#seraphina gives up the ghost on third person tags

[onewomancitadel]

Do you agree with Emily Blunt's comments on "Strong Female Leads" in Modern Hollywood Films? Do you think theres any connection or similarities between what she said and the protagonists of RWBY? or the way women are written in RWBY? Do you think they including Cinder are good female characters?

I had to look this one up.

“It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words ‘strong female lead,’” Blunt said. “That makes me roll my eyes. I’m already out. I’m bored. Those roles are written as incredibly stoic, you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”

This is effectively what I've also criticised, so it's interesting to see a more mainstream voice critique it. The supplement to writing cardboard cut-out female characters is not writing cardboard cut-outs of a different fantasy, with a veneer of 'empowerment'. What does empowerment mean in storytelling? A character who has an actual role in the narrative - even in a passively physical circumstance - with wants and needs, who contributes to the plot, who is afforded narrative empathy and humanity matters to me much more (I'm thinking specifically of the Bobbie-Avasarala dynamic right now in The Expanse - Avasarala's not an archetypal combatant, but she has a huge narrative force, but she relies on Bobbie's security. Actually, just in general, The Expanse is probably one of the best examples of incredible female character writing).

That narrative empathy - to view a character as a full person - yes, does have some relationship to the way we view women in the real world, and this extends to other marginalised groups. (Honestly, this applies to men too, but now you're getting into meatier questions).

It doesn't help that if something is called ostensibly feminist, it neuters feminist criticism. Why are you complaining about female characters when there are empowered female characters now? So on and so forth. To my mind, I might be so sceptical as to say that it's just a band-aid to cover up a refusal to write better and write humanistically. It's related to a broader crisis of writing in general, and writing as a serious craft.

As I've said before, I think that the argumentation for humanistic character is rooted in the mechanical and artistic ideals of storytelling, not storytelling as a political service. I think this is the most defensible position, particularly from bad intentions.

Do you think theres any connection or similarities between what she said and the protagonists of RWBY?

No. I think the basic character writing of RWBY is good. I think, going by the fandom, a lot of people are unfamiliar with character writing and character transformation. This might be a byproduct of what stories you come from, because character writing is not, say, a huge deal in a serial-running show; character is sort of accessory to that.

Or in the case of specifically, say, Ruby, it's obvious she's been suppressing everything as hard as she can, but most people took that to mean she was sidelined. Was this necessarily successful? I think the development across V8 and now V9 has nevertheless answered my feelings about her happily.

Do you think they including Cinder are good female characters?

Yes. Cinder is a stellar character, if you bother to look. Her traditional masculine archetype of the Byronic hero is offputting to many, I think. Most just write her off as some one-note villain.

Personally, I think she's electric. I know her motivations. I know her pain. I know the ironic, twisting position she's caught in. I know that she believes in fate, I know that she's a wounded idealist. I know that she wants too much because she was starved of it. I know her worldview is broken. I know she's funny. I know that her character is an open question, that there's an obvious set-up for transformation.

Is it 'empowering'? I don't know. I know that when I think about her story, it fills me with joy and pain.

Generally speaking, you'd hope storytelling touches your heart. That's the 'point' of a good character.