I haven't seen that complaint against Ike/Soren ever before, not once, but at the very least I think that it would be an unquestionably false one. Ike is more home to Soren than any physical location on Tellius. I'm not thinking of any other pairing off the top of my head where the moving party is so unattached to a physical place. Lyn loves Sacae and reminds us of that with every other line. As Eirika loves Renais. Ike/Ranulf is comparable, perhaps, as Ranulf is quite invested in Gallia. Unfortunately there isn't the same breadth of examples in m/m relationships, but I believe that whether or not this pairing is exceptional, there's a gender-based slant to it.
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In my opinion, the assertion that Character A would have to give up too much and could never be happy is a radical knee-jerk reaction to something else that was quite a problem: When it was asked of her to ditch everything, her own home and interests and history, to live so differently with some guy.
There's the cultural belief among the Chinese peasantry that when a woman marries, she is no longer part of her childhood family, and is now an accessory to the man's family. That's the vibe I get.
And you can't help but wonder about how lightly Natasha abandons Grado to get with a guy.
I definitely agree with the difference between a coerced move and a choice. But I think there's an inherent problem in that the will of the characters are orchestrated by the developers, and the developers' bias can easily paint a happy face on something that wouldn't have been so pristine.
I hated the ending to Disney's Tarzan. Jane had a tourist's introduction to the jungle. She had experienced a visitor's pleasure. As a person she should have known that subconsciously, held some trepidation toward the ugly things might lurk there unknown to her, before leaping from her life into quite another -- all before the first year of newlyweds' syndrome had worn off!
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I think it's worth sustaining the notion that the culture in which a character grew up is important to her. But I agree that this perspective can definitely be taken too far, and perhaps has been. (I don't particularly remember seeing it myself.)
I suppose it's just like that newer misconception about Soren that I hate more than the first. Soren's not a weak waify uke! He's a strong capable self-confident person! Just as wrong, but in a way that's less universally recognized and opposed.
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Date: 2011-09-20 02:53 am (UTC)--
In my opinion, the assertion that Character A would have to give up too much and could never be happy is a radical knee-jerk reaction to something else that was quite a problem: When it was asked of her to ditch everything, her own home and interests and history, to live so differently with some guy.
There's the cultural belief among the Chinese peasantry that when a woman marries, she is no longer part of her childhood family, and is now an accessory to the man's family. That's the vibe I get.
And you can't help but wonder about how lightly Natasha abandons Grado to get with a guy.
I definitely agree with the difference between a coerced move and a choice. But I think there's an inherent problem in that the will of the characters are orchestrated by the developers, and the developers' bias can easily paint a happy face on something that wouldn't have been so pristine.
I hated the ending to Disney's Tarzan. Jane had a tourist's introduction to the jungle. She had experienced a visitor's pleasure. As a person she should have known that subconsciously, held some trepidation toward the ugly things might lurk there unknown to her, before leaping from her life into quite another -- all before the first year of newlyweds' syndrome had worn off!
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I think it's worth sustaining the notion that the culture in which a character grew up is important to her. But I agree that this perspective can definitely be taken too far, and perhaps has been. (I don't particularly remember seeing it myself.)
I suppose it's just like that newer misconception about Soren that I hate more than the first. Soren's not a weak waify uke! He's a strong capable self-confident person! Just as wrong, but in a way that's less universally recognized and opposed.