Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Writing, tagged arts, characters, creativity, entertainment, feminism, Fiction, genre fiction, How to Train Your Dragon 2, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, Strong Female Character, Tasha Robinson, The Matrix, Thoughts, Trinity Syndrome, Writers, writing, yay on June 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
We’re losing all our Strong Female Characters to Trinity Syndrome
This excellent piece by Tasha Robinson sums up a lot of the problems mainstream storytelling has with “Strong Female Characters.”
For the ordinary dude to be triumphant, the Strong Female Character has to entirely disappear into Subservient Trophy Character mode. This is Trinity Syndrome à la The Matrix: the hugely capable woman who never once becomes as independent, significant, and exciting as she is in her introductory scene.
If you are interested in learning how not to bury your SFC’s light under a bushel, I recommend this article. It highlights on-point questions creatives should ask themselves, like:
03. Could your Strong Female Character be seamlessly replaced with a floor lamp with some useful information written on it to help a male hero?
:p
In many instances, what starts out as an interesting character is hobbled in order to provide the male hero with whatever thing he needs (knowledge, motivation, etc.) to make it to the finish line. There are exceptions, of course, and I’m pleased to say that Emily Blunt’s character in Edge of Tomorrow was one such.
So maybe all the questions can boil down to this: Looking at a so-called Strong Female Character, would you—the writer, the director, the actor, the viewer—want to be her?
Like Tasha Robinson, I loved Cate Blanchett’s character in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and was as disappointed when the role for this supremely kick-ass woman who was willing to live in exile for twenty years to uphold her principles just sort of… fizzled out. I hope to see more from her in a third installment. In fact, I hope to see more Strong Female Characters across the board.
Who knows, one day we might even just call them, oh, I don’t know, “Female Characters.”
Posted in Funny, Likes, Science!, tagged books, coding, computer literacy, cyberscammers, ergonomics, gender parity, genre fiction, Mother Jones, NASA, Octavia Butler, rally driving, science fiction, science!, sff, space, speculative fiction, STEM, sun dragons, SyFy on June 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Or, what I read with my morning tea. Entertainment, edification, and associated weirdness? Yep, these articles have it all. Enjoy!
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged awesome, Doug Liman, Emily Blunt, entertainment, genre fiction, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, movies, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, Tom Cruise on June 8, 2014| 1 Comment »
So, remember when I had a hard time finding a movie theatre showing Edge of Tomorrow in 2D? I know, that was, like, hours ago, you may have forgotten. I bring it up now to say that I did find a theatre, and I did go see the film, and it was Totally Worth It, people! No spoilers, but the acting and directing and editing and… well, just about everything was top notch. Really, really enjoyed it.
Definitely recommended.
Now I’m off to find the book it’s based on, All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Because speculative fiction well done is a delight.
Posted in Entertainment, tagged 3D movies, annoyances, Edge of Tomorrow, entertainment, less than awesome, Ottawa movie theaters, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, Thoughts on June 6, 2014| 1 Comment »
Srsly, Ottawa movie theaters, why can’t I see Edge of Tomorrow in anything other than 3-frickin-D this weekend? Oh look, here’s an article about how the gross for this movie might be underwhelming. Could it have anything to do with the fact that some of us can’t see it without wearing glasses that make us want to lose our lunch?
Hang on a sec, after much searching I have found one theatre (hey there little guy!) that is showing this movie in 2D. One. Guess which theatre is getting my money? Because hey, I want to see Edge of Tomorrow. 🙂
Posted in Entertainment, Funny, tagged Canada, CONPLAN, funny, inspiration, ishouldbeworking, Pentagon, speculative fiction, superfun, war fighting, War Plan Red, zombie Apocalypse, zombie preparedness, zombies on May 21, 2014| 1 Comment »
Today I’m reading up on ways to prepare for the zombie apocalypse, as one does. How, you ask (as one would)? Why, by studying the Pentagon’s own zombie preparedness manual, CONPLAN 8888, of course!
Yes, it’s tongue-in-cheek, but not entirely. The planners behind this gem of a training tool realized that zombies would be a great way to engage trainees in threat assessments and creative problem solving in the field, all without running afoul of an actual constituency. After all, pick a real country as the subject of your war plan and it’s a quick leak away from a serious misunderstanding (and no one wants to piss off Canada again, amIright? Canadian Bacon, people!). And what’s more fun than fighting zombies?
See for yourself, and watch out for those space zombies!
Posted in Entertainment, tagged :(, Almost Human, Fox, JJ Abrams, Karl Urban, Michael Ealy, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, television on May 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Because of course! Almost Human was a smart show, well-written and acted, had a great cast with complex relationships, an interesting and mysterious vision of the future, and healthy doses of both pathos and humor. Of course it’s been canceled!
I loved the dynamic between the show’s two main characters (played with subtlety by Eomer Karl Urban and Michael Ealy), and who doesn’t want to push an android out of a moving vehicle once in a while? I think we can all relate to that.
Thank goodness we still have 10^∞ reality shows to watch.
/facepalm
/yesthatwassarcasm
So, sad news for viewers of quality TV, speculative or otherwise. Thank goodness we still have books!
Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, Fiction, inspiration, kurt vonnegut, speculative fiction, storytelling, Writers, writing on May 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I’m work, work, working this week, getting lots done and I hope you are too. Today I bring you Kurt Vonnegut’s ideas on the shapes of stories, posted by Aerogramme Writers’ Studio with a terrific infographic designed by Maya Eilam. If you are a visual person, like to shore up your understanding of concepts with images, or just enjoy seeing how a great storyteller conceptualizes his work, you may find this useful.
The Shapes of Stories by Kurt Vonnegut
Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.
― Kurt Vonnegut
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