>>Wednesday presents an extensive supply of strong, interesting, female characters. Most of the time, women and female characters are underrepresented in the media and entertainment. <<
You'd think this would shift as we get more women authors, though I suspect that social convention would lag behind simple demographics.
>>Wednesday has seizure-like visions that are unpleasant at best, and dangerous at worst if she falls badly. <<
'Falling sickness' has long been thought to connect to mystical or religious experiences.
>>As canon hasn't done much with them yet, fanwriters have flexibility in whether to write this as a facial difference or a facial disability.<<
Generally, the difference seems to be cultural. While a disability is a lack of a culturally-expected ability which makes life difficult, a varience either
a) exists on a cultiurally-acceptable range ass with extroversion-to-introversion, or
b) establishes it's own subculture, as with Deaf, autistic and DeafBlind communities. These new communities will have their own standard of normal/acceptable ability ranges which will often be different; disallowing certain mainstream behavior while allowing some unacceptable-in-mainstream behavior. (I.e. DeafBlind culture requires physical contact to indicate communication which is iffy to most mainstream folks, and it is not unheard of for some events to forbid verbal speech which is ubiquitous at most mainstream-culture events.)
>>That's not a very sensitive portrayal in the show, but they do make formidable antagonists.<<
It seems to me to be a magical condition that is a sort of a fantasy dissociative disorder with a tendency to make Stockholm-syndrome like imprints on the individual who triggers it.
Since 1) Stockholm Syndrome tends to be a placating defense in cases of extreme stress, usually social, 2) finding and attaching to a safe person is a good tactic when unable to function by oneself, and 3) many people with disassociation / dementia / extreme emotional upset are perfectly capable of interacting with a compassionate bystander or trusted loved one in a calm manner, I'd think that a triggered Hyde who managed to imprint on a safe/trusted person wouldn't be a threat at all, barring a direct attack from some idiot bystander.
>>...and conveniently there is a therapist (Dr. Valerie Kinbott) for anyone wanting to write about therapy.<<
Given the difficulties of cross-cultural therapy (and occasionally, cross-gender or cross-racial therapy) what extra training has Dr. Valarie taken to be qualified to work with Outcasts? Or is this a case of having a therapist who looks good on paper, but is actually missing useful skills to work with their clients?
>>A leading source of conflict pits town against school, normies against outcasts -- basically two different aspects of the same dispute. They claim to stand apart, but really they're so enmeshed that it smacks a lot of dysfunctional family dynamics.<<
It is common in more rural college towns for the college to be the main employer and for students to be a big part of the customer base; and the students need the town to be able to buy groceries, etc. So the enmeshment is not unrealistic.
I went to a fairly rural college that did a lot of community volunteering; we had a once-a-year event like Outreach day, but there were also a bunch of programs and events that people could do. The community seemed to like us okay.
>>In fact, some relatonships cross those lines in the series, as with Francoise Galpin (Hyde) and Donovan Galpin (normie). However, outcasts rarely call themselves outcasts; they usually have a different name such as "special" or "gifted." <<
The exception would be if they take the othering-name as a badge of honor; for real-life examples see Quaker and queer, which are now mostly descriptives. Also, see most words with n-word privileges; while they may still be offensive or threatening coming from outsiders, they are a form of solidarity and social bonding among the group.
Also, terminology can help identify allies. If an outsider knows preferred ingroup terminology or etiquette, that can indicate that they are friendly or potentially trustworthy.
>>I'm delighted to see a Pilgrim portrayed, openly and explicitly, as an evil person and later a monster obsessed with wiping out those different from himself.<<
It's also interesting that the villainess is immediately put down and insulted...because /of course/ the Pilgrim patriarch from the 1600s is misogynistic.
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dancing_serpent
(no subject)
Date: 2023-03-06 06:29 pm (UTC)You'd think this would shift as we get more women authors, though I suspect that social convention would lag behind simple demographics.
>>Wednesday has seizure-like visions that are unpleasant at best, and dangerous at worst if she falls badly. <<
'Falling sickness' has long been thought to connect to mystical or religious experiences.
>>As canon hasn't done much with them yet, fanwriters have flexibility in whether to write this as a facial difference or a facial disability.<<
Generally, the difference seems to be cultural. While a disability is a lack of a culturally-expected ability which makes life difficult, a varience either
a) exists on a cultiurally-acceptable range ass with extroversion-to-introversion, or
b) establishes it's own subculture, as with Deaf, autistic and DeafBlind communities. These new communities will have their own standard of normal/acceptable ability ranges which will often be different; disallowing certain mainstream behavior while allowing some unacceptable-in-mainstream behavior. (I.e. DeafBlind culture requires physical contact to indicate communication which is iffy to most mainstream folks, and it is not unheard of for some events to forbid verbal speech which is ubiquitous at most mainstream-culture events.)
>>That's not a very sensitive portrayal in the show, but they do make formidable antagonists.<<
It seems to me to be a magical condition that is a sort of a fantasy dissociative disorder with a tendency to make Stockholm-syndrome like imprints on the individual who triggers it.
Since 1) Stockholm Syndrome tends to be a placating defense in cases of extreme stress, usually social, 2) finding and attaching to a safe person is a good tactic when unable to function by oneself, and 3) many people with disassociation / dementia / extreme emotional upset are perfectly capable of interacting with a compassionate bystander or trusted loved one in a calm manner, I'd think that a triggered Hyde who managed to imprint on a safe/trusted person wouldn't be a threat at all, barring a direct attack from some idiot bystander.
>>...and conveniently there is a therapist (Dr. Valerie Kinbott) for anyone wanting to write about therapy.<<
Given the difficulties of cross-cultural therapy (and occasionally, cross-gender or cross-racial therapy) what extra training has Dr. Valarie taken to be qualified to work with Outcasts? Or is this a case of having a therapist who looks good on paper, but is actually missing useful skills to work with their clients?
>>A leading source of conflict pits town against school, normies against outcasts -- basically two different aspects of the same dispute. They claim to stand apart, but really they're so enmeshed that it smacks a lot of dysfunctional family dynamics.<<
It is common in more rural college towns for the college to be the main employer and for students to be a big part of the customer base; and the students need the town to be able to buy groceries, etc. So the enmeshment is not unrealistic.
I went to a fairly rural college that did a lot of community volunteering; we had a once-a-year event like Outreach day, but there were also a bunch of programs and events that people could do. The community seemed to like us okay.
>>In fact, some relatonships cross those lines in the series, as with Francoise Galpin (Hyde) and Donovan Galpin (normie). However, outcasts rarely call themselves outcasts; they usually have a different name such as "special" or "gifted." <<
The exception would be if they take the othering-name as a badge of honor; for real-life examples see Quaker and queer, which are now mostly descriptives. Also, see most words with n-word privileges; while they may still be offensive or threatening coming from outsiders, they are a form of solidarity and social bonding among the group.
Also, terminology can help identify allies. If an outsider knows preferred ingroup terminology or etiquette, that can indicate that they are friendly or potentially trustworthy.
>>I'm delighted to see a Pilgrim portrayed, openly and explicitly, as an evil person and later a monster obsessed with wiping out those different from himself.<<
It's also interesting that the villainess is immediately put down and insulted...because /of course/ the Pilgrim patriarch from the 1600s is misogynistic.