#also the twilight antis saying meyer clearly has a thing against blondes

[cto10121]

Glinda has the 'protect white femininity' syndrome in fandoms, a behavior that has sprung up in later years, in which 'traditional' female characters have a large 'counterculture' fans that, in an attempt to fight any misogynistic attacks their faves get, defend them and prop them to the point that they spout traditional regressive or sexist rhetoric against the nerdy / tomboyish main female character to prop up their trad fave. they did the same in the Little Women fandom and Les Mis fandom. i think it's often pushed by mediocre white women who wish to stand out and self insert in Glinda type characters, and see any attack on their queen as a personal attack.

I’ve seen it happen in the Twilight fandom and it’s become really infuriating. Especially when the fans try to argue that these female characters were done dirty by the narrative/the author…when, in most cases, they get a redemption arc or they get off scot free.

Rosalie literally becomes true friends/sisters with Bella by the end of Breaking Dawn. Glinda not only lives but helps Elphaba’s son and granddaughter in subsequent books, thus earning her redemption; the musical is basically her POV of the whole affair and at times privileges her throughout at the expense of Elphaba. As for Les Mis, Cosette was never vilified in the narrative, not even once (I’ve heard of Cameron MacKintosh hating her, but Kretzmer’s translation definitely makes her smarter/more sympathetic compared to the French. I’ve heard both and yeah, “There is a castle on a cloud”>>>>“My prince is already on his way”).

I understand that many people love to hate on ingénue characters, especially if they present as conventionally feminine (I hear Maria and Christine get hate as well in musical theater circles, very similarly to Cosette. All soprano roles, tellingly enough). It’s definitely based on a very nasty strain of misogyny, especially when the female characters don’t do anything morally egregious (pretty much only Rosalie and Glinda are problematic in some way). But this isn’t a competition. Cosette and Éponine are both victims, both “misérables.” Bella only disliked (really, feared) Rosalie because of the latter’s hostility, and was relieved to learn it didn’t really have anything to do with her personally. Musical Wicked is about both Elphaba and Glinda, their friendship and their differences, and in Book Wicked all of their good, bad, and ugly is well-conveyed and developed. You can prefer one over the other, but hating on one with unusual passion is…not on.