The term comes in very handy when arguing with Twilight fans, though...
But only if one is willing to apply it to all literature, which I could see quickly becoming rather ridiculous. Sure, Meyer is engaging in wish-fulfillment and crafting unrealistically (even absurdly) virtuous characters. But where does one draw the line? To a degree, all authors have been guilty of this, at one time or another. Many great writers have lived vicariously through their fiction. I'm not defending that Mormon homophobe or her crappy books. I just think it's not a very useful term.
And, too, I'm left to wander what the polar opposite of the Mary Sue character is, because, in truth, that must be what I write, most of the time. Broken, unpleasant, fault-filled people who, in the main, are reflections of my own self-loathing.
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Date: 2009-06-11 12:29 am (UTC)But only if one is willing to apply it to all literature, which I could see quickly becoming rather ridiculous. Sure, Meyer is engaging in wish-fulfillment and crafting unrealistically (even absurdly) virtuous characters. But where does one draw the line? To a degree, all authors have been guilty of this, at one time or another. Many great writers have lived vicariously through their fiction. I'm not defending that Mormon homophobe or her crappy books. I just think it's not a very useful term.
And, too, I'm left to wander what the polar opposite of the Mary Sue character is, because, in truth, that must be what I write, most of the time. Broken, unpleasant, fault-filled people who, in the main, are reflections of my own self-loathing.