NaNo updates (plus a bonus rant)

[ladyofleithian]

Got 10,087 words today. Also on the duel with Dooku. Doing pretty well, I think, considering the circumstances. Pretty tired right now, but relatively satisfied.

Also, a bit of a ramble, based on one post that I read (thanks to a recommendation by fangirlblog). I don't know how qualified I am to really talk about this (and I doubt I can be as eloquent as some of the commenters were), but it was something that really struck me, and I kind of want to talk about it: 

Basically, this post ("Things I Will Not Do To My Characters. Ever.") by seanan_mcguire discusses one incident where someone asked when one of her characters was going to be raped. Almost as if it were par for the course in terms of female characters. When she said no, no one was going to be raped, the person said (and I quote): "I thought you had respect for your work. That's just unrealistic."

There are so many things wrong with what they just said that frankly, I don't even know where to begin. First off, there's the matter of, "Is there a strong female character in there? Then she has to be raped." Which is so many levels of sick that I can't frankly count them. It plays to the whole Rape as Backstory and Rape as Redemption (as well as other unfortunate rape tropes) in fiction. Want to give someone an edgier backstory? Include rape. And then there's the whole ickiness of Rape as Redemption that I severely wish would just die in a fire: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapePortrayedAsRedemption?from=Main.RapeAsRedemption. It's the sort of, "Oh, there's a bad girl/someone who actually enjoys sex/etc.? We can't have that; have her raped." Which plays to some of the really horrible instances of slut shaming in our culture -- if a girl is wearing revealing clothing, has an active sex life or anything else, she doesn't deserve respect. Which is absolutely ridiculous.

Not to mention some of the horrible myths about rape that exist in our culture -- things like if a girl is wearing tight clothes, she's inviting a man to rape her. Never mind that nobody deserves to be raped, and rapists don't discriminate. In addition, it portrays rape as sort of an "Oh ho, that man was just mindbogglingly horny; he couldn't help himself!" when in fact, it's not about that at all. There are many reasons for rape, but mostly, it's for the sake of power and control. Again, rapists don't discriminate. Not to mention, it's the twenty first century. You would think that we would have moved past this idea. Apparently, we haven't. And it's probably going to take a long time before we actually do.

Second off, it plays to the horrible stereotype that works that aren't nonstop Crapsack World-esque things aren't realistic. It's stuff like that which explains things like REVAN and the ending of MASS EFFECT 3, as well as others. Which -- no. It's not realistic in the slightest, and it's not good writing. It's okay to show bad things that happen in life in fiction, but at least, have some degree of hope at the end. Not to mention, look over things like this and ask, for example, in this case, "Is this rape scene necessary?" If it doesn't have any other purpose except for shock value, don't include it. Rape should never be used for shock value. In fact, a lot of things should not be used for shock value, but this, IMHO, is near the top of the list.

It's not the fact that rape should never be talked about or discussed or anything else. It's mostly the fact that it has to be done well. And unfortunately, a lot of instances of rape in fiction aren't done well. If anything, it's always done for some sort of cheap shock value or what-have-you. I actually remember Film Brain's review of "The Cavern" where the movie ends (and possible spoiler alert) with the monster killing one of the girls and beginning to rape the other. From what I can remember, he already hated "The Cavern" if only for its general incompetence in terms of being filmed, as well as the terrible characters and everything else, but it was the ending scene that really pushed him over the edge in terms of being angry. And honestly? I quite agree. To paraphrase him, you have to think about the weight of including a rape scene before you actually include it -- having it in there for shock value or to make things more "realistic" and "edgy"...it's deplorable, really. If it's done in a way that works for the story and is handled well, yes, it can work. But I'm thinking that it's not what the person in question had in mind. They were thinking that one can't write a good story unless one of the strong female characters gets raped, which is completely wrong. Unfortunately, it's in comics, it's in literature -- stuff like that is in media almost everywhere these days. For example, the matter oft Identity Crisis, what with Dr. Light raping Sue Dibny. Honestly, if one was to make Dr. Light a more threatening villain, you didn't have to include rape in there. There were other ways you could make him a more threatening villain without including rape. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the time, rape seems to be what the lazy writer resorts to when they want to create drama. Look at a lot of fanfiction out there -- want to cause some cheap drama? Have a character raped. In truth, it's not like that in real life -- rape is a horrible experience which no one should have to go through. Unfortunately, for every writer who seems to get it, there are writers that simply don't get it. 

And honestly? That makes me angry more than anything else. 

And those are my two cents on the matter. I hope I handled the subject well and everything, and made sense. What are your thoughts?

Comments

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

Right, it comes down to power. Some use a weapon, some use humilitation, whatever. I still subscribe to the idea of where there's life there's hope, so I'm never going to say rape is worse than murder. You can live through it, and you can deal with the psychology. I'm not saying this applies to everyone, but to humanity as a whole, if we can somehow deal with holocaust and war, rape is almost minor league by comparison. Almost. But as I said, it's subjective. To one who's been through it, you'll never convince them either. Then again, if someone's been through both, rape and war, maybe they can say which is worse. Murder... nobody's talking. What makes anything worse than anything else is perception, nothing more, nothing less. Eye of the beholder stuff.

Can you tell my stream of consiousness mode is kicking in?

That it's rarely well done isn't the fault of the writer. If the writer's getting paid (i.e., rewarded), then that's positive reinforcement. That writer will do it again. Who's at fault? The publisher for giving him the shot? The audience for paying for it?

I totally agree - there are always other powerful ways to get anything across in writing. It comes down to the quality of the writer. Some people are better than others, and some simply will never get it.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

I know. But at the same time, rape takes plenty of time to recover from. Not to mention, in between all the slut-shaming and everything else -- I say rape is definitely a very important subject. I mean, maybe it is subjective, but at the same time, the slutshaming and utter lack of compassion some people show towards rape victims (mostly ranting in general) is definitely something that needs to be stopped.

Not saying that war and the holocaust aren't equally horrible, but still...there's something about rape, and society's treatment of rape victims, that gets to me. And I want it to stop.

You're definitely right. But at the same time, the writer has to take a degree of responsibility as well for not running it past someone else first. I mean...feedback's a pretty important thing, and if someone expresses some degree of disapproval...most of the time it's a good clue that you didn't write it very well.

And very well-said regarding the quality of the writer.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

It's much like a phobia. Which is worse: fire, heights, or spiders? To someone who's afraid of one, the others may not be that bad. Clearly rape bothers you for whatever reason, and that's going to affect you. Personally, amputation and being buried alive leave a nasty taste in my mouth, but whatcha gonna do? I can't stress this enough: humans are infinitely adapatable. We as a species can deal with anything. Read Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning, and you'll get what I mean. It'll change your perspective and your life.

That said, if stopping it is something you want to do, the immature writers of the world aren't your targets. Go forth and do. Be a part of law enforcement or become a public speaker or whatever you think is your path to success on that front. Anything you can name, somebody's making fun of it somewhere, somebody else is treating it like it's not a big deal somewhere else, and somebody else is treating it like it's the only problem in the world. If you want to be a part of a change mechanism in society, you have to be out in it, doing what you think is necessary. Whatever path that is for you, I wish you luck. You have the drive, you have the compassion. Just understand, there are no perfect solutions. The more you fix, the more you'll find to fix. That's hard for a lot of crusaders to deal with, and that's what causes people to become jaded after a few turns of the screw. Know yourself, know your crusade, you can make a difference to somebody.

As to the writer, if this clown has an editor or a publisher, it did go past somebody first. And even if not, if someone paid for it, that's all the justification in the world they need. Bad writing isn't a crime. If anything, it's necessary so you've got an example to hold up to the public and say "this is how not to do it. Let's learn from it."

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

All right. But it's something that has to be stopped in fiction if only because...while I wouldn't say fiction affects all of reality , it plays it's part in it. It's a very small part, but if it can be affected in some way, perhaps a difference can be made.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

You'll never make a difference in any of it by trying to attack the creative process on any level. You know how creative types are, being one yourself. If you tell an artist they can't have a yellow sky in their painting, they'll paint nothing but yellow skies from here to eternity just to spite you. Writers are no different, and the ones you're trying to "stop" simply could care less what you think. Your efforts towards making a change for the better would be better served by concentrating on the real world version rather than trying to control the creative process. My two Republic credits, but only you can learn that for yourself.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

I don't mean forcing the writers to write what I want. I mostly mean doing it for myself. Finding a way to set the example. After all, most of the great literary movements involved people showing the way, in a sense. And after all -- this isn't a case of yellow skies vs. blue skies -- I doubt I would call it artistic vision. It's a pattern that needs to stop, that needs to end.

And even if I don't, someone will. It won't happen overnight, not by a longshot. But it will happen eventually. You'd be surprised.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

I encourage everyone to lead by example. But even then, you won't stop the pattern. You may very well inspire others to do what you're doing, but there's an equal and opposite reaction to all things. That's law at all levels of life. The more successful you are, the more likely people will parody it. That's usually the first sign of success. And where there's parody, direct insult will follow, which will include more of what you fight against.

I'm not looking to discourage you. I'm just pointing out what I'm sure you already know because it does no good to fight the good fight with blinders on. No matter how well-intentioned you are, you're fighting an idea. Ideas are bulletproof, regardless of how wrong they appear to be. Anything you can name that disgusts you is happening out in the real world and in a thousand fictional ones whether you like it or not. If that inspires you to go forth and fight, then by all means, go for it.