So I'm reading Discworld for the first time (yes I know, quite late to the party on this), enjoying it so far, but one particular passage stood out to me because it so expertly called out the unfortunate tendency of fantasy authors to overly sexualize female characters using some very clever wit and humor. I thought I'd share it here because it shows that this kind of thing has been prevalent in fantasy (and to be fair, many other kinds of) literature for a long time now.
From The Light Fantastic (I don't think this counts as a spoiler since it doesn't give away any of the plot, mods please let me know if I'm wrong):
> ...this particular hero was a heroine. A redheaded one.
> Now, there is a tendency at a point like this to look over one's shoulder at the cover artist and start going on at length about leather, thighboots and naked blades.
> Words like "full," "round" and even "pert" creep into the narrative, until the writer has to go and have a cold shower and a lie down.
> Which is all rather silly, because any woman setting out to make a living by the sword isn't about to go around looking like something off the cover of the more advanced kind of lingerie catalogue for the specialized buyer.
And then Pratchett does communicate that this character is attractive, but he does so almost grudgingly, as though it's some kind of concession to the reader:
> Oh well, all right. The point that must be made is that although Herrena the Henna-Haired Harridan would look quite stunning after a good bath, a heavy-duty manicure, and the pick of the leather racks in Woo Hun Ling's Oriental Exotica and Martial Aids on Heroes Street, she was currently quite sensibly dressed in light chainmail, soft boots and a short sword.
> All right, maybe the boots were leather. But not black.
This book was published in 1986, so this was an interesting (and funny) glimpse into the fact that the hyper-sexualization of female characters in fantasy (which still persists today) has been around for a long time.
It's terrible.
I'm at home and sick in bed so I decided to fall down the Duggar rabbit hole to hell. Did y'all know Austin's Dad was married before with two kids and got divorced before he married Austin's Mom?
Now I ask you - what gives? Why is he allowed to divorce and Anna has to stay married to Satan? Is it a gender thing? WTF? Divorce is evil no matter the reason according to them, right? So why does this asshole get a pass?
Someone explain it to me like I'm Joy.
"I spent months terrorizing a teenager over a high school karate tournament. It sounds insane just talking about it."
Kinda sums up the whole show!
Was just re-watching the scene in S4E7 where Kreese brings Silver the beers after their bet.
Terry is so happy in that moment, when he takes the beers and says "Sweeeeeet!"
He's not caught up in any revenge bullshit, he's not feuding with Daniel and Miyagi Do - yeah he's hurt his apology was rejected and wants to take out "that arrogant prick" in the tournament through the Cobra Kai students, but otherwise as far as he's concerned, he's just reliving some glory days and rediscovering his love of karate and teaching kids.
And he's teaching them fairly up to this point. It's not Miyagi Do philosophy but he's not teaching the CK kids to be vindictive bullies, either. He's a good teacher, just teaching them to be strong and effective and to overcome their fears. He even stands by telling them no fighting with Daniel and Johnny's students outside the tournament.
This scene in episode 7 is the last glimpse of the good Terry Silver we see and it breaks my heart re-watching it. TIG deserves an Emmy for his acting in this one scene alone.
He was such a good friend to Kreese. He spent months, as he put it himself, terrorizing a teenager just because Kreese whined that the kid had beat his students in a high school karate tournament. He sent Kreese on a fully paid luxury vacation to Tahiti while he put his own full time money and efforts in to doing this. Back in the present, he spent a ton of his own money on making top rate Cobra Kai merchandise for a business in which he considered Kreese a full, equal partner.
So Terry is there, all happy and smiling, honestly thinking he's just doing something fun for himself and good for the kids, with a friend he can count on at his side and in this one moment, Kreese comes in and takes it all away from him. Kreese can see how uncomfortable provoking the memory of their comrade getting blown up by a landmine makes him, yet he keeps pushing it and stoking his PTSD, even calling him Lieutenant, just so he can control him. By the time he's done and takes one of the beers, saying "You don't mind, do you?", Terry even stutters slightly as he replies "N-no, Captain".
This scene is probably the most evil thing Kreese ever did in the entire franchise to date.
Now fully and freshly traumatized, thinking the man he owes his life to doesn't believe in his loyalty anymore, Terry desperately tries to prove it by luring Johnny to the old dojo, thinking it's something Kreese will approve of and show him once and for all that Terry is
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For years I have been saving Hogfather. It has always been "well I want to read it over Christmas" then when Christmas came "I don't want to quit my current read in the middle, I'll save it for next year" this year I finished my other book on Christmas Eve and I had no excuse. I knew I was opening the crypt and I could never go back. After all these years I know, I will never read another Terry Pratchett book, for the first time.
Weep with me brothers and sisters, as we walk forward into a new day in which we seek to to be WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
They are sooo creepy. So inauthentic and delusional. They remind me of the characters on The Purge. Get them off my tv screen 😰
Was answer a phone call from an unknown number
Especially at Shane’s party, Heather with her severely pulled back ponytail and Terry with his…new work, just looked ghoulish together. It made Shannon and John look doubly more normal and rational.
Then when Heather’s around regular regular Gina and Emily it’s just so silly looking.
Also Noella looks and acts a little Tim Burtonish too it’s like the season of ghouls.
