feet" by their knight in shining armor. that, for some reason, is the female obsession. granted, only in the last few decades have women really come into their own, so these ideas will remain fixed for some time. i don't think the idea of a strong female protag is overrated as much as it's misunderstood.<br /><br />@tracy - that's exactly my point. when i was 17, i moved from my little town of 2000 people to cincinnati for college. i had to be pretty much on my own, and that made me grow up quite a bit. bella is stalked by vampires, protected by werewolves *some of whom also hate her*, has to deal with high school *which sucks at any age*, and has to come to terms with the fact that the man she "loves" wants to kill her. soooo much more could have been done with that! bella could have been proactive and done SOMETHING about it. but no, we get this measly, mousey little whiney girl who doesn't stop whining until the very end. and even that's a stretch. one rule of fiction is that your character MUST CHANGE in the course of the story. that doesn't mean that she can just become a vampire and have that count. there has to be a mental/emotional change SOMEWHERE. in the mummy, evelyn becomes a lot more badass than she was before. there was a lot of rick saving her butt in the first mummy movie, but by the mummy returns, she was destroying anak su namun. even in dark angel, sam starts out really withdrawn and unsure of herself, but as the series progresses and she allows logan to become a bigger part of her life, she starts to care for a lot of other people. with bella, it's the same crap different book. always.<br /><br />thanks for reading, folks! i think i'm going to make this into a little series...lexcadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18094072290983267178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363838446991842850.post-48211672087202564822010-04-22T10:51:14.283-04:002010-04-22T10:51:14.283-04:00I agree. Bella COULD have been a compelling charac...I agree. Bella COULD have been a compelling character, because most of us - when we're in our teens and falling in love for the first time - are scared and confused a lot. But as you pointed out, her biggest flaw is that she doesn't ever really grow. Now, granted, the average 17-18 won't grow tremendously over a 8-9 month period of time...but one who goes through as many life altering experiences as Bella <b>should</b>.Tracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03726858055689145824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7363838446991842850.post-69849045026606982052010-04-22T08:10:56.507-04:002010-04-22T08:10:56.507-04:00True talk.
What is a little interesting/disturbin...True talk.<br /><br />What is a little interesting/disturbing is how much this image resonates with tween readers (and adults?). Does that large fan base mean the strong female protagonist is overrated? I don't know.Mayowahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02123151836752576609noreply@blogger.com