"Ha ha, take that, fanboys! We got you lusting after this fantasy object, and then showed you she was a REAL PERSON and not a fantasy at all, and then decapitated her!! BET YOU FEEL REAL STUPID NOW."
You know, I totally got that message--I mean, it was clear that one of the goals of the show was to trick the (male otaku) viewer into identifying with the girls / thinking of them as human beings rather than (just) objectifying them--but you're right, I somehow didn't think of it as the message. I really like your read that it's the message.
deconstructing the moe stereotype of a mahoujo that has become a sex symbol for fanboys. ...Which...it just makes me angry that this is even necessary.
I hear you! It's so gross that this problem even exists. But I guess I'm pretty grateful that one cadre of dudes actually took the trouble to critique it.
You can't just be an amazing ordinary girl; it takes a god to make everything okay.
The implicit "you have to change the system (because working within the system will get you nowhere)" isn't a problem for me; what makes me sad is the suggestion that the only way to change the system is to become superhuman, as opposed to "Let's all stage a revolution together!" XD; Which is where I sort of vaguely idealistically wished the show might go, like, if Homura could get into a timeline in which all the girls pooled all their information. A girls' revolution (hi, Utena) that doesn't just hinge on a single revolutionary.
Basically, I can accept "it's not enough to just be an amazing ordinary girl," because when it comes to social change there really is a limit to how much one single human can do--i.e. "it's not enough to just be one amazing person alone"--and (sadly) sometimes it really does take a martyr. But the last word shouldn't be "BECOME A GOD," it should be..."organize?" XD; The Marxist feminist ending ahaha.
Anyway, thank you for this post! I'll add it to my list.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 12:35 am (UTC)You know, I totally got that message--I mean, it was clear that one of the goals of the show was to trick the (male otaku) viewer into identifying with the girls / thinking of them as human beings rather than (just) objectifying them--but you're right, I somehow didn't think of it as the message. I really like your read that it's the message.
deconstructing the moe stereotype of a mahoujo that has become a sex symbol for fanboys. ...Which...it just makes me angry that this is even necessary.
I hear you! It's so gross that this problem even exists. But I guess I'm pretty grateful that one cadre of dudes actually took the trouble to critique it.
You can't just be an amazing ordinary girl; it takes a god to make everything okay.
The implicit "you have to change the system (because working within the system will get you nowhere)" isn't a problem for me; what makes me sad is the suggestion that the only way to change the system is to become superhuman, as opposed to "Let's all stage a revolution together!" XD; Which is where I sort of vaguely idealistically wished the show might go, like, if Homura could get into a timeline in which all the girls pooled all their information. A girls' revolution (hi, Utena) that doesn't just hinge on a single revolutionary.
Basically, I can accept "it's not enough to just be an amazing ordinary girl," because when it comes to social change there really is a limit to how much one single human can do--i.e. "it's not enough to just be one amazing person alone"--and (sadly) sometimes it really does take a martyr. But the last word shouldn't be "BECOME A GOD," it should be..."organize?" XD; The Marxist feminist ending ahaha.
Anyway, thank you for this post! I'll add it to my list.