Zoe is awesome. As was Kaylee. And Inara. But Zoe (and the others) were never really the mytharc's focal characters, the way River obviously was intended to be? (In the sense that while River never seemed like much more than story wall-paper to me, it's pretty clear that her story was central to the overarching story).
I don't think River was exactly a MPDG...her sole purpose in life wasn't to be a mysterious person who brought fulfillment to some sensitive but aimless and ennui-filled young man. Though she's clearly still a fantasy- like Buffy, like Faith, like Fred, hell, even Drusilla, who is clearly an evil proto-River- the fantasy of a beautiful and exceptional waif of a girl whose exceptional nature (read: intimidating nature) is undercut by her aching emotional vulnerability. It makes her non-threatening.
My feeling on allies and such is that yeah, we should totally avoid attacking those who are clearly trying. It's all too common in the social-justice circles. You know, the pile-on, the race to find something to knock someone down with. (Favorite example recently: someone writing on their own struggles with mental illness, mentioning how much they hate having attacks of 'crazy brain', immediately getting called out for ableist language.)
On the other hand, there's a school of thought that acts as if any criticism is an attack on that person's intentions, sincerity, and integrity. And I'm not a fan of that either. It's fair enough, I think, to point out that Firefly was weirdly lacking in asian characters for a show set in a universe where Chinese is as dominant as English. I don't really see that as an attack, especially when used/phrased that way. It's more of...pointing out something that could use improvement. So I can be aware of the things that Joss does really, really well without needing to hail him as the BEST FEMINIST EVAR!!!!!!!! and I can point out the things he's a little weak on, without making him into the enemy. I think it comes down to being okay with people being flawed. Unfortunately, it seems that there are many people who can't handle a little contradiction. Everything's got to be all one thing or the other.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2012-08-19 07:49 pm (UTC)I don't think River was exactly a MPDG...her sole purpose in life wasn't to be a mysterious person who brought fulfillment to some sensitive but aimless and ennui-filled young man. Though she's clearly still a fantasy- like Buffy, like Faith, like Fred, hell, even Drusilla, who is clearly an evil proto-River- the fantasy of a beautiful and exceptional waif of a girl whose exceptional nature (read: intimidating nature) is undercut by her aching emotional vulnerability. It makes her non-threatening.
My feeling on allies and such is that yeah, we should totally avoid attacking those who are clearly trying. It's all too common in the social-justice circles. You know, the pile-on, the race to find something to knock someone down with. (Favorite example recently: someone writing on their own struggles with mental illness, mentioning how much they hate having attacks of 'crazy brain', immediately getting called out for ableist language.)
On the other hand, there's a school of thought that acts as if any criticism is an attack on that person's intentions, sincerity, and integrity. And I'm not a fan of that either. It's fair enough, I think, to point out that Firefly was weirdly lacking in asian characters for a show set in a universe where Chinese is as dominant as English. I don't really see that as an attack, especially when used/phrased that way. It's more of...pointing out something that could use improvement. So I can be aware of the things that Joss does really, really well without needing to hail him as the BEST FEMINIST EVAR!!!!!!!! and I can point out the things he's a little weak on, without making him into the enemy. I think it comes down to being okay with people being flawed. Unfortunately, it seems that there are many people who can't handle a little contradiction. Everything's got to be all one thing or the other.