Mary Sue, who are you!

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Mary Sue, who are you!

08 Dec

This actually was posted originally on my tumblr blog, but I believe it bears repeating here. The discussion involves what exactly is a Mary Sue. There seems to be a huge double standard with regard to how they are perceived.

Male power fantasies, in essence, a strapping young lad, with chiseled good looks, unfailing wit and charm, and can do no wrong, seems to be considered the norm. Take those same qualities, however, and apply them to a female power fantasy (yes, they exist, women have power fantasies as well) and suddenly it becomes a Mary Sue. A trope. Even if one takes all the positives seen in someone who is feminine, translate those into how that person gains their incredible power, and it’s still seen as a trope or a Mary Sue. Take all the male aspects and use the positives to describe how he gains his abilities? Well, that’s just good writing.

Here’s a prime example that I shall pluck from the discussion. This was originally posted by adventuresofcomicbookgirl on tumblr, but I liked this one description she gave of a female character that many would call out as a Mary Sue.

So, there’s this girl. She’s tragically orphaned and richer than anyone on the planet. Every guy she meets falls in love with her, but in between torrid romances she rejects them all because she dedicated to what is Pure and Good. She has genius level intellect, Olympic-athelete level athletic ability and incredible good looks. She is consumed by terrible angst, but this only makes guys want her more. She has no superhuman abilities, yet she is more competent than her superhuman friends and defeats superhumans with ease. She has unshakably loyal friends and allies, despite the fact she treats them pretty badly. They fear and respect her, and defer to her orders. Everyone is obsessed with her, even her enemies are attracted to her. She can plan ahead for anything and she’s generally right with any conclusion she makes. People who defy her are inevitably wrong.

The reactions would be, invariably, that the character is such a Mary Sue. However, if you look closely at the above description, adventuresofcomicbookgirl just finished describing the back story for Batman. For men, this is normal, to have these reaffirming power fantasies set before them, but for women, it’s not normal, and in many cases there are those who say such power fantasies are dangerous. Unhealthy. But why not, why can’t women have their own power fantasies, giving proper role models to young women and girls everywhere. They have just as much right to have such stories as the other half of the human population on the planet Earth do.

To read the entire conversation, just open up adventuresofcomicbookgirl‘s thread and start reading. Below is my own take on it, as added to the thread of discussion.

I actually got an email over a year ago, regarding the serial series I posted called Black Mask & Pale Rider. One of my characters, Pania, got called a Mary Sue. Which, at first I found hilarious, considering the fact that I’m a guy. And from what I am familiar with of the concept of Mary Sue is that such a character is similar to a self insertion. If I were to do that, then I’d be crafting a male character. But anyway, more to the point…

Pania Alow is quite feminine. She’s a singer and a dancer, and the latter she uses to help with her sword play. She comes from a family that is incredibly interested in discovering the history of a culture through their stories. Not to recreate them or write their own songs about them, but to simply learn about them. Pania herself tries very hard to view each person as a unique individual, though there are times she will formulate an opinion on face value. She’s a very attractive woman, curvy and sensuous, with a playful smile and a knowing look in her eyes. She likes fine fashion in her clothing, but attempts to mix it with practicality. She’s also a lesbian, and rather vocal about it, so much so that her partner in crime, Shani Wennemein, has to remind her of the stigma that people in 1863 Earth view on “oddities” they may find. Pania is a helpful person, sacrificing her own needs for the needs of others, more often than not.

There’s a great deal more to Pania than just that. But even with all of that, Pania ended up being called a Mary Sue. As if using that for an insult. Now that I’ve read this, though, the only response I can now come up with is sure. If Pania is viewed as a Mary Sue, what I would consider to be a positive role model for a young woman, then by all means. Pania is intelligent, understanding, helpful, attractive, not afraid of her sexuality, and eager to learn all she can. At the same time, she can be judgmental, quick to anger, sometimes headstrong, forcefully opinionated, and a bit of a tease. She has as many faults as she has positive abilities.

If those are qualities of a Mary Sue, then I guess they just happen to be.