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Old 10-01-2016, 08:36 AM   #149
jason taylor
 
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: bending stereotypes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
I agree. Too often it's used as an excuse to be a jerk and attacking those complaining about said jerkish behavior.
Why be yourself, when you can try to be just a little better?
But that leads into the Young Adult fiction trope of destiny.
Who need work ethic, time, or skill when fate will just make everything happen for you?
At least older fiction gave us a short training montage even if that would of course be woefully inadequate. Now we just get some confidence epiphany and sudden explosion of ability not once hinted at.
That was one thing I liked about Mulan. She wasn't a jerk and she wasn't intending to shirk her duty. She was grousing about it, but even in traditional societies people grouse more then one might think about the role given them. It was just an accident that she was more skilled as a soldier then as a potential courtly wife.

Of course the Disney version was not very much like Medieval China. But then King Arthur probably did not wear plate armor either. And the Trojan War probably did not start because three goddesses got into a beauty contest and Aphrodite won.
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Last edited by jason taylor; 10-01-2016 at 08:43 AM.
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