ext_87265 ([identity profile] alecaustin.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] hawkwing_lb 2013-02-10 06:49 am (UTC)

Taken critically, or examined more closely, yes.

I feel like the epic fantasy genre's central concern, historically, has been one of morals/ethics - what separates your protagonists from your antagonists, other than labels and color-coding? - and it's one thing for characters to engage in expedients and casuistry, and another for the text to act as if everything the protagonist does is okay because they're righteous/badass/sympathetic/dreamy/what have you.

Put another way, it's not healthy for a sub-genre that was (at least partly) built on challenging and undermining the ways in which previous works whitewashed the ugly realities of conflict and glossed over bad behavior to turn around and start endorsing or excusing bad behavior. One's characters might imagine that violence and treachery can solve anything, but the author (and the text!) should know better.


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