The Ghost of Lilly Kane

(found via WFA)

ms_ntropy asks an interesting question about my favorite recently cancelled show:

Is Lilly Kane (Veronica Mars) a [Women in Refrigerator]*?

I would argue mostly no, because

1) Lilly is always a person to us.

We learn a lot about Lilly after her death. (Technically, everything we learn about Lilly we learn after she has died.) And we learn this because of Veronica's investigation. In searching for Lilly's killer, Veronica never treats her dead friend as a symbol; Veronica is very much focused on finding Lilly's killer, not on taking revenge on the person who took her friend from her. And no matter what she finds out about her friend - who was very real and very flawed - Veronica still views her as a friend. This is true even of Lilly's boyfriends and brother, the former of which had a tendency to put her on a pedestal.

and most importantly:

2) Lilly has agency.

Even aside from the question of whether Lilly's ghost is really Lilly, Lilly was killed because she was important, not because Veronica or someone else was. Lilly was the one with connections and knowledge and power. Lilly was killed to stop Lilly, not to send a message to Veronica. Plus, Lilly's death resulted in lasting changes to Lilly's entire world, not just Veronica, and not just Veronica's world.

The problem with WiR, after all, isn't that women get hurt or killed, it's why women get hurt and killed and how often women get hurt and killed and how little we know about them other than that they get hurt and killed. A lot of the complaints about Tygra and Big Barda are not so much that they were hurt/killed, it's that didn't fight back, which makes them seem to be secondary characters rather than superheroes - ie, it treats them like people we know little about. The rest of them seems to be more just general disgust at this happening yet again. Plus, added ire for the possible allusion to WiR in leaving Big Barda on the kitchen floor.

*ms_ntropy actually asks if she is a "Person in Refrigerator" after also asking why WiR is restricted to male protagonists. Not that I don't think that's a good question, I just think that it's a bit silly to ignore the gender implications of stuffing women in refrigerators, especially considering what recently happened to Big Barda. More importantly, Lily's not the protagonist, so why use gender neutral language for non-protagonists if you aren't questioning limiting the discussion to female victims?

Going Round in Circles

Yet another good example of why "the fan base demographics is the reason for character demographics" argument is a circular argument - and a blindingly stupid one at that:

PlasmaRit takes on David Gardner of EA games at Girl in the Machine (hat tip Jade Reporting), and his reasoning for why women don't like games, and finds him unable to differentiate between inclusiveness and variety of game play (and therefore unable to recognize that both are appealing).

The Logic

So - one common explanation for the gender breakdown of characters in games is the gender demographics of people who play games.

One common explanation for the gender breakdown of characters in action (or scifi, etc.) movies is the gender demographics of people who go to see action movies.

The idea, I guess, is that men consume the media, men make the media, and men sell the media - so the media is about men.

Simple and certainly not lacking in truth - if we stop there.


A Thought Experiment

Let's suppose a director generally known for making action movies makes a disaster movie where the action centers around a young woman who falls in love with someone unsuitable during the disaster (and the days leading up to it). Let's have some fun here and pretend this movie was not only a blockbuster, but was a blockbuster because women made it one. I know, I know, that's practically impossible, but hey! crazier things have happened....

Now let's say we want to recreate that success. Or at least learn some lessons from it. What lessons have we learned?

a) women like movies with suspense and action

b) women like movies about relationships

c) women like movies in which they are actually included

d) all of the above

e) none of the above



The Non-Earth Logic

According to "the fan base demographics is the reason for character demographics" argument. The answer is either C or D.

Except that apparently it's not, because the argument is most often used to explain why certain genres tend to exclude female characters, but not why women are less likely to consume media that falls into these genres. No one ever says "But women watch TV less!" in response to accusations of sexism within that medium. But they do say things like:

"Women are treated badly in comics!" - >"That's because women are treated badly in real life."

"Most action heroes are men." -> "Men like action more."

While not always explicitly stated, it's common use as a response to accusations of inequality suggests that the people who make such responses believe that, rather than character and fan demographic affecting each other, the latter affects the former, but the former doesn't affect the latter.

Plus, this seems to only work when sexism needs defending. While the demographics arguments in this thread - both of the "reflecting the fan base" variety and "reflecting real life" variety - are not explicitly saying such arguments apply only to certain shows/games/genres, such logic is required for the argument to work.

Either that, or aliens swooped down and hijacked TV producers minds, resulting in an overabundance of female detectives.

Just sayin'

Look Ma! A Positive Post About Comics!

I am only cautiously optimistic about the possibilities of a Veronica Mars comic and Avalon High manga (despite any squeeing you may have heard).

I do, however, have a lot of faith that a graphic novel for Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series will be quite good.

(hat tip to The Ladies of Lallybroch, whose boards I will lurk from time time in order to find spoilers.)

Why?

- She's a good writer.* She knows how to create believable and intriguing characters and how to pace a story to perfection - and usually does so.

- The part of the draft that's been posted looks well done.

- She's also writing her own characters, not someone else's, so there should be no problems of them acting out of character.

- She's not new to comics. Long before she became a bestselling author, Professor Diana Gabaldon picked up some extra cash writing comics for the Walt Disney company for a couple of years. She's also grew up reading them - although apparently not superhero comics. (you'll have to scroll to the bottom for the relevant info). She may not be the next Gail Simone, but she's hardly another Jodi Picoult.

Of course, I also have tons of questions, most of which have no answers yet, since it's still in the "not quite a done deal yet" stages. (What artist will they pick? If she's talking to her current publisher, does this mean it will be published under Random House's graphic novel imprint? How do they plan on marketing it?)

I'm not terribly nervous that the project will be shelved, however, considering how much money her books make and the general expansion of the graphic novel market in recent years.



*Yes, I had problems with her latest Jaime and Claire novel too, but she's still a good author.

Random Things I've Been Meaning To Mention

- My niece's favorite song is currently the Blue October suicide song. She's three.

- I am still in denial about VM. (And therefore haven't watched the finale - so no spoilers.)

- Someone needs to get working on those hoverboards, bc they're in all the "not too distant future" stories. And that not too distant future is coming up fast. Plus, they are super cool.

- I am addicted to Ice Chai Lattes. Must. Find. Healthier. Drink.

- Nora Roberts has most definitely made a pact with the devil. I don't care that I don't believe in the devil, it's just not possible for someone to write that many books a year and have them be that good. Not without help.

- I'm really scared the HP7 is going to be disappointing. I have slightly better hopes for movie #5.

VM Forever

I got seasons 1 and 2 of Veronica Mars on DVD (thank you, mom and dad!) and I've become obssessed all over again.

I've also realized (because I'm slow that way) how loaded with meaning everyone's names are: Kane, Woody, Mac, Mercer. It makes me think all I need to do to figure out "whodunit" is review everyone's names. Plus - Keith Mars losing the race for sheriff to someone named Lamb - not effing likely.

And I really, really want that shirt she's wearing in the episode where she tracks down Wallace's girlfriend's sister when she disappears after her bachlorette party. The shirt that's like all the truck flaps - only it's a guy.

'Cause that's just too cool.

Sadly, it's not one of the things listed on CW Style.