tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post7631117558597557180..comments2024-03-29T20:04:30.755+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: On Carrie Bradshaw and Frodo Baggins: The "She's the Protagonist So We Like Her" PhenomenonUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-32787409006166565822023-07-16T09:38:33.100+08:002023-07-16T09:38:33.100+08:00I always got the impression Frodo was a bit higher...I always got the impression Frodo was a bit higher class than Sam and the others. Sam was his gardener after all. Perhaps that explains some of the arrogant tosser vibe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-71578681850515348652020-05-04T04:28:40.637+08:002020-05-04T04:28:40.637+08:00High Charisma characters - they get the bonus when...High Charisma characters - they get the bonus when they roll the dice, even if how they're played doesn't reflect this.shutteredroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15073596151712727089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-70586916329044970012020-05-03T00:22:51.654+08:002020-05-03T00:22:51.654+08:00Neither seem like someone you would go on a long w...Neither seem like someone you would go on a long walking holiday with or get to help you move house in the films, and yet that's one of the first few things we see them do in Fellowship of the Ring.Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-70949876702497459192020-05-02T17:12:12.173+08:002020-05-02T17:12:12.173+08:00I agree. Not sure what it says about our cultures ...I agree. Not sure what it says about our cultures that passive protagonists have become so common.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-86012979338073690592020-05-02T17:11:22.796+08:002020-05-02T17:11:22.796+08:00It's a good point. I love how in the books you...It's a good point. I love how in the books you see them evolve from immature brats into 'men'.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-21550447967752526402020-05-02T09:10:20.344+08:002020-05-02T09:10:20.344+08:00I get what you mean, but i always liked Luke, flaw...I get what you mean, but i always liked Luke, flaws and all. I can see why you would find his immaturity annoying, although for me that's part of the charm. besides his bravery you can also factor in his idealism and loyalty for his friends as positive features, despite sometimes coming across as whiny and reckless. He's a flawed and imperfect hero, definitely not a Mary Sue. The Last Jedi shows us a broken man who ends up redeeming himself, ditching the whinyness and coming to terms with his past mistakes, and it's one of the reasons i actually enjoyed that movie very much, against the tide of annoyed fanboys.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-82071246959507332602020-05-02T05:31:38.730+08:002020-05-02T05:31:38.730+08:00Yeah asshole protagonists can be great if the auth...Yeah asshole protagonists can be great if the author KNOWS that they're assholes, but if they don't that can get very annoying. For example in The Black Company, Raven is your standard fantasy badass loner wanker but he works there because the authors knows how much of a dipshit he is.<br /><br />The worst thing protagonists can be is passive, which happens a lot when authors try to slap them with badly understood PTSD which means they actively try to avoid doing anything interesting, while whining a lot which is just terrible.Boshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06908715118408289864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-81375285937031440992020-05-01T23:36:33.377+08:002020-05-01T23:36:33.377+08:00I have been listening to the BBC Radio LotR of lat...I have been listening to the BBC Radio LotR of late, and I am more than before set in my mind that whatever Peter Jackson did to Frodo, Merry and Pippin came off worse. Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-26368966949527659772020-05-01T13:40:54.009+08:002020-05-01T13:40:54.009+08:00Yeah, that comes across in the film too. I haven&#...Yeah, that comes across in the film too. I haven't read the book, but I loved Archer's Goon.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-8509870558966292722020-05-01T13:40:23.263+08:002020-05-01T13:40:23.263+08:00Haha.Haha.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-23988909292383206342020-05-01T13:40:12.812+08:002020-05-01T13:40:12.812+08:00But she isn't even all that attractive! That&#...But she isn't even all that attractive! That's the thing. Charlotte and Samantha are both much better looking.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-91486752172150929672020-05-01T13:39:21.995+08:002020-05-01T13:39:21.995+08:00I always felt like even at the beginning he comes ...I always felt like even at the beginning he comes across as a bit of an arrogant tosser, but maybe that's unfair. I'll re-read it and put a post about it, as it's a good excuse to read LOTR again.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-24115667638957306992020-05-01T13:38:21.849+08:002020-05-01T13:38:21.849+08:00Haha. Okay, maybe I will have to do another post o...Haha. Okay, maybe I will have to do another post on this.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-33663921261475798322020-05-01T13:37:50.475+08:002020-05-01T13:37:50.475+08:00Yeah, I can't really comment on that because I...Yeah, I can't really comment on that because I haven't read them. It sounds like an excuse to me.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-27614871667668774082020-05-01T13:37:19.513+08:002020-05-01T13:37:19.513+08:00She gets rewarded to the hilt. I think they were r...She gets rewarded to the hilt. I think they were really trying to go with what you might call the Aspirational Protagonist? Somebody to aspire to be like, even admire.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-48790279908518461342020-05-01T13:36:17.527+08:002020-05-01T13:36:17.527+08:00True, but he doesn't half let you know about i...True, but he doesn't half let you know about it.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-27679862415517512902020-05-01T03:23:34.736+08:002020-05-01T03:23:34.736+08:00Best thing about the prequels was knowing Annikan ...Best thing about the prequels was knowing Annikan (who was super-annoying) the father of Luke (who was super-annoying) also made Threepio (who was super-annoying). Ruprechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00139664977453444000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-50080050292224093472020-05-01T01:24:01.565+08:002020-05-01T01:24:01.565+08:00Heh. This immediately made me think of Todd from ...Heh. This immediately made me think of Todd from Outsourced, ever see that show. Dude makes fun of Indian culture and funny-sounding names the whole time, takes his employees for granted, but we're supposed to like him because he smiles a lot. Captain Cavemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00122922869600744219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-64284404786640659842020-05-01T00:44:25.991+08:002020-05-01T00:44:25.991+08:00That's the thing I find interesting (I'm n...That's the thing I find interesting (I'm not sure I like it) about the recentish <i>Doctor Strange</i> film. The traditional arc for these sort of things is that the protagonist learns decency and humility and becomes better for it, but Strange remains an arrogant arsehole and the end, except he's now an arrogant wizard instead of an arrogant surgeon.<br /><br />I'm not sure if that was a deliberate decision. Strange's characterisation in later films suggests it is.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-62018376546388160602020-05-01T00:06:28.843+08:002020-05-01T00:06:28.843+08:00Regarding Frodo: what Kelvin said. We’re kind of f...Regarding Frodo: what Kelvin said. We’re kind of forced to love him because Sam does. There’s a bit of ugh there.<br /><br />(do the servants of Downton Abbey *really* love their employers? Or is it just that they love their jobs that they show such loyalty?)<br /><br />Sex and the City is TV crack. Personally I didn’t mind Carrie because...well, maybe I identify with her a bit as a flawed, selfish narcissist (who often ends up learning from her mistakes). My wife absolutely LOATHED the character, however, and complained about her constantly despite loving and diligently watching every episode and film.<br /><br />I have very little good to say about HP at all (and nothing to say about Twilight...never seen/read any of that series).JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-41229708949586256482020-04-30T23:06:35.004+08:002020-04-30T23:06:35.004+08:00I'd argue that Venkman remaining a jerk is a s...I'd argue that Venkman remaining a jerk is a strength of the movie. One of my frustrations with modern comedies is that they tend involve a character with an amusing character flaw learning to get over that flaw and not be be funny anymore. Combined that with the excessive length of a lot of comedies these days, and you get a slow, unfunny last act. Adam Baulderstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08247875453290704056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-81956269790872544922020-04-30T22:32:43.630+08:002020-04-30T22:32:43.630+08:00Whenever my friends and I watch that scene, we all...Whenever my friends and I watch that scene, we all say “whiiiiiine” immediately after that line. It’s almost a ritual. <br /><br />But you’re absolutely right. Luke is annoying, with no real redeeming features other than a sort of reckless bravery. Until he starts cosplaying a Jedi in Return of the Jedi. <br /><br />One of the scenes I loved in The Last Jedi was Yoda coming back to verbally smack Luke upside the head and show that he really hasn’t changed. He’s still whiny and self-absorbed, albeit with an element of true heroism that he rediscovers. Carpe Anamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13970488244688148886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-9039830408211847842020-04-30T20:40:04.375+08:002020-04-30T20:40:04.375+08:00One piece of media which I think cannot be allowed...One piece of media which I think cannot be allowed in this category is Howl's Moving Castle (the book). Howl is not a likable person, and every character in the book as well as the author is very well aware of that. Which does lend some paradoxical adorable-ness once Sophie finds that she has unknowingly fallen in love with this insufferable fop. (As well as extra humor when the author found that much of the female fanbase, as well as some men, had formed in their mind that Howl is a dreamboat)Pilgrim Processionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04246889904411128383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-68562166232235111602020-04-30T20:34:00.661+08:002020-04-30T20:34:00.661+08:00Ah I've posted my comment without reloading, a...Ah I've posted my comment without reloading, and it appears during that time the frodo defense squad(tm) has arrived. Apologies for unknowingly adding to the badgering you are experiencing.Pilgrim Processionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04246889904411128383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-19208304898957190162020-04-30T20:23:24.404+08:002020-04-30T20:23:24.404+08:00I shall say in Frodo's defense that I like him...I shall say in Frodo's defense that I like him rather a great deal. Both before and after the ring quest we see a poetic and noble hobbit, delighting in elvish and having a love of natural beauty. In Elijah Wood's performance, he shows a great deal of happiness and laughter which I find congenial. As well, as has already been pointed out, he volunteers to take upon himself the burden of the ring, oftentimes forgoing sympathy and, from my reading (admittedly rather blurry in my memory) shouldering things silently.<br />There is a seen which I think encapsulates Frodo's character on the quest, at least up until he completely breaks down after cirith ungol. He, Sam, and Gollum are passing through a crossroads, and they see the statue of an old king with his brow wrapped in flowers and Frodo, ever poetic, exclaims in joy amidst his pain the the king has a crown again.<br />I suppose I am predisposed to liking the sort of romantic (as in romanticism) protagonist represented by Frodo, and I'm kinda a sucker for tragic burdens, but I really like him nonetheless.Pilgrim Processionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04246889904411128383noreply@blogger.com