I might still have time to review something else more Halloween-themed, but I did just read Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, recently, and I thought at the very least I could perform the dual function of plugging an ever-so-fantastic author, and talking about an issue I have with fiction, which is the idea of the Strong Female Character.
Diana Wynne Jones does this right.
Many many authors (and TV/movie writers) do this all wrong. I think a lot of people somehow think that a strong female character has to have everything. Everything! She has to be thin and beautiful (and if you're Heinlein, at least a 36C bra size), brilliant (if I had a nickel for every heroine with a photographic memory...), possibly some kind of spectacular fighting ability even though the author has gone to great pains to describe how slight and willowy her build is, and you're fairly certain she can't weigh more than 100 lbs (and I say this is ridiculous, as a small-ish woman with non-trivial martial arts ability, knowing full well that it is damn hard to fight someone a lot bigger than you, even if you do know what you're doing, which is a whole other rant for me), and assorted other perfections associated with the storyline.
Probably magical powers. She might be an elf. Or at least, she has elfin features, which is pretty much the same thing, right?
It's as though they're afraid that if they don't give their heroine all possible perfections, nobody will recognise her as the heroine.
Diana Wynne Jones knows that those who wear A cups and weigh more than 100 lbs, without photographic memories, or surprising physical ability, can still make excellent heroines, because there's just more to it than that. It gives the rest of us hope.
Sophie Hatter, who never thought she was all that pretty or special anyway, is turned into a 90 year old woman by a witch's curse. So for the majority of the book, the heroine is not especially beautiful (except, you know, inside, which doesn't manifest itself in any paeans), gets aches and pains all the time, and never kicks anyone's ass, except possibly through the magic of cleaning supplies. And she is a fantastic and wonderful character in a really excellent story. There's a Miyazaki movie now (which I also love) based on the book, but with some fairly significant differences. But in both, Sophie is still a wonderful character, and a perfect example of a female heroine who doesn't just feel like a blow-up doll, or something out of Weird Science.
Thanks, Diana Wynne Jones, for being generally great.
Picture Book: At this Very Moment
12 years ago
2 comments:
Speaking of the excellence of Diana Wynne Jones, I just finished "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland", her satirical encyclopedia of all fantasy novel cliches, written as a tour guide for potential Tourists.
Her entry under Enchantress : "another word for 'Seductress', only with more punch. She will be very beautiful, with red and black hair, and probably a startling bosom, all of it magically enhanced. She will have you captured, usually by magic- whereupon she will proceed to seduce you if you are male; if you are female she will proceed to do something bitchily enchanting to you instead."
Speaking of impossible female protagonists, we just decided that cyberpunk, particularly William Gibson, is probably the worst offender in this respect.
I must agree about the cyberpunk. Kudos on an excellent post! Speaking of Diana WJ, she has a new book coming out soon. Pinhoe Egg. It's a new Chrestomanci installment, so put a hold on it in the library catalogue now if you want to read it without buying anytime this year.
But honestly, if I were a heroine, I would want to be the tall, willowy, C-cupped, ass kicking type. It would simply mean that I would have to work less hard to overcome my obviously non-hero(in?)ic qualities. I mean yes, I could be a short, stumpy, acned, disabled and snaggletoothed protagonist, but just like you point out, I would then have to indicate my heroine status in a perhaps more labour intensive way. Like consistently killing bad guys, and having a heart of gold, and having a super hot obvious hero fall in love with me. That all sounds like a lot of make-up work that could be avoided with dieting, braces and some minor genetic alterations. Hence cyberpunk, i guess.
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