I have missed being here, friends. I have missed writing, and creating….and, well. Life - well work, mostly - has been shit. Actually, things are decent at home, and I’m grateful for that. If I didn’t have a solid and safe space here, I surely would have lost my shit by now.
I’m covering for twooffices now (handling about 100 employees for direct end user support by myself), with no additional financial compensation. I’m interviewing for other jobs. No word yet on the one I actually interviewed for. Oh - and the guy who I was backing up in the other office, that I am now fully covering? HE GOT A PROMOTION. Not for an IT position though - he applied for an admin job, and got it. (and oddly enough, the admins earn a hella lot more than IT here which is….odd, and after 26 years of going nowhere I am fucking done).
Well. That turned into a work rant….heh…sorry about that. Anyway. I’m here, now anyway, and I want to be here more. I think I need a space to write and create and stuff. Tomorrow, I am going to make pizza, chill, and write and paint.
If you look up fanart for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic, you’re going to see something weird, but consistent. In fact, it’s weird *because* it’s so consistent. Even when the art is done by clearly pro-level artists, the depiction of Despair– a fat woman– is almost always amazingly bad. Like, we’re talking she barely looks female, and often enough barely looks like a human (even though, of course, technically she’s not). Or, alternatively, she barely looks comfortably plump. We’re talking either man-shoulders and a rugged jaw (to go with the man-belly, I guess?), or looking like an average middle-aged soccer mom. That’s if she looks human, particularly in extra cartoony styles where every other character is super idealized. Despair is just like a weird vaguely person-shaped blob in those styles. I almost feel bad for them, ‘cause I suppose it’s hard to imagine ugly fat women could be cute. And yet, you know, fat babies are cute, so…. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, why am I posting about this, you might ask. Well, I remember being at a con one time, where another Harry Potter fan suggested I draw her some overweight women. I realized my plentiful female doodles were all too similar and their bodies were definitely idealized, but I wasn’t super motivated to draw people who looked more like me. I say that, even though it actually meant a lot to me to read about a character like Despair when I was a teenager. I may have liked literally every other member of the Endless more and found them cooler and more interesting, but I identified with Despair. I liked seeing her unapologetically fat body, defying the audience– and the world– to look at it. She wasn’t pretty but she felt real to me. She was too depressed to be too self-conscious about being naked in public, and dammit, I liked that. I loved how real Despair was.
So the main thing that offends and bothers me is that to all these people– let’s say 8 out of ten artists– Despair isn’t real at all. We’re mainly talking about pro artists who can clearly render human bodies well, but I’ve also noticed that beginner fanartists whose poses and perspective all need work also have the most trouble portraying a grossly fat, naked woman believably. No matter what, Despair always looks the worst. It’s really like they’re not trying, and sometimes she’s in fact left out of Endless fanart entirely.
It’s not like it’s a shocker that people have issues with fat or that it’s often ignored of idealized away even in photos these days. I know how it is. It’s just surprising to see this obvious of a skill gap. As an artist, I like to think I want to portray everything I attempt with skill. I certainly wouldn’t want to just leave an obvious blooper on a finished, otherwise well-rendered work. Not purposely, at least. Not after attaining a level of some excellence in overall performance. And yet, these bloopers are common. People just really don’t want to try to 'draw what you see’ if what you see is a naked, grossly fat woman.
Obviously, I mean, truly pro comics artists, such as the one(s) who actually worked on The Sandman, can and do draw Despair realistically. So this is specific to stuff they may *choose* or want to do, as opposed to stuff they’re paid for. And the fact is, they simply don’t want to spend any real effort on fat women. I fact, many artists (and possibly people in general) seem to have some sort of mental blind spot when it comes to fat women. To draw Despair so masculine in more than one case, it’s hard not to conclude these artists are men who implicitly categorize fat women as 'not really female’. This is not even subtle sometimes. In at least one case, everyone else looked great but Despair looked a lot like a smaller version of Thing, from the Fantastic Four. You know, the mutant stone guy with the huge shoulders. Then there’s the drawing where Despair’s skin is literally gray, and instead of curves and roundness, it looks simply like it’s a creature with no obvious anatomy whatsoever, aside from being vaguely humanoid (again, this weird look only applied to Despair, not the others). I’m trying not to project, but this seems really obvious to me from what I’ve seen. A part of me thinks it’s better when Despair looks well rendered, just not really fat. But that’s just a different kind of issue.
I’m sort of insulted, but mostly just bewildered, even though I’m not surprised. It’s not like I myself generally choose to draw fat women. It’s just I’d make an effort if that was what I was going for. I certainly wouldn’t pretend Despair didn’t really matter if everyone else looked great. Although I will say all this has certainly made me think I should probably practice drawing fat ladies after all. I guess my HP fandom friend was onto something.
James Norrington did nothing wrong. His only crime was being a Jane Austen hero in a Disney movie based on a theme park ride.
Okay, no. I tried, but couldn’t just let this post stand. Listen, OP, I agree with you 10,000%, but it is so much worse than that.
In CotBP, where the criticism that James is boring is most likely to come up, we can see in his introductory scene that James is head over heels for this woman by Regency standards. I mean, the unflappable, highest ranking Naval officer in Port Royal is reduced to a stammering, awkward mess around Elizabeth. If this were an Austen novel, y’all would be fucking swooning.
And what of the deleted scenes? (Don’t even get me started on this, I will rant for hours about how salty I am that they cut them.) We see James agonizing over the fact that he believes Elizabeth has only accepted his proposal as a means to an end. His stony veneer cracks, and we get to see him vulnerable!
‘Is it so wrong that I should want it given unconditionally?’ is such a fucking incredible line, and in a period drama, would be seen as a declaration!
But James isn’t in a period drama. He’s in a Disney movie based on a theme park ride. The film is an unapologetic mishmash of genres, and he has committed a cardinal sin by falling in love with Elizabeth, a modern character. She practically rolls her eyes at his heartfelt confessions! She wants nothing to do with his subtle emotional advances!
While, in a Austen novel, James Norrington would have been the clear hero and most obvious choice for Elizabeth to make, she is completely uninterested because he’s made the mistake of being period appropriate and not a product of the early 2000s like the rest of the main cast.
And the worst part is…once James changes so that he fits into their world…he is killed.
But that’s a discussion for another time.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
@meganphntmgrl and i talked about this endlessly when I was in NYC (and i’m trying to make her read Pride and Prejudice just to prove this point lmao). I’m not even convinced that Elizabeth has this degree of non-interest in him, though. I think she just already has a really big crush on Will and thinks, due to the circumstances of their meeting, their being the same age and everything, that they’re meant to be together. (Is that a convention of modern storytelling? Little bit, yeah, but it’s not unknown to either mythological romances or period romances - the class divide between them, and importantly, Elizabeth’s desire to be with him overwhelming her sense of convention and propriety, is what stands out to me the most as a 21st century detail.) All that said, she doesn’t expect she can actually be with Will at the start of COTBP, and seems to be really considering James’ proposal. He’s not what she wants in life, but she’s not disgusted or rolling her eyes at him. In her words, more or less, she kind of knew he might propose, and knows her father is all for the match, but it still took her off guard. She’s having to decide on a realistic course for her life and to put aside her dreams, because she’s a woman now, whether she feels ready for that or not.
COTBP is a film written by men that thinks it’s a story about a girl being forced to choose between reality and romantic fantasy, and it’s very clear that Elizabeth knows that Norrington is an appropriate match for her. Even though she does, in the story, accept his proposal as a means to an end, her acceptance is still fully serious. (And for all I might joke about her dumping him or whatever - the proposal doesn’t get a big, dramatic rejection. He sees her standing beside Will and asks if this “where [her] heart truly lies”, and she confirms it. The breakup is implicit, but he instigates it, seeing this is what shewants.) Elizabeth’s heart might belong to another man, but there’s no sulking or anger or even too much reluctance when she accepts James; she might even know they could be happy together.
When Will reminds her that her fiancé will want to know she’s safe after the climactic battle, as much as it hurts her, Elizabeth leaves.
tl;dr Elizabeth isn’t so much of a Spunky Modern Heroine Rejects All Trappings Of Period Drama stereotype that she doesn’t compromise on what she wants as society, her family and her fiancé dictate. She accepts James’ proposal and is prepared to marry him; she never tries to run off with Will; it is James who breaks their engagement for her happiness. There is no indication that Elizabeth particularly dislikes him; he just isn’t Will.
Then I just really really love their relationship dynamic in DMC and AWE because it’s not founded on expectation or obligation anymore and it isn’t hindered by propriety. As soon as those things go away, they actually relate to each other like two people who have known each other for ages. Elizabeth isn’t an unfriendly sort of person, but she doesn’t just go around relating to the other characters she doesn’t know very well. The bits of conversation she has with James Norrington in Dead Men’s Chest are more real conversation than she and Will ever have in the entire film trilogy. Will and Elizabeth get these pining, lovelorn speeches and bits of drama, but James and Elizabeth just talk like old friends. You already know about the deleted scene where they casually strike up conversation on Isla Cruces; I love the moment where he makes a comment suggesting his dark mental state, and she gives him a look I can only describe as Suddenly Interested.
And she holds his gaze for a couple of frames!
So, not like, romantic interested. But like. Realizing this guy she’s known since forever has depth, and she wants to see it.
They’re interrupted by Jack, who is in this film particularly (a lot more than I realized, actually, but on the writers’ commentary Ted and Terry cannot stop bringing it up) is hoping to get Elizabeth to himself, and clearly picks up on this moment as infringing on that hope.
Curse of the Black Pearl was consciously written to frame Elizabeth as the protagonist, and when she chooses Will at the end, it’s because he and he alone among her potential love interests embodies her romantic dream. Torn between the reality of Norrington, a man she’s always known might propose to her, a lawful man, a good and honest man, but embodying the smothering sense of obligation that comes with her class and gender role - and the reality of Jack Sparrow, a pirate she’s read about with eagerness who shows her that pirates genuinely are pretty scummy people, dirty and disloyal to everyone - Will appears to offer her a third option: someone who breaks the law, but only for the right reasons; someone who defies social convention, but only to better society.
Except Ted and Terry are men and what seems obvious to me is that the third option Elizabeth really needs is to graduate from the damsel role life appears to have slotted her into and become the romantic hero she dreams of. Sure, I buy that she loves Will, with a sort of infatuated and light-hearted love that could develop into something more but could just as easily not - but most importantly, what Will represents to her is a projection of the life she wants for herself.
And acquires, in the next two films.
Elizabeth’s narrative arc, if it weren’t tucked underneath or behind everybody else’s, is the most well-developed narrative arc in the trilogy, well beyond the first installment which is the only one that they actually wrote to particularly revolve around her. Jane Austen heroine? Maybe. Probably not. But the protagonist we deserved, most definitely.
And as much as I do like Will as a character - I actually think his storyline would have gotten the resolution and impact it deserved if he hadn’t been treated as the protagonist, as much as I think hers would have been, but this post isn’t an excuse for me to air my grievances lol - the character whose storyline most follows hers is Norrington.
Her arc is about finding her place in the world, rejecting the specific oppressive reality she believes is inevitable as a well-bred 18th century female and embracing the heroine swashbuckler she’s wanted to be all her life but projected onto male love interests. And this arc is a microcosm of the larger plot in a way no one else’s is - Beckett’s threat to end the age of piracy and keep the entire ocean under his thumb threatens her specific character growth and reflects the world she’s trying to escape in a way that is not half so resonant for anybody else.
Will’s story is, excepting turns of the plot in which he’s trying to save Elizabeth, entirely about his relationship with his father, and how that affects his identity. It has nothing to do with society beyond the tensions in the first film where he wants to be respectable but has learned his father really was a pirate all along - after that film, there is no thematic or actual connection to society in Will’s plot, which is why it gets so exclusively connected to the supernatural storyline. But Norrington’s arc is also about his place in the world. After the first film, in which he and Jack and Will operate as foils to one another, each of them demonstrating one of the paths Elizabeth may follow as she grows increasingly experienced and consequently disillusioned, Norrington has his fall from grace and subsequent identity crisis. His maintaining the wig and coat while a drunken, miserable wreck on Tortuga, and his willingness to throw everything away to regain his former standing, implies that the role of Naval Officer was the wholeextent of his identity. So, yes, the man lacks a viable personality in COTBP - it works out to seem intentional by the sequel, because it becomes clear the role he was inhabiting was the only person he knew how to be, and without it he discovered how little of a person he was. This is a grim inversion of Elizabeth’s storyline. Elizabeth becomes more and more her true self, including symbolically casting off and manipulating her wedding gown, while Norrington symbolically clings to the relics of his former life and wallows in existential despair.
By the time of AWE, Norrington has discovered that his is not, in fact, nothing, without his social role - as evidenced by his willingness to betray all that he must stand for when that role has been resumed, to “choose a side”, and to choose Elizabeth’s. But yes… then he dies.
Both in the substance of their actual conversations, which, owing to their rarely being about love, convey a greater sense of compatibility than Will and Elizabeth’s conversations never being so casual and often running to the dramatic, and the symmetry of their narrative arcs, the story of Elizabeth and James Norrington really would have made a perfect romance.
@morethanprinceofcats really out here bringing the “in this essay I will…” meme to life
Y'know what I wanted for my birthday? To not feel like crap. You don’t have to make me feel special. It’s fine. But I really didn’t wanna feel like shit, and I definitely didn’t want it carried forward into the next day.
I just spent the last few days putting together patterns for a clothing recolour, and the first few swatches in to actually recolouring it, I freaking hate it.
