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zeborahSpoilers for Doctor Who season 7, Discovery season 1, and Picard episode 1
What's the fridge-and-clone?
Well, fridging is when you kill off a female character (usually mother or girlfriend/wife) to motivate the (usually) male protagonist and it's pretty terrible. It's so terrible writers must be becoming uncomfortably aware that it's frowned on -- and yet, you've got to motivate your male protagonist somehow!
So, what if it turns out the fridged woman has a clone! Hahaha loophole yissss!!!
Thus we get Oswin Oswald, a flirty, incredibly emotionally resilient genius whose major weakness is souffles -- killed off. And Clara Oswin Oswald, a barmaid moonlighting as a governess who takes on the hobby of bad-ass investigating the Doctor -- killed off. But it's okay! Because they're replaced by Clara Oswald, curious teacher and inhabitant of the 21st century therefore suited to be the Doctor's companion.
And thus we get Philippa Georgiou, highly-decorated captain, resourceful, strong leader and staunch friend -- killed off. (The protagonist Michael isn't male, but all the same I'd argue this is essentially fridging.) But it's okay! because she has a mirror universe counterpart who's a machiavellian empress, and evil is sexy. Don't get me wrong, Mirror!Georgiou's pretty sexy. But mostly because they code sexy as evil, so, y'know: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And thus we get Dahj, would-be android-researcher in a world terrified of androids, who suddenly awakens to discover she's being hunted and that this is because she's an android herself, and is accordingly terrified and in denial and full of potential for character development -- and killed off.
But it's okay because she has a twin sister!
No! It's not okay! None of this is okay!
I liked Dahj! I want more of her! Sure, let's meet her twin sister too, but why does Dahj need to die other than for Picard angst?
Georgiou could have lived and still have Michael court-martialled; she could even have transferred elsewhere (promotion or medical leave) leaving Discovery to its new captain and Michael to her guilt about starting a whole war, it'd be fine.
And, to be honest I could take or leave Oswin Oswald, but I really liked Clara the barmaid/governess. She'd have been a fantastic companion, and it would be such a point of difference to (once more after so long) have a companion not from the 20th/21st century.
In real life, murdering one of twins or triplets is still murder. Likewise in fiction, fridging a woman is still fridging her even if you promptly clone her. It's still lazy and misogynistic -- in fact, the implication that women can just be swapped out for each other and everything's fine because they've got the same DNA somehow manages to be even more misogynistic than the original version of fridging.
I do not like the fridge-and-clone and I would like for it to stop now.
What's the fridge-and-clone?
Well, fridging is when you kill off a female character (usually mother or girlfriend/wife) to motivate the (usually) male protagonist and it's pretty terrible. It's so terrible writers must be becoming uncomfortably aware that it's frowned on -- and yet, you've got to motivate your male protagonist somehow!
So, what if it turns out the fridged woman has a clone! Hahaha loophole yissss!!!
Thus we get Oswin Oswald, a flirty, incredibly emotionally resilient genius whose major weakness is souffles -- killed off. And Clara Oswin Oswald, a barmaid moonlighting as a governess who takes on the hobby of bad-ass investigating the Doctor -- killed off. But it's okay! Because they're replaced by Clara Oswald, curious teacher and inhabitant of the 21st century therefore suited to be the Doctor's companion.
And thus we get Philippa Georgiou, highly-decorated captain, resourceful, strong leader and staunch friend -- killed off. (The protagonist Michael isn't male, but all the same I'd argue this is essentially fridging.) But it's okay! because she has a mirror universe counterpart who's a machiavellian empress, and evil is sexy. Don't get me wrong, Mirror!Georgiou's pretty sexy. But mostly because they code sexy as evil, so, y'know: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And thus we get Dahj, would-be android-researcher in a world terrified of androids, who suddenly awakens to discover she's being hunted and that this is because she's an android herself, and is accordingly terrified and in denial and full of potential for character development -- and killed off.
But it's okay because she has a twin sister!
No! It's not okay! None of this is okay!
I liked Dahj! I want more of her! Sure, let's meet her twin sister too, but why does Dahj need to die other than for Picard angst?
Georgiou could have lived and still have Michael court-martialled; she could even have transferred elsewhere (promotion or medical leave) leaving Discovery to its new captain and Michael to her guilt about starting a whole war, it'd be fine.
And, to be honest I could take or leave Oswin Oswald, but I really liked Clara the barmaid/governess. She'd have been a fantastic companion, and it would be such a point of difference to (once more after so long) have a companion not from the 20th/21st century.
In real life, murdering one of twins or triplets is still murder. Likewise in fiction, fridging a woman is still fridging her even if you promptly clone her. It's still lazy and misogynistic -- in fact, the implication that women can just be swapped out for each other and everything's fine because they've got the same DNA somehow manages to be even more misogynistic than the original version of fridging.
I do not like the fridge-and-clone and I would like for it to stop now.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-14 07:28 pm (UTC)Yesss!