Is there right/wrong reason to hate/love a character?

[Silver*]

There is a right/wrong reason to hate or love a character sometimes. For example:

 

I hear most kids say they love Shadow because they see him as his god-savior of the earth etc Or people dislike Sally Acorn because she isn't Amy.

 

Those are wrong reasons to like or dislike a character.

 

And as for the Blaze comments, I really do not understand why when a female character shows lack of femininity, then it equals to guy in a girl suit. I just like that we do have a female character who doesn't exhibit female stereotypes. For example: we have Amy who has her design being pink, her crush on the main character, loves to cook and being quick to anger. We have Cream who is really just a polite, sweet girl character... who doesn't do much except exhibit traits Amy already has such as her compassion. Then we have Rouge who is a jewel lover: stereotype associated with girls. Now we have Shade but they missed an opportunity to make her awesome. I find her to fail at being another strong female character.  

 

So yes, when Blaze came along, we knew she was going to be a hit. Because we finally had someone who didn't harness any female stereotypical behavior. If you want girly... well she's insecure about her body.... which most girls are.  

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Blaze's character is popular not because she's abandoned her femininity; quite the opposite, in fact.  She's a great character because she's embraced her own unique kind of femininity, while being a worthwhile contribution to the plot. 

*coughBurningBlazecough*

[Dr. Mechano]

I feel like "femininity" is kind of a nebulous concept to pin down anyway. If a woman does something, then by definition it's no longer "something women don't do," because a woman is doing it.

 

Because of this, I kind of feel like "masculinity" and "femininity" - while not bad or necessarily even useless labels, per se - can often pigeonhole characters (and actual people) into stereotypical, socially-expected roles instead of just doing whatever they want to do, regardless of how it will be perceived.

 

In other words, loving fashion is just as valid as loving sports, being emotionally open is as valid as being emotionally reserved, and a preference for pinks and pastels is as valid as one for gritty greys, regardless of gender. As Akito said, an ideal feminist portrayal is not necessarily one that rejects supposedly "feminine" traits, but rather does not let a character be defined by those traits; or arguably just as damaging, being defined by the absence of those traits.

[Tara]

*coughBurningBlazecough*

Forgive my social ineptitude, but what does Blaze's super form have anything to do with that? @3@

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I think the bigger problems is that people can't seem to comprehend the concept of mixing these feminine and masculine traits together, which is jacked up because we see this shit a lot in anime and other cartoons where this superpowered alien/magical girlfriend is capable of punting tanks through a field goal or shooting laser beams from her hands/devices while wearing a dress or something girly.

 

Okay, so that was a vague statement. But really, freaking Totally Spies has a really feminine cast talking about fashion, worrying about their looks in high school, while at the same time solving conspiracies and fist-fighting bad guys. Katara of Avatar the Last Airbender is probably the most feminine character, yet she is totally capable of killing and is no stranger to making threats or even wanting to fight - hell part of the North Pole finale of Book 1 was about this. Then there's Asami in Legend of Korra, wears makeup, really sweet and girly, not afraid of punching you with a taser glove and knows how to fight Equalists becoming a struggling businesswoman. Starfire of Teen Titans is the most girly of the cast while she's throwing starbolts and lifting more tons than Cyborg. Then there's characters like Izumi Curtis, Lan Fan, and May Chang of Fullmetal Alchemist, Retsu Unohana of Bleach fame is gentle, motherly, and so terrifying that people would rather face the Captain Commander's Bankai than piss her off, and if Spirited Away is any example it's that you don't have to be masculine to be a decent, well developed, and independent female character (it being made by a feminist is another plus).

 

It's like the idea of a feminine woman kicking ass or being support to a masculine cast is incomprehensible despite many showings of the opposite. And nevermind Blaze when characters like Rouge are beating down mechs with her barehands and taking one of the most physically powerful characters, Knuckles, and ending their fight in a draw.

 

Just goes to show how black and white people make this thing out for the characters.

 

Forgive my social ineptitude, but what does Blaze's super form have anything to do with that? @3@

She's the only female character with it. If anything, that's probably the biggest reason why she's so popular than it is how feminine she is in character.

[Tara]

I feel like "femininity" is kind of a nebulous concept to pin down anyway. If a woman does something, then by definition it's no longer "something women don't do," because a woman is doing it.

 

Because of this, I kind of feel like "masculinity" and "femininity" - while not bad or necessarily even useless labels, per se - can often pigeonhole characters (and actual people) into stereotypical, socially-expected roles instead of just doing whatever they want to do, regardless of how it will be perceived.

 

In other words, loving fashion is just as valid as loving sports, being emotionally open is as valid as being emotionally reserved, and a preference for pinks and pastels is as valid as one for gritty greys, regardless of gender. As Akito said, an ideal feminist portrayal is not necessarily one that rejects supposedly "feminine" traits, but rather does not let a character be defined by those traits; or arguably just as damaging, being defined by the absence of those traits.

My problem with the words masculine and feminine is mainly the fact that people perceive one to be good or bad or that it's an offense to describe someone as the opposite of what their biological sex indicates.  (Granted, I'm a bit of a hypocrite in this regard because it would probably sting a little if someone told me that I resemble the opposite of what I identify as) - But yes, I do agree that the way we segregate activities and mannerisms based on those labels does sort of stagnate character growth due to pressure to either abide by or refusal to abide by those particular stereotypes.

 

She's the only female character with it. If anything, that's probably the biggest reason why she's so popular than it is how feminine she is.

Fair enough; Blaze being in my top ten favorite characters, I always found that to be one interesting aspect about her among many, but eh, the fanbase will be fanbasey I guess.

[The Pit of Mystic Cave]

(Sally, Rouge yeah I said Sally because SatAM and Spinball so she counts)

I totally agree about Sally being badass, but I also see a lot of similarities between her and Blaze, so I guess that's why I like Blaze as a character as well.

 

 

Im sorry to ruin my own thread :*(

Not at all. Thanks for elaborating your argument.