fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2750 ]

[ SECRET POST #2750 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2750 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 058 secrets from Secret Submission Post #393.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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NS, NF, etc.

[ 1 2 - not!secrets ]

'Defers to authority'
Oh FFS, not again..

I wouldn't have put it quite so snarkily, but yeah, those are some of the problems I had with Mako's character, too. I like her character a lot but I was disappointed that more wasn't done with her storyline.

True, but the problem with that secret is that I did not get that she was held up as a good feminist icon or a strong character or a strong woman of any type. Was she? I think she is considered different (it's still rare to have the main female character be Asian, especially without it being dictated by the story like in 47 Ninja for instance), cool and the public appreciated that for once she did not kiss or jump into bed with the hero or anyone else for titillation purposes and her role was not just to provide romantic interest. But that's very far from calling her a strong female character, isn't it?

If she had been hailed as a feminist icon to look up to, then yes, absolutely, I'd agree 100% but as it is? I just appreciate the fact that there is no kiss or unnecessary nude shower scene or unrealistic relationship like Uhura's and Spock's in the Star Trek reboot (demoting Uhura from an established, independent character to a mere girlfriend and an irrational one at that as ST: Into Darkness demonstrated).

You'd think you'd use a photo of her as an adult, but still "Needs to be saved by the men in her life twice" THE FIRST TIME SHE WAS A CHILD.

Most children are reliant on adults to save them from horrible things. This does not make them, male or female, weak.

The children who don't need to be saved from horrible things probably ARE the horrible things.

'Cause women aren't robots who solve all their problems by punching them. You've not listed anything that other male characters haven't also had in their character arcs (respect/deferral for a parental figure, being saved as a child, having difficulties mastering an ability, etc, etc) So what the hell?

In the scene you've shown she's a little girl and the rest of her family have just been killed -- of course she needs rescuing!

As an adult, she's a combination of strong and self-effacing, which I took to be a Japanese stereotype but, in any case, interesting and a reminder that strength and courage don't have to follow the Western male hero pattern. The film makes it clear that the men 'protecting' her/holding her back are wrong to do so, and at the end of the film she rescues the hero. What more do you want?

... does she really rescue him? I mean, she's there when he wakes up, but I don't recall her actively doing something to effect the rescue. Or did I forget the resuscitation part?

I thought that was a reference to the sword?

I actually forgot about the sword until after I'd made the comment but yes, she did save them both with the sword.

I assumed that it was her getting him out of the pod and breathing air that saved him, but I may be wrong about that!

could be both really.

Ahhhhh right, the sword. I forgot. :-}

You're correct about it being a Japanese trope. The 'yamato nadeshiko,' the traditional ideal Japanese woman, is supposed to be quiet and respectful... but also strong and disciplined.

Of course she defers to authority. She's in the fucking military.

Seriously. Yes she defers to her commanding officer after repeatedly pushing the point that she should be allowed to pair up/drift, but only when he pretty much pulls rank and does the military equivalent of, "NO, I AM IN CHARGE AND SAID SO."

Was she a perfect character? No, but none of them were. It was a sci-fi action movie. Things blowed up. People died. There was romance. It wasn't deep or overly meaningful (in my opinion), nor did I get the impression that it was trying to subvert tropes or any of the stuff that a lot of people were trying to pin on it.

And being rescued as a child doesn't make her a 'weeping' female or whatever the OP seems to be going for. She was a child. In the middle of a terrible and unexpected disaster that killed her family and left her an orphan. Were people expecting her to stand up, pick up a sword or gun or something and go running at the kaiju all Inigo Montoya-like?

Because this fandom not only runs things into the ground, a majority of it has never watched the show and perpetuates fanon left and right.

It seemed like the show might be addressing it again when Derek was wondering why the Nogitsune chose Stiles and caused the battery charger to spark. Other than that, it's never been mentioned again, metaphorically or otherwise.

It's kinda how Stiles sarcastically called Derek Sourwolf one time in canon, and not only do fic writers have Stiles call him that constantly, it's often a term of endearment :/

But - he did actually *do magic* by extending the amount of ma he had, so....it's not totally metaphorical. He does have some kind of power.

The OP of the secret said it was metaphorical, not me. I agree that what Stiles did at the rave could be considered magic. That's why I said the show seemed to be addressing it again with the battery sparking :)

The whole sourwolf thing creeps me out, since if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure Kate calls him that when she's torturing him in the basement in season 1. After that the idea of Stiles using it affectionately became a whole new level of wrong in my book. I'm still surprised more of fandom didn't catch that.

You are mistaken. She does say, "Look at that sour face. I bet you get people saying 'Why don't you smile more?'" But that really isn't that same thing.

I didn't know she was supposed to be some great feminist figure. I just wanted to see robots beat up alien creatures and that's what I got. It was a great fucking movie if you didn't expect all of this other shit to go along with it.

You're drawing false equivalents. It doesn't matter that she defers to authority and gets saved by men (although, honestly, once is as a child, I don't count that), she's a feminist character because she has her own independent storyline within the narrative. Period.

What you're basically saying is that a character can only be feminist if she's an emotionless stoic asskicker. That's terrible. Women should have all sorts of personalities, even ones that you deem "unfeminist".

+1

Also, like... she's still a character in an action movie that doesn't really care that much about having deep, realistic characters; all the characters are a little shallow and more or less limited to action-movie types. But she has as much character work as anyone else in the film, and her character is independent and has her own storyline. And that's a good thing basically

Yeah, exactly. Characters, including female characters, ARE allowed to show emotion. They ARE allowed to be vulnerable and to be helped by others. But a shitload of female characters in movies, especially in sci fi and action movies, exist only to motivate the male characters and don't really have any character whatsoever aside from those interactions.

Mako has her OWN story. She's survived a horrific trauma as a child and learns to cope with it and grow from it. That's what makes her a good feminist character, not being emotionless and rebellious.

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[ SECRET POST #2750 ]

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