Different Kinds of Strength
May. 29th, 2014 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis quote, from this article, made me drop my brain. Spoilers for X-Men: Days of Future Past.
"But there’s also been no outcry at Kitty’s absence from the meat of the action because no one misses a character they hardly know."
What. The actual. FUCK?
Kitty Pryde saved the whole world, human and mutant alike. She did this by sending Wolverine's mind to the past. She sent him decades back, when her previous efforts were a few days to a week, maybe a month at most. That is beyond exhausting; it is life-threatening. And then she kept doing that after Wolverine unconsciously stabbed her, while she was bleeding to death and crying from the pain. We know she was bleeding out because Bobby explicitly remarked that she was losing too much blood.
In my mind, this is heroism equivalent to Tony Stark carrying a nuke through the wormhole. Kitty knew she was dying; they all did; it was their last stand and their last chance. She did her job anyway. And this is somehow not enough for people? What did you want to see her do, fire a machine gun with her magic snatch?
Fuck that noise. There's more than one way to be a hero and Kitty was IT in that movie.
"But there’s also been no outcry at Kitty’s absence from the meat of the action because no one misses a character they hardly know."
What. The actual. FUCK?
Kitty Pryde saved the whole world, human and mutant alike. She did this by sending Wolverine's mind to the past. She sent him decades back, when her previous efforts were a few days to a week, maybe a month at most. That is beyond exhausting; it is life-threatening. And then she kept doing that after Wolverine unconsciously stabbed her, while she was bleeding to death and crying from the pain. We know she was bleeding out because Bobby explicitly remarked that she was losing too much blood.
In my mind, this is heroism equivalent to Tony Stark carrying a nuke through the wormhole. Kitty knew she was dying; they all did; it was their last stand and their last chance. She did her job anyway. And this is somehow not enough for people? What did you want to see her do, fire a machine gun with her magic snatch?
Fuck that noise. There's more than one way to be a hero and Kitty was IT in that movie.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-05-29 03:06 pm (UTC)Well...
Date: 2014-05-29 06:03 pm (UTC)I think because people take a narrow-minded view of "strong female character" and indeed a narrow view of strength itself. Strength is an ability to accomplish work, and it comes in many forms, physical and mental. Most forms of women's strength are not respected; in order to earn respect, women have to act like men. I resent that.
>> I think I'm going to have to take a second trip to the movies this afternoon to support Kitty and her quiet badassery. <<
*happydance*
Yeah, when we re-watch this on DVD, I'm definitely planning to pay more attention to Kitty's role. I suspect I'll notice more clues about her condition when I'm actively looking for them.