BookTenTiger
He / Him
It's a dog whistle for misogyny.Ok, I'll bite. Why is the term "Mary Sue" in 2022 bad?
If a critic has an actual critique of a character art, there are ways to do so without using dog whistle terminology.
It's a dog whistle for misogyny.Ok, I'll bite. Why is the term "Mary Sue" in 2022 bad?
Male version is "Gary Stu."Mainly because it’s applied to hyper-competent female characters as a criticism, whereas hyper-competent male characters are accepted as normal and good. Expected, even. Of course James Bond and Kirk and Doc Savage are good at a lot of things... and are the protagonists of their respective stories, ie the center.
The term is also kinda lazy criticism. Incurious. Frankly… dumb. Extremely competent characters are staples in many kinds of genre fiction (Holmes, Poirot, etc.). Attempting to turn that quality into a negative without unpacking the role these sort of competence fantasies play in genre fiction and it’s history is… well, bad criticism.
Bad in 2022 because it is frequently used by misogynists to criticize any competent female character, rather than just characters that are wildly out of sync with their positions and what their perceived level of power/competence should be.Ok, I'll bite. Why is the term "Mary Sue" in 2022 bad?
Male version is "Gary Stu."
Bad in 2022 because it is frequently used by misogynists to criticize any competent female character, rather than just characters that are wildly out of sync with their positions and what their perceived level of power/competence should be.
he origin of the term IIRC is from a Star Trek fanfic that the author used as wish fulfillment by placing a character of herself, named Mary Sue, in the crew. This ensign was hyper competent and loved by all the main characters, out of nowhere.
Oooo, where is it streaming, sure I could look that up but why don’t you just tell me the answer.I just watched the French Dispatch (streaming). It was really good.
HBO Max.Oooo, where is it streaming, sure I could look that up but why don’t you just tell me the answer.
Been there a few times over the last 2 years!i don’t think that’s a coherent post, but, drunk and exhausted.
No, male version is Average Male Protagonist.Male version is "Gary Stu."
Hmmm, I need to rewatch this. I may not have been in the right frame of mind to appreciate it at the time.Grand Budapest is just a masterwork and definitely one of my favorites.
I can only think of two characters in movie/TV history where this has been applied to:Mainly because it’s applied to hyper-competent female characters as a criticism, whereas hyper-competent male characters are accepted as normal and good. Expected, even. Of course James Bond and Kirk and Doc Savage are good at a lot of things... and are the protagonists of their respective stories, ie the center.
I've seen it called satire and I've seen it taken at face value. My heart hopes that it was meant as satire.And iirc it was satire.
Very few female characters are Mary sues IMHO.