it's about power. who has it, and who doesn't

This was my Sunday reading today. We drove up to Baltimore for Syl's violin recital so I needed something to do while we waited for that to start.

I managed to read two essays "It's about power and it's about women": Gender and the Political Economy of Superheroes in Wonder Woman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Confliced Hybridity: Negotiating the Warrior Princess Archetype in Willow. Both of them were really well written. The first examined the roller coaster ride that has been Wonder Woman in the comics. Starting out as a feminist character, then getting reworked to be less powerful, then picked up again to be the feminist character...then smacked down *again*. Then the reboot with the New 52 where they made her super violent in a way that didn't really jive with the original vision of Wonder Woman, worrying that be making her more reactive (i.e. stabbing people with broken bottles) she loses something of the original mission of the character. Parallel to that was the story of Buffy and how she managed to stay this strong character through-out though part of that might have been her "normalness" otherwise. She's petite, white, heterosexual, blonde, pretty -- the author wasn't saying these are bad things, but pointing out how having her be this way allowed her to sort of quietly slay her way into the hearts of people that might not think they are ready for a strong female character (and then the author talks about how after being subtle for 4 years, the writers realized they could be more open about the feminist side of the show, and then how it all continues into the comics). It was a short quick read, but really good!

The second essay really helped me understand some of the things in Willow that just never sit quite right with me. And now I get it - mostly Ron Howard missed the point of Sorsha's character. It's not 100% his fault, but it's clear from interviews that his focus was on Willow and MadMartigan's journey, which is sad because I think Sorsha's story is far more interesting (and so did the author of this essay). She points out just a couple of scenes that could have been included in the story that would have made Sorsha a stronger character without having her suddenly disappear after she kisses MadMartigan.

15 minutes until Game of Thrones!!! We had a late lunch at Red Robin and I feel like I'm still not really hungry but I'm thinking maybe some popcorn would hit the spot...

Game of Thrones quick reaction post

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT FOR TONIGHT'S EPISODE - JUST ONE QUESTION:

( seriously, don't click here because it's a big spoiler )

Remember -- I have NOT read the books so please don't tell me anything that happens after this. I'm enjoying watching the show unfold.