#they were a woman. nor would The Popular Ship be r*ylo. that's not me scaremongering about misogyny that's just. true. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

musical-chick-13 · 11 months ago

Text

Thinking about that "If K*ylo R*n were a woman everything would be better and this character would have worked" post, but after some consideration...I genuinely would have still hated this character.

Like...Idk maybe there's something to be said for the still-subversive nature of characters like this being allowed to be horrible women, but I don't hate this character because he's horrible, or even because he exemplifies a bunch of things in fiction I'm tired of seeing, I hate him because he doesn't feel fully-formed as a character to me and I don't think the movies know what they're trying to accomplish with him from a narrative standpoint (which are, imo, the biggest Story Sins a writer can commit). All of which would still hold true if this character were a woman.

#I WILL say. this character wouldn't be as popular as they are (and they ARE popular. fandom is not just limited to pockets of tumblr) if #they were a woman. nor would The Popular Ship be r*ylo. that's not me scaremongering about misogyny that's just. true.#we have SEEN that be true again and again and again #the OTHER thing about this character is that...I feel like he was MEANT to come across as #'he's so tortured and pained and complicated' but then they never did anything to SHOW ME THAT COMPLEXITY #if I look at like...(idk using another Tortured Male Character Who Did Bad Things) Theon. I can get from point a to point b with him.#I SEE the things that influenced him and I SEE how he got to a point where he thought acting the way he did was the only way forward.#I do not see that with. the other guy (sorry I am trying SO hard to make sure this doesn't accidentally end up in the character tag)#you either need to show me where the 'horrible'-ness comes from or you need to commit to the character just choosing to be horrible #not every character needs to have some Deep Reason Why they do what they do (like they can literally just be evil it's fine) but you can't #try to convince me there IS a Deep Reason Why and then NOT EVER SHOW ME THAT REASON #they (meaning sequel trilogy) like...sort of tried? a little? I guess? but the 'trying' was...barely anything and then they #didn't ever fully COMMIT to it.#THAT'S the problem I have.#(the 'not following through on alleged complexity' is also one of the big problems I have with [character I also hate but whose #name I'm not saying for reasons of self-preservation])#and yeah maybe because of Subconscious Bias they WOULDN'T have been so wishy-washy on how Deep or sympathetic™ this character's #motivations were if they'd been a woman maybe they really WOULD have just made her straight-up evil with no Underlying Reason #(which yeah that WOULD have worked better for me I think?) but if we are saying 'this character is exactly the same but a woman'#.......no sorry. unfortunately a female character I can't defend this time.#(and I DID think about this. like 'do I hate this character due to a knee-jerk reaction toward men--even fictional ones--I consider to be #threatening/because he reminds me of people I don't like irl' or 'do I prioritize Hating Men' but...no I truly would just #hate this character regardless)#like I really do think my biggest pet peeve is when the story/creator themselves tries to hit me over the head with 'this character is #so COMPLICATED and DEEP and PSYCHOLOGICALLY INTRICATE' and then not ever actually PROVING that to me

2 notes · View notes