Cherry Bomb: Fandom and Flawed Female Characters

Another Cherry Bomb post, y'all, and this time I'd like to talk about flawed female characters and how the fandom treats them. Lady Catelyn, Sansa; this is for you.

Now, you must be wondering why I specifically choose those two characters in my dedication. Well, that's because they are a perfect example of flawed female characters and how the fandom treats them.

Lady Catelyn Stark and her daughter Sansa Stark is not the first thing that most people had in mind when they hear the words "strong female character". They are non-combatants, their powers lay in their manners and words, and  they have made mistakes before. In other words, a far cry from what most mainstream media outlets' description of "strong female character". But I disagree. As previously touched upon on the last Cherry Bomb, I think they are the perfect example of a strong female character; hell they are strong characters, period. They are not the untouchable, hard women that most people expect; they have flaws and dreams and motivation and that's what makes them strong as a character.

But I am not here to lists the endless reason why Lady Stark-Tully and Sansa is the true queens of Westeros. I am here to discuss the various way fandom respond to them. Spoiler alert: it ain't pretty.

Here in Cherry Bomb, we don't name names other than our own. But if you want to, you can easily open Google and type any recap of any episode that heavily features Lady Catelyn. I guarantee most of the comments will proclaim her as a "whiny bitch" and how She is The Worst (tm). Or, if you're a book-reader or someone who doesn't mind seeing spoilers, you can type in the url of several fansites for ASOIAF and search the forum. Any discussion regarding the storyline of all the current characters will have at least one person proclaiming Sansa to be "useless" and how She is The Worst (tm). A favorite thread of mine blames all the bad thing that happens in the series--I repeat, ALL THE BAD THINGS THAT HAPPENS IN THE SERIES--to Sansa and Lady Catelyn. Ned Stark's execution, the War of the Five Kings, the burning of Winterfell: all of them is the result of Sansa Stark and her mother's action.

The question is why? Why are they so hated? Why are they considered useless, compared to the many characters? Why is everyone focusing on their mistakes compared to the mistakes other characters made? (I'm looking at you, Ned Stark)

The answer lies in the patriarchal nature of our society. Because of the olden tendency to depict women as silly and incapable of making correct decisions, the writers of today feel they have to make their character flaw-less in order for it not to be sexist. As a result, female characters are often unattainable, horribly-written Mary Sues. Readers, used to this imbalanced characters, have a unrealistic high standards for female characters that they don't have for male characters. They expect female characters to be right, to get out of the way, to soothe the male characters' feelings and ego, to be perfect, to show and have no emotion.

Sansa and Lady Catelyn are not written as female characters. They are merely written as characters. GRRM didn't treat them any more or any less than any of his other characters. They have flaws, they have principles, and they have emotions. Neckbeards cannot deal with that. They are used to seeing "strong female characters" and are not used to strong characters who happens to be female.

It is amazing to see how fandom treats different characters based on their gender. For example, Jon Snow was like a textbook example of teenage wangst with all his complaining and angsting how he will ~never be a Stark~ and how he's conflicted of his allegiance to the Night Watch and new-found relationship with Ygritte. Yet I rarely see any hate for him. Sansa, meanwhile is a twelve-year old girl who had to see her father killed by the same people that she thought she could trust, who had the rest of her family killed brutally by the people they trusted, who had to suffer from abuse/sexual assault from the man who was technically her guardian. Yet everyone blasted her for every mistake she made. Yes, in the first book she was a little bit annoying and woefully naive, but she's a twelve year old. Twelve-year olds are meant to be annoying and woefully naive.

And Ned Stark was pretty stupid. Telling your best friend's wife that you're going to tell your best friend that the children you claim to be his is actually your brother's before you tell somebody else first is damn idiotic in any setting, much less Westeros, where people have been killed for showing more intelligence. Yet I don't see him being blamed or flamed for it. But the instance Catelyn freed the Kingslayer in hopes to get her daughters back somehow makes her the Worst Ever. I agree that the move is pretty fucking stupid, but why doesn't Ned Stark get the same vitriolic remarks about his intelligence?

Now, this doesn't mean that they don't deserve criticism. Like any good character, they deserved and must be critique. But the hate that they get is so intense you have to wonder if our patriarchal society has something to do with it.

Review: The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

I hadn't really meant to read this book. The Kane Chronicles was my least favorite series from Rick Riordan, and that's saying a lot, considering how apathetic I am in regards to the Heroes of Olympus series. This series has half-Black protagonists and a multitude of PoC characters, something I gladly eat up on any other circumstances, but this series never really did it for me. There was always something missing, and if there wasn't a sale on the hardcover edition that reduces it down to Rp. 41.000, I probably won't ever read it.

But there was a sale, and I bought it, and I read it. And now I realized why this series never clicked for me:

It's so goddamn cheesy.

Okay, so maybe a little bit of background is needed. Sadie and Carter Kane are brothers and sisters, descendants of two powerful line of magicians. They became the host of Isis and Osiris respectively because of their power. In the last book they manage to release the sun-god Ra, who is a senile decrepit old man, nothing like the all-powerful First King of the God they envisioned him to be, and who's certainly not fit to take on the serpent Apophis, the primordial representation of Chaos and Ra's nemesis. Apophis has set on a deadline for the end of the world at the autumn equinox, the most inauspicious day of the year, perfect for doing bad deeds. Sadie and Carter must find a way to stop him before that day, which is only a couple of days away, and they do found a technique by binding its shadow and destroying it (thus the book's title). But to do that they have to have immense power since, y'know, they're dealing with the very personification of Chaos itself.

This book made me laugh, both the oh-my-god-this-is-so-funny laugh and the oh-my-god-this-is-so-embarrassing laugh, and there were too many of the last kind. Both of the main characters were supposed to be teenagers (Carter is 15 and Sadie is 13) so I kind of expect some dramatics from them, but I wasn't prepared for their brand of hormonal drama. These two kids were on a quest to save the world from destruction  and they spent more time in their monologue wondering about their romantic partners and their ~feelings~. There are times when I want to reach into the book and smack these kids in their head so they can concentrate on preventing the goddamn Doomsday instead of wondering about boys and girls. Sadie's chapters is the worst offender, since she has two admirers in the form of the jackal-god Anubis and ordinary boy-magician Walt.

Here's one of her chapter's highlights:

 At the moment I didn't even care where it led, as long as it was away from that deathless creature I had thought I loved. (The Serpent's Shadow, pg. 273)

See? See what I mean? That quote is cheesier than the cheesiest cheddar cheese, and they're pretty goddamn cheesy. I was reading this on a train ride and upon seeing that passage I had to close the book and turn away to stifle my giggle-cringe. It was that bad.

Sadie Kane. Sadie. Sadie, girl. You're thirteen. Thirteen year-olds don't fall in love, and if they 'do' then it has disastrous consequences (see: Romeo and Juliet). More importantly, you're a mortal girl who 'fell in love' with a 4000-year-old god. Hon, the implications of an immortal-mortal relationship is huge, so don't get pissy when people tell Anubis that he better stay away from you, because they're right. Don't whine "Waah waah everybody's out to get me" because it's not about you, it's about him. He's a god, an immortal being without a fixed 'body' and there are a lot of things need answering if you two have a relationship. One of the gods called her out on her behavior, and I agree with him, even though she rebuked him and the scene was meant as a comic relief. Listen to your elders, Sadie, they know a thing or two about the world.

Can you tell that Sadie annoys me? I feel like an old guy screaming "You kids get off of my lawn" when I read her chapters and I'm only a year older than Carter. She's supposed to be this stereotypical goth-tomboy who has purple highlights and wears combat boots and unlike those superficial mean girls, yet she's the most boy-crazy thirteen year-old I have the displeasure to know, and I know a lot of thirteen year-olds. Her sarcasm is not funny 80% of the time and yet she's supposed to be this witty, charming girl who manages to catch the attention of two boys at the same time.

I can stomach Carter's chapters better since he only has one love interest and does not have the complication of having a completely unnecessary love triangle thrown in. He reminds me of Percy, somehow, though I know that their personality is different. His humor doesn't feel forced and I found myself laughing at some of his jokes. He is sweet and endearing, albeit a little bit boring sometimes, but maybe that's because it's a side effect of being a professor's son.

Despite that, I think this book is pretty good, structure and plot-wise. The pacing is good, the plot is tight, and the prose is not bad for a children's book. When I review, I have to remember the intended demographic of the novel, and whether or not it's good for that kind of genre/demographic. I can't put the Percy Jackson's series in the same category as Pride and Prejudice. They were written for a different demographic, different audiences.

And that's why I'm giving this book a four-star, despite my misgivings. Because, for all intents and purposes, it's a good children's/teen book. Maybe it's me who outgrew the genre.

Final rating:

A Little Night Music (21/04)

For the past few months, I have been listening to Postmodern Jukebox almost everyday. They're a musical group that turns beloved pop songs to vintage Jazz-style bops and post it on YouTube. I like Jazz so their style of music fits me right, but I also like the fact that unlike other YouTube cover channels, they get creative with their covers, putting their own spin to it.

One of my favorite songs from them is probably their cover of Beauty and a Beat. The vocals are strong, and the instruments are smooth without really overpowering. It is very different than the original Beauty and a Beat, much slower and features bass and tenor sax, but retains its spirit as a party anthem; only theirs is for 1940s war-time lounge parties instead of the extravagant Millennial pool party Justin shows in his video.

Another favorite is their cover of Timber, featuring the doo-wop group the Tee Tones. Like Beauty and a Beat, their cover is vastly different from the electronic-heavy original, yet it still maintains that playful dance-y feel.

They also have a wide array of guest artists collaborating with them. From the aforementioned the Tee Tones (who was also featured in their cover of We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus, their most-watched video to date), to their Lorde covers with Puddles the Sad Clown with the Golden Voice (Royals and Team) to their blues cover of Sweet Child O'Mine with Miche Braden. I especially love Miche Braden's Sweet Child O'Mine. You wouldn't expect a song by Guns'N'Roses to fit into a blues singer like Miche, and yet there she was, bringing her powerful vocals to the song made famous by Axl's raspy rendition. And it fits; it fits wonderfully well.

So, clickity-click those links and be amazed at the awesomeness that is Postmodern Jukebox!

Coming Back Again

Hello. It is very relieving to say that I have finished all of my exams, albeit to what degree of success I do not know. But this means I can update the blog more regularly. Yay!

Of course, I'm not planning on doing it right away--I need some time off to unwind after a stressful month--but I am determine to do more. I have ordered some books to review, and I'm planning on adding a regular Music of the Week feature. Of course, I will still write essays and fiction analysis, but maybe I will shorten that to once-a-week or twice-a-week, since I notice that my hastily-written essays do not have a good quality.

It's good to be back.