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Thread: Does this annoy anyone?

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    Default Does this annoy anyone?

    When I watch wuxia serials, I am annoyed at the weak woman character who knows no martial arts and is always saved by the male protagonist. A typical description is pretty girl, gentle, kind but extremely weak and is always crying, ''Please come and help me. Ahh!!!!'' Like damn defend yourself already. Also they typically slow down the goal of the protagonist because of their inadequacy. Some examples would be Ruby Lin's character in HZGG or Charmaine's character in Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain. A good female character I like is Huang Rong from LOTCH and ROTCH. She is beautiful, smart, and can kick *** and doesn't rely on a man to help her and can take care of herself. Sorry if this is a bad post but it just annoys me.
    Last edited by nicfanz; 06-14-07 at 11:19 PM.

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    Moderator kidd's Avatar
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    I like Zi Wei (Ruby) in HZGG. She's physically weak but has strength of character and mind. As for slowing down goals, no one can compete with Little Swallow who always messes things up and causing more trouble for herself and people around her.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

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    Registered User yearning's Avatar
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    Huan Zhu Ge Ge is not wuxia fiction, it's Qiong Yao. Of course there's going to be a lot of damsel in distresses saved by their Prince Charmings.

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    LOL how can Huan Zhu Ge Ge be compared to ROCH/LOCH? the series doesnt even share the same genre....

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    Well, i think this is typical not only for wuxia series but applies to fantasy movies/series too. take superman and spiderman for example, they always have to worry about lois lane and mary jane.

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    ah, the damsel in distress? That trope of the adventure stories? Yeah, it's pretty tiresome. I'm sure one can psychoanalyze the authors and decide this demonstrates some sort of wish-fulfillment or male fantasy whatnot on some level... well, that interpretation I guess only works with male authors. Or if you like a feminist critique that works too for authors of both sexes. Wimpy female characters like that are no fun
    Last edited by dewyloony123; 06-15-07 at 12:57 AM.

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    Registered User yearning's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dewyloony123 View Post
    ah, the damsel in distress? That trope of the adventure stories? Yeah, it's pretty tiresome. I'm sure one can psychoanalyze the authors and decide this demonstrates some sort of wish-fulfillment or male fantasy whatnot on some level... well, that interpretation I guess only works with male authors. Or if you like a feminist critique that works too for authors of both sexes. Wimpy female characters like that are no fun
    Not in text, but it work on the large screen where guys like to gawk at pretty faces and hot bodies, even if they're basically doing nothing.

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    Moderator Suet Seung's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nicfanz View Post
    When I watch wuxia serials, I am annoyed at the weak woman character who knows no martial arts and is always saved by the male protagonist. A typical description is pretty girl, gentle, kind but extremely weak and is always crying, ''Please come and help me. Ahh!!!!'' Like damn defend yourself already. Also they typically slow down the goal of the protagonist because of their inadequacy. Some examples would be Ruby Lin's character in HZGG or Charmaine's character in Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain. A good female character I like is Huang Rong from LOTCH and ROTCH. She is beautiful, smart, and can kick *** and doesn't rely on a man to help her and can take care of herself. Sorry if this is a bad post but it just annoys me.

    Yeah, that damsels in distress annoys me but female characters who can kick "***" as you say can still be annoying, namely Xiao Long Nu, almost zero personality, only beauty and martial arts. Throw Wang Yu Yan into the mix too.
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    Senior Member Candide's Avatar
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    Someone has her feminist panties in a twist eh? There are plenty of real life damnsels in distress. Why the hatred on your sistas?

    Anyway, in wuxia novels written by male authors, there are very few such females. Most are pretty damn tough. Li Qiushui and Tianshan Tonglo of DGSD, the Princesses in Legendary Twins, Shi Guanyin and that butch in the Adventures of Chu Liuxiang, to name a few, are tougher than any man in their stories. Funnily enough, you'll find most weak and pathetic females in novels written by female authors like Qiongyao.
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    kinda agree with Candide. 'Too stupid to live' is one of the complaints I often heard about the heroine in romances novels. These are female characters that often put themselves in danger due to they stupid act and thus need to be rescued by the male characters. 90% of romance authors are women.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

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    Senior Member Son of Light's Avatar
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    Agreed, I also disliked stories with damsels in distress.
    I preferred stories with dudes in distress.
    One of my Fav book is FeiYan JingLong.
    One if the girl is virtually invincible, another is virtually omniscience.
    Now this is what I call a good story.
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    Senior Member dewyloony123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Candide View Post
    Anyway, in wuxia novels written by male authors, there are very few such females. Most are pretty damn tough.
    But most are emotionally weak. To give an example: Li Qiushui and Tianshan Tonglo and the Princesses in Legendary Twins (I don't know the other ladies) could never get over their man; they let their lives be completely dominated by memories of the object of their desire. So sure, they're definitely not damsels in distress, but they're not emotionally independent from men. Just my 2 cents.

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    Senior Member Arisa's Avatar
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    damsel in distress...i like them...whats wrong with them.

    dude in distress is scary.....very scary....

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    Senior Member Son of Light's Avatar
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    Why is it scary?
    Dude in distress sounds cool to me.
    Damsels in distress... I think they are a bit overused and boring.
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    This probably never happened in the book (and likely just a feminist TVB musing) - I really enjoyed how the female assasin saves Hong Siu Long in A Step Into the Past.

    My fav strong females are: Huang Rong, Zhao Min, Si Ying (Siblings), Guo Xiang (yes, she pined away for YG but started a whole sect by herself and never felt like she needed to find another man to cling for support)


    Dude in Distress: Ling Wu Chong gets saved by Ren Ying Ying on the bridge in Hengseng Mountain when he's about to be attacked by the poison arrows.

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    Weak girls are annoying for sure, but weak + stupid kids who make adults' lives miserable are just as bad. And yeah, it's usually 10 times worse on TV than reading the novel.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Quote Originally Posted by nicfanz View Post
    When I watch wuxia serials, I am annoyed at the weak woman character who knows no martial arts and is always saved by the male protagonist. A typical description is pretty girl, gentle, kind but extremely weak and is always crying, ''Please come and help me. Ahh!!!!'' Like damn defend yourself already. Also they typically slow down the goal of the protagonist because of their inadequacy. Some examples would be Ruby Lin's character in HZGG or Charmaine's character in Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain. A good female character I like is Huang Rong from LOTCH and ROTCH. She is beautiful, smart, and can kick *** and doesn't rely on a man to help her and can take care of herself. Sorry if this is a bad post but it just annoys me.
    yea i extremely hate those characters!! gosh. the ones that annoy me most, are the girls who seem to be innocent, and martial art-less &&& are so IN LOVE with the protagonist male, and they`d do anything to get him and even break up a happy family.

    like ngoc yen/yu yan in The Amazing Twins (dicky & nic) gosh.....
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    Senior Member smurf120's Avatar
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    the TV portrayals are not quite so bad, but after reading the translations Tie Xin Lan is annoying me to no end -- completely useless except the part where she saves Xiao Yu'er from Hua Wu Kuet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    I like Zi Wei (Ruby) in HZGG. She's physically weak but has strength of character and mind. As for slowing down goals, no one can compete with Little Swallow who always messes things up and causing more trouble for herself and people around her.
    I can't stand Zi Wei - she's an unrealistically nice kiss-up. She's always pretending to sacrifice herself but in the end she still gets everything she wants. As for her intelligence, her circumstances gave her the opportunity to become an accomplished lady, but had she grown up like Xiao Yan Zi did, I don't think she'd have her qin qi shu hua. I way prefer Qing Er. As for Xiao Yan Zi, she's unreasonable too but I think we share a common love for mischief.

    Back on topic (since HZGG is um, not wuxia), it's necessary to make the men look good. Women have the right to act the way they want. If they want to wait for their knight in shining armour and depend on men, then whatever. If they want to kick some ***, then I wouldn't mind either. I'm a feminine feminist so my favourite characters would be someone in between - cheeky and intelligent yet romantic, like Zhao Min
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    Quote Originally Posted by smurf120 View Post
    the TV portrayals are not quite so bad, but after reading the translations Tie Xin Lan is annoying me to no end -- completely useless except the part where she saves Xiao Yu'er from Hua Wu Kuet.
    well it's not just yu yan's character that annoys me, i've watched other series. i was just using that as an example.
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