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Apr. 20th, 2017 10:07 pmHello Dreamwidth! I only have one person reading my journal because it has no content, but I had a topic I wanted to discuss in long-format and tumblr doesn't really work well for that, and it seems like maybe DW is making a comeback because of the LJ TOS? Anyway hi, if you are here, hello.
I was thinking about redemption arcs the other day, and what type I like and what type I don't. The ones I like are the ones where a character through their own actions comes to realize that they are not, in fact, a good person, even though they maybe thought they were. And they decide that they want to be a good person, and are willing to try their best to redeem themselves. Example: Bellamy Blake on The 100 in season 1. He has a great arc of realizing he's actually a terrible person, and deciding to be better. And yes, Clarke clues him in a little bit, but it's not like she changed him -- he did it himself. Or like Natasha Romanoff breaking free of her conditioning and realizing that that's not the person she wants to be, and working to be a different, better person.
The kind that I seriously dislike is the kind where a bad person is somehow magically redeemed because of the fact that a good person loves them. Like, the kind of Star Wars TFA shippy nonsense about "if Rey loved Kylo Ren he'd become good because he's just a misunderstood boy who never got enough love." Fuck that shit. He's an asshole who murdered his dad in cold blood. Loki's not gonna become a good guy if Thor fucks him tenderly enough.
But then there's this weird middle type that I also dislike, where a person who is portrayed not necessarily as a Bad Person but as a Rogue, and then that person falls in love with a Good Person and stops their rogue-ish behavior. This is why I stopped being interested in Hook and Emma on OUAT back howevermany season back I stopped watching it. This is why I'm annoyed at the Lucifer/Chloe storyline on Lucifer. I think the crux of it really is that when a person is being a rogue, they're not actually being a bad person? And usually the "redemption" involves them stopping being promiscuous when they previously were promiscuous? And it all comes out in some kind of weird slut-shaming thing that makes me deeply uncomfortable.
Lucifer stops having sex with other people because he's in love with Chloe. Why? If he's not actually dating her, he has no commitment to monogamy. Why would a person who has thus far had one of his defining character traits being the massive amount of sex he has with extremely happy and willing partners suddenly give that up? The reasoning given amounts to, "because Chloe will never date me if she thinks I'm a slut." And that's such a load of BS, like, she has no claim over you, and why would you want to be with someone who is judging you like that? And if she really wanted to date you, wouldn't she like you the way you are? Otherwise it will never work out. And I'm not saying that in order for Lucifer and Chloe to hook up she has to agree to an open relationship -- once they're actually dating for real, it's reasonable to expect monogamy. I'm objecting to the fact that he acts like because he's in love with her he has to stop having sex with other people, even though they're not dating, and more so, I'm objecting to the fact that that's portrayed in the show as Lucifer becoming a Good Person.
You can be a good person and still have lots of sex with lots of willing partners. Having lots of sex with lots of willing partners does not make you a Bad Person who needs a redemption arc.
Anyway I don't really know what I'm talking about, I am kind of blathering on, but that is why I decided to post on DW instead of tumblr (although I will now go link to this on tumblr, so.).
I was thinking about redemption arcs the other day, and what type I like and what type I don't. The ones I like are the ones where a character through their own actions comes to realize that they are not, in fact, a good person, even though they maybe thought they were. And they decide that they want to be a good person, and are willing to try their best to redeem themselves. Example: Bellamy Blake on The 100 in season 1. He has a great arc of realizing he's actually a terrible person, and deciding to be better. And yes, Clarke clues him in a little bit, but it's not like she changed him -- he did it himself. Or like Natasha Romanoff breaking free of her conditioning and realizing that that's not the person she wants to be, and working to be a different, better person.
The kind that I seriously dislike is the kind where a bad person is somehow magically redeemed because of the fact that a good person loves them. Like, the kind of Star Wars TFA shippy nonsense about "if Rey loved Kylo Ren he'd become good because he's just a misunderstood boy who never got enough love." Fuck that shit. He's an asshole who murdered his dad in cold blood. Loki's not gonna become a good guy if Thor fucks him tenderly enough.
But then there's this weird middle type that I also dislike, where a person who is portrayed not necessarily as a Bad Person but as a Rogue, and then that person falls in love with a Good Person and stops their rogue-ish behavior. This is why I stopped being interested in Hook and Emma on OUAT back howevermany season back I stopped watching it. This is why I'm annoyed at the Lucifer/Chloe storyline on Lucifer. I think the crux of it really is that when a person is being a rogue, they're not actually being a bad person? And usually the "redemption" involves them stopping being promiscuous when they previously were promiscuous? And it all comes out in some kind of weird slut-shaming thing that makes me deeply uncomfortable.
Lucifer stops having sex with other people because he's in love with Chloe. Why? If he's not actually dating her, he has no commitment to monogamy. Why would a person who has thus far had one of his defining character traits being the massive amount of sex he has with extremely happy and willing partners suddenly give that up? The reasoning given amounts to, "because Chloe will never date me if she thinks I'm a slut." And that's such a load of BS, like, she has no claim over you, and why would you want to be with someone who is judging you like that? And if she really wanted to date you, wouldn't she like you the way you are? Otherwise it will never work out. And I'm not saying that in order for Lucifer and Chloe to hook up she has to agree to an open relationship -- once they're actually dating for real, it's reasonable to expect monogamy. I'm objecting to the fact that he acts like because he's in love with her he has to stop having sex with other people, even though they're not dating, and more so, I'm objecting to the fact that that's portrayed in the show as Lucifer becoming a Good Person.
You can be a good person and still have lots of sex with lots of willing partners. Having lots of sex with lots of willing partners does not make you a Bad Person who needs a redemption arc.
Anyway I don't really know what I'm talking about, I am kind of blathering on, but that is why I decided to post on DW instead of tumblr (although I will now go link to this on tumblr, so.).
