Quote:
Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako
Then it's a good thing I didn't say that. What I'm calling absurd is Kawahara's choice to use rape as a plot device to show how evil Sugou is -- in doing so he's trivializing the whole situation and pandering to the male audience to provoke feelings of protectiveness.
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I see nothing to provoke feelings of protectiveness on behalf of the male audience. Now this board may be just a small portion of the population that watches this show (very small,) but I see no one aside from the people claiming feminism/sexist on this arc claiming that. Hell I think most of us here are hoping she gets herself out of this situation, whistle hurting sugou in the process.
The absolute and only reason I can see Asuna being the one put in this situation or even in this situation is because it's neccessary for Sugou to further his primary objective of taking over RCT company. The fact that he gets to torment Asuna and
maybe end up controling her is just a bonus to him. His plan would be stopped before it even started if Asuna was concious and able to do anything at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako
There's also the issue that in real life most rapes don't involve a woman getting kidnapped and locked in a cage by Captain Evil. If you want realism, it'd be more likely that Klein once took a girl back to her apartment after a date, started making out with her and refused to stop when she told him to, or that Lizabeth once went to a party, got drunk and woke up the next morning naked in a hotel room.
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Go up to a person, man or woman since that seems to be everyone's issue here, that was raped/molested after being kidnapped and tell them that it doesnt happen very often and that it's "absurd." See how many teeth you still have afterward. Even if you say what's absurd is the author using it as a plot device, it's still highly offensive. A plot device is a plot device, the intentions behind it and how it's used are what matters, not that people's personal opinion of it is that it's stupid and the "easy" way out.
Spoiler for Save space:
Last night, I was asked—in so many words—when either Toby or one of the Price girls was finally going to be raped.
Not "if." Not "do you think." But "when," and "finally." Because it is a foregone conclusion, you see, that all women must be raped, especially when they have the gall to run around being protagonists all the damn time. I responded with confusion. The questioner provided a list of scenarios wherein these characters were "more than likely" to encounter sexual violence. These included Verity forgetting to change out of her tango uniform before going on patrol, Toby being cocky, and Sarah walking home from class alone. Yes, even the ambush predator telepath with a "don't notice me" field is inevitably getting raped.
When. Finally. Inevitably.
My response: "None of my protagonists are getting raped. I do not want to write that."
Their response: "I thought you had respect for your work. That's just unrealistic."
...
But rape in fiction can also be a problematic and belittling thing, used to put cocky heroines in their places. When Janet goes to Caughterha despite being told not to, her punishment is rape by the eponymous Tam Lin. When a superheroine needs a deeper, edgier backstory, there's always some previously third-tier villain with a de-powering ray and an agenda waiting in the wings. I read a lot of horror, a lot of comics, and a lot of urban fantasy, and the one thing these three things have in common is rape. Lots and lots and lots of rape.
And I don't wanna write that.
I do not understand—I will not understand, I refuse to understand—why rape has to be on the table for every story with a female protagonist, or even a strong female supporting cast. Why it's so assumed that I'm being "unrealistic" when I say that none of my female characters are going to be raped. Why this "takes the tension out of the story." There is plenty of tension without me having to write about something that upsets both me and many of my readers, thanks.
I say good for her, she doesnt want to write that, I say more power to her. I agree with her completely. What's "absurd" was
THAT letter from
THAT fan. Using rape in a story does not make it bad, it does not make it poor writing. As I said before, it's a plot device, what the author does with it from here on out will define whether or not it was a good or poor choice.
Oh and will you please stop with the complaining about how Sugou acts, it's his character, I know plenty of them in real life as sad as that may be.