Markup View

Author: KingZeal

Mar 25th 2012 at 5:35:25 AM

''King Zeal - You missed the point regarding Titanic; the whole point of the movie was to tell the story of Titanic - if it didn't play out that way, it wouldn't have made sense. ''

There have been plenty of stories about the Titanic that didn't involve a RescueRomance or a male sacrifice, so I don't see ''your'' point.

I said nothing about Badass Damsel - in fact, you're the first person to mention it in this discussion. That said, the article itself says this: "This trope subverts the Distressed Damsel routine so hard it's not even funny." - so you've pretty much contradicted yourself.''

No.  As I've said before, subverting a stereotype trope usually just creates a ''new'' trope.  This one is no exception.

''Also, sorry to tell you this, but being a damsel doesn't make one delicate (see, for instance, Monique Laroche in the 2004 version of Around The World In 80 Days). So I don't know where you get "more tension in a delicate woman... than a man or even a tomboy" from. I'd argue that being delicate is really the only point, and while male delicateness is far less common, it's not unheard of.''

No one said it was unheard of.  The fact that female delicacy is the ''aggregate'' is the entire point!

''More importantly, the frequency of certain subtropes being female is irrelevant to the question of whether, in general, the trope is ubiquitous. And for the record, Pepper Potts has to be saved because she's Iron Man's love interest, not because she's a "delicate woman".''

The two are not mutually exclusive.  Rescuing your love interest is pretty standard fare for male fantasy.  Specifically to ''invoke'' WomenAreDelicate.

''As for your other examples - Twilight is an aberration, as happens sometimes. I never said that it doesn't occur at all.''

Twilight is also the most popular fiction toward the female demographic in some time.  That was my point.  It isn't just when the story is about men or written by men.

''Underworld, I can't see your point, as my (admittedly limited) understanding of that movie is that Selene is very much a non-delicate character.''

Again, that's what "zig-zagged" means.  They play the trope straight in some ways, but just enough to make her seem vulnerable enough to be accessible to the male audience.

''As for Resident Evil, it's a videogame movie, so it fits with the typical sexist stuff coming from the videogame industry. No surprise there. ''

And yet, the videogame industry is still a form of media.  And a very popular one.

''More importantly, I said nothing of female stereotypes in general, just the "women are delicate" one. Sexist stereotypes are definitely rampant in most media (in both directions)... but Women Are Delicate is no more common than, say, female clothing being skimpy, or men being horny. There was a time when women were always portrayed as delicate (or in the rare exceptional case, it was an intentional thing)... but that time has passed. Culture has moved on, and if changing culture changes the trope, it can't be described as omnipresent. ''

Yes it can, when it's still being used in one form, even if it's subverted in another.