Female Characters in Media - What Makes A Character Strong?

some people think all that makes a strong character someone who is effortlessly better than everyone else some people also think Wakanda is a real place yeah don't really feel like putting a lot of faith in some people a strong independent woman characters the embodiment of that she don't need no man personality that modern female protagonists are required to have they're usually depicted in a story as being exceptionally skilled in combat or having an unbreakable will never any moments of weakness because female characters showing weakness is sexist and the writing often makes a special point to not only highlight how unfathomably awesome she is but specifically how much better she is than all the men around her the character has become the gold standard for Hollywood writers who want to brag about having strong women in their movies if one were to enter the entertainment industry you'll find a flock of feminists brutally demanding more strong independent female characters hereafter referred to as sips to be shoehorned into modern media and this is understandable after all the entertainment industry has become a huge pillar of modern culture some people find characters who share arbitrary characteristics with them to be necessary and as you're likely surmising by now some people can be pretty stupid but what really turns things from understandable to irritate is the idea of the syph itself and how a SIF according to feminists is the only acceptable archetype for a strong female lead but a character doesn't need to be good at everything or lack weaknesses to be strong that would mean your average person could never make the cut that would mean a normal person could never be a hero and judging by how many movies exist that were inspired by real-life heroes this is a lie strength is not something a character is strength is something a character has feminists would balk at well anything really but especially a female characters showing humanity if she shows fear the writer has made her weak if she hates something about herself that's the writers public message that all women are insecure third wave feminists have adopted a collectivist mindset there's no room for individualism they all think the same thing say the same things hate the same things and love the same things though that last point I can only present hypothetically you might remember the age of Ultron controversy that whipped up the feminist hate mom and forced Joss Whedon to leave Twitter and his offense it was revealed that Black Widow was made infertile upon her graduation from the Red Room it was also revealed that she hated that about herself a big no-no in feminist land and for his crime Joss Whedon the guy famous for creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer was barage by a squad of female hidden cells for sexism and ironically enough this little show of humanity this display of vulnerability and weakness on black widows part made her a stronger character and no a character doesn't need to be an ace assassin or a mega genius they don't even need to be confident as strange as it sounds it's a characters weaknesses that make them strong let me put it like this take two people the first is always happy light-hearted and quick to forgive the second is a person whose grim foul and slow to forgive if you heard each forgave a person for a grievous wrongdoing which do you think was the stronger character they want to perform an easy action or the one who performed a difficult one now pay close attention that question is a lot more important than it seems because that question is what sets the defining line between what makes an average character and what makes a strong one lifting something heavy is difficult but someone strong can do it losing a loved one is devastating but someone strong could take the loss and still do what needs to be done when it comes to a character any character the willingness and the ability to overcome difficulty is what answers the question is this character strong so when Black Widow steps out to save the world we know what kind of emotional weight she carries with her we know what a burden it is and how much pain it causes her we know how much she wishes things could be different and then we watch her save the world anyway let's look at a few more examples the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider breathe new life into a floundering franchise the world story and character had been reinvented with positive results but the greatest change was with Laura Croft herself this was supposed to be Lara during her early years when she was a novice for those of you who played the game you'd know that this version of Lara isn't a sip quite the contrary she emotionally depends on several of her allies she lacks confidence she shows fear and confusion she spends most of the game clearly getting in over her head at point brilliantly emphasized by the instant death sequences however this new version of Lara Croft is not only interesting and relatable but a much stronger character she fought the henchmen she raided tombs she survived dozens of situations that would make most of us curl up and surrender and it wasn't because she was fearless and it wasn't because she was confident in her abilities and it wasn't because she considered herself independent it was because her character had the will and the strength to overcome those weaknesses and push her way through every challenge Jack Bauer is known for his particular set of ethics he's fiercely loyal to his country so loyal that he'll do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission at hand during 24 season one jack goes to great lengths to protect his kidnapped family even potentially murdering one of his closest friends at that time but when he was forced to choose between his family and the mission he chose to protect a senator from assassination knowing that his choice may have directly caused the deaths of his wife and daughter and even before that after Jack learned that his daughter had been kidnapped and his wife was stuck alone with an enemy agent he was visibly shaken but he kept his mind focused knowing a loved one might be in danger with no way of knowing what's happening would likely paralysed most people but not Jack Bauer not only did he choose to overcome these weaknesses he never forgot his main mission so all at once he was working to protect his family and protect the senator all while the authorities were breathing down his neck and his own life was hanging in the balance and finally we have mrs. Brisby from the secret of NIMH the poster child for characters who spit in the face of the beloved feminist SIF like 2013 Lara Croft miss Brisby is the opposite of the strong independent woman she's a housewife who's still devoted to her husband although her husband is dead which would probably give her a point in the feminist approval column if not for the fact that she's equally devoted to her children and during the course of the story she relies heavily on several male characters to help her along her journey like mr. ages Justin and Nicodemus unthinkable for SIV in fact having a female character rely on a man for anything but probably launched a pink had it hate ma demanding the rider be fired Miss Brisby has very little confidence and is scared by almost everything around her she's just an average person going through an extraordinary circumstance what makes her a strong character and more to the point a strong female character is her willingness and ability to fight back those fears overcome her weaknesses and stare death in the face to save her family and again just like Lara Croft mrs. Brisby was thrown into a dire situation that would crush a lesser purse a situation where it would have been easy to let the fear overwhelm them but they didn't and that's what makes them strong feminists want more strong women in media it's exactly what constitutes the word strong that sparks the real question feminists think turning women into men make them strong but that isn't the right way to go strength is a trait in like most traits there is a counter trait that plates foil smart and dumb big and small strong and weak without its counter trait the primary trait becomes meaningless if no one is dumb then no one can be smart if no one is small then no one can be big if there is no weakness then there is no strength [Music]

Channel: Literature Devil

Views: 207,663

Rating: 4.9367738 out of 5

Keywords: strong girl, strong woman, sjws always lie, strong female lead, creative writing, strong female character

Id: y87Eiem8gvI

Length: 8min 22sec (502 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 15 2018

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