[ SECRET POST #2790 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2790 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 069 secrets from Secret Submission Post #399.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I suspect (though I have no evidence to support this, it's just a feeling I get) that a lot of female characters getting called Mary Sues has to do with them being "the complete package." What I mean by that is that these women often have it all -- they're intelligent, popular, well-liked, and beautiful. Very often they're a main love interest as well.

They have flaws, of course, but I think a lot of girls and women find such depictions to be a bit…intimidating. Because they can be difficult to live up to. And I think there might be insecurity mixed in there.

Male characters, of course, are often the same way -- intelligent, popular, handsome, well-liked. The thing about male characters though is that they're often the focus of the narrative and so their flaws are explored in very real ways and can be used to give them a character arc. Also, it seems to me that writers are much more willing to show other characters flat-out despising or beating up a male main character rather than a female one. And I think this helps to level the ground for a lot of viewers.

I would say it's a combination of things -- women are taught (in a lot of ways) to view other women as competition which I think is why the Mary Sue label gets thrown around so much. But I also think male characters getting more focus and better writing contributes as well.

I'm only really familiar with Katara and Bella on this picture, but I will say I agree with you OP. Bella's a Sue while I love Katara.

[xalus]

I'm going to respectfully disagree here. I don't think it has anything to do with insecurity or jealousness.

To run with OP's examples that I'm familiar with, let's go with Katniss. I'd say that she kind of has it all, regarding looks, intelligence, strength, even the most prickly and bad-tempered characters have a soft spot for her... Basically, it'd be easy to be jealous of her.

Bella is also pretty, instantly liked, and smart. The difference is in the way the author treats her. Bella is basically written as the only female character that matters. All the others exist purely to help Bella along on her journey. And its clear that Bella is the favorite- she gets more special vampire powers than everyone else, she manages to save her entire family and at the end, everything works out 100% perfectly for her, despite the impossibility of that that was previously set up in that world.

If Katniss in the first book, suddenly without good reason turned into a complete weapons master, managed to save all the "good" characters by simple virtue of being herself, and got a completely happy ending despite living in a world where the hunger games exist, then she would be as disliked as Bella.

Tl;dr- Women love beautiful, popular, intelligent, strong characters. Women hate lazy writers.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh I don't disagree with your analysis.

I just think that the reason that characters like Katniss and Katara get called Mary Sues does have to do (on some level) with insecurity. Even when it's clear that they're not Sues.

I think the reason that a lot of girls identify with Bella (despite the fact that she's a horrible Sue) is that she's constantly talking down about herself, feeling inadequate, but everyone loves her regardless and I feel like a lot of girls need those reassurances and as a result latch on to the books. They feel the way Bella feels and identify with her, even though she's a Sue.

Whereas a complex character like Katara, even though she's well written, can induce insecurity.