Character Bashing Redux

[catscradle]

So I'm reading over gw-fan and come across a thread about character bashing and is or isn't it good fic writing. Someone posted:

Its probably already been said but one person's character bashing is
another's true characterization. Its like the whole in character out of
character thing - a lot of it is a matter of opinion. The fact that
opinions differ should be accepted and not tagged with the title of poor
storytelling or even character bashing. A character can be stupid selfish
and insensitive and a story can still be well done. After all look at
Richard the III. Shakespeare was mainly writing during Elizabeth's reign and
the last thing he was going to do is paint the man who put her family on the
throne as a villian, instead he wisely chose to justify her family's
position. He wrote Richard as black as sin to make the man who deposed him
look like a savior. And yet for all its over the top portrayal - no one
would call Richard III poor story telling. "thus is the winter of our
discontent made glorious summer by this son of York " whoa -fantastic!
Incredible beautiful beautiful language and both chilling and heart renching
moments -one of Willie's best! And was Shakespeare character bashing - even
Historians can't decide.

Character bashing is not only merely point of view, it's supported by Shakespeare himself.

First off, fanfic and Shakespeare - Elizabethian political propoganda and fanfic are two different things. In the words of thebratqueen, "I'd love to know when people forgot the difference between the fact that fanfic often copies and steals from Shakespeare, but Shakespeare himself did not write fanfic." Fanfic rules and political agenda - not in the same league folks. Even if it were, Richard III has feelings and motivations behind his actions - he's not evil for evil's sake.

Second, character bashing is not merely point of view. Relena Peacecraft was the character in question in this debate, so I'll use her. Portraying Relena as a psycho brat bitch from hell who will lead Heero to his ruin is not accurate to the canon. There is no factual information for which to derive this interpretation. I can say that Heero is an over emotional crybaby and fat. Guess what? I'd be wrong.

to clarify, character bashing is not to take a character that is nasty and portray them just the way they are in the canon. That's not character bashing. If I portray Tsubarov as an asshole bent on controling all of space, that would be true to character - it's not bashing or bastardization. He really is an asshole. Bashing a character is to negatively warp the characterization into a caricature. Basically, to stereotype. That's never good writing.

I'm not talking about silly fics here, I'm talking about when this happens in a serious fic. I was reading one a while ago that was pretty good up until they introduced Relena as the fic's resident psycho. Ruined the entire story. When you have a story that is based on the characters reacting to an unbelivable villian - that's a bad fic.

If the character changes and something turns them to the dark side - that's fine. But it needs explained. One of the cool things about GW is that the characters aren't cookie cutter good or bad. Wufei becomes one of the villians in Endless Waltz. Zechs joins the good guys. But the changes are explained in ways that makes sense.

Comments

[ddraigcoch.livejournal.com]

I do agree with what you say, BUT as long as the changes made to the character are sufficently explained, then there's no problem. For example I was reading a fic where Relena went psycho and tried to kill Duo BUT this was after Heero had married Relena and then proceeded to have an affair with Duo. Duo was acting under love and Heero being as emotionally ill equipt as he is was stumbling in the marriage and had no idea what to do.
See, all a matter of well thought out POV. I mean, I hate David in the VC Fandom and would like nothing better that to kill him, but unless I can think of a pheseable way of doing that, I wouldn't dare put it in a fic. I like my head where it is.

[catscradle.livejournal.com]

I do agree with what you say, BUT as long as the changes made to the character are sufficently explained, then there's no problem.

I said that in my original post: "If the character changes and something turns them to the dark side - that's fine. But it needs explained. One of the cool things about GW is that the characters aren't cookie cutter good or bad. Wufei becomes one of the villians in Endless Waltz. Zechs joins the good guys. But the changes are explained in ways that makes sense."

For example I was reading a fic where Relena went psycho and tried to kill Duo BUT this was after Heero had married Relena and then proceeded to have an affair with Duo. Duo was acting under love and Heero being as emotionally ill equipt as he is was stumbling in the marriage and had no idea what to do.

I'd have to read the fic in question, but my first response is that Relena turning psycho and trying to kill Duo because Heero cheated on her with him - still is not enough to explain her actions. In the canon, Relena is portrayed as able to hold her own and keep a level head. At the end of the series, she's given an chance to kill Lady Une, her father's murderer, but she turns it down because she realizes that revenge and more violence is not going to solve anything. If anything, Relena symbolizes rationality in a world gone mad. We might not like her, we may find her too idealistic, but that's no reason to vilify her in the fanfic. People can do it - there's nothing wrong with them writing whatever they want - but it's not good fiction.

Writing a fic where Relena is disillusioned with pacificism and turns toward darker thoughts is fine - set up the scenerio. I think it would take a little more than being jilted to turn her into a psycho murderous raving bitch though. A person can have a broken heart and still be essensially the same person inside. Most of us have been cheated on or left and we haven't killed anyone because of it.