[ SECRET POST #3317 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3317 ⌋

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

01.


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05.
[D.Gray-man - Miranda Lotto]


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06.
[The Thick of It]


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07.
[Golden Kamui]


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08.
(The Lost Boys)


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09.
[Marble Hornets/troyhasacamera]


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11.
[@midnight with Chris Hardwick]



















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 037 secrets from Secret Submission Post #474.
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

[kallanda_lee]

But...she got massively screwed over by that storyline? I love Nat but AOU just made me angry (and not just about her character, either).

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry for the late replay, I'm not against criticism for her role in AOU. I can get that.

I'm against people using this sititution to be hyprocritical asshats. In my case, I saw a lot of people say a lot of gross and honestly sexist things about women who want children, or women who tend to be emtional, under the disguise that it was all a "femanist" critique.
Not all, but like almost half of the criticisms I saw for Natasha in AOU had a very obvious "female characters/women need to be badass and stoic at all time and if they show emotion and/or want kids theyre weak and stupid" vibe. And it just really rubbed me the wrong way.

Idk maybe I was just constantly on the shitty side of the Internet, but that's what I mostly saw.

[kallanda_lee]

I mostly saw comments on "saying you're a monster because you can't have kids" is gross writing, which I sort of agree with. Frankly that is kind of disrespectful to both those who can't and don't want to have kids.

What's more, comics Nat also can't have have babies and it's not a huge thing about her character - so there's that.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think the point was she was a monster because she couldn't have kids. She was conditioned and brainwashed to become the perfect assassin and stripped of her humanity, which included the option to be a mother. Maybe before her training Natasha wanted to be a parent but now she no longer has that choice. I think there's also something in the knowledge that you know you are damaged in an irreversible way. It took a long time as a child and teenager to accept the fact that I had a developmental disorder because I hated the idea that something was wrong with me and I couldn't be like other people. So yes, I understand why Natasha would call herself a monster.

[(Anonymous)]

So yes, I understand why Natasha would call herself a monster.

I totally agree with this, and thought it was a good way to develop/build on Natasha's character. I still thought the writing in this scene was horrendous, though. To me, it's a bit shocking that a sympathetic listener (Bruce included) would watch someone talk about their abuse and dehumanizing treatment while they were growing up, call themselves a monster (in specific reference to not being able to have kids anymore), and their reaction not being, "Jesus, aren't you being a little hard on yourself?"

To me, it makes perfect sense that Natasha is way way way harsh and unforgiving of herself. Other characters probably wouldn't be, and from a meta point of view (criticizing the writing as it interacts with the audience), leaving a line that potentially implies that the inability to have children (or willingly giving up that ability) is monstrous, which is an ACTUAL response people who choose not to have children get in real life, leaving that line hanging in the air unchallenged by any character gives the impression that it's "obvious" to the audience that not being able to have children is a thing "normal" people feel monstrous about. Which can be super alienating!

Most of the criticism I've seen is about that, not "AOU Natasha has feelings, eww! I thought she was a strong female character. How could you do this to her?" Some of the criticism is somewhere between the two ("So... when can we have a female character whose 'humanization struggle arc' doesn't involve pregnancy or motherhood? I thought Natasha could have been that character.").