That Bitch Ruined Everything

| Monday, August 30, 2010
Jaina Proudmoore is a god damn whiny pathetic bitch who ruined everything. Fuck her.

Once upon a time she was a leader who made hard choices to preserve peace and her people. She was independent. Her people were independent. They did what they did and no one got to fuck that up for them. No one. She more or less saved the world by being able to bypass long-standing hatred and mistrust to work with the Horde. Yes at times she seemed a bit too trusting, but in the end she was more or less a badass.

Then came WoW. Actually at first things weren't too bad. She did some minor world-saving, but for the most part was pretty much inactive. Not good, but not so bad either. Lots of characters got side-lined. Tyrande, Cairne, even Thrall wasn't the center of the world as he practically was in WC3. We were the new heroes, so it's all good.

Then came Wrath of the Lich King. Varian comes back. The strong, confident man who can kill a dragon in two hits. So strong and manly. Mmm... yes. Oh! Oh. Right then. Ahem. I'm not really a fan of him. But that's fine.

At least Jaina is back! Oh. Wait a minute...
She's turned into a spineless, overly-dependent, clingy, nothing. What happened to the powerful mage who went her own way to do what was best for Theramore and Azeroth? Now she's crying all over Varian and getting all angsty for Arthas.

She ruined it all.

Once upon a time there were significant and admirable female characters in the lore. Not a lot, but fine, let's pick and choose pieces of medieval stories and let it slide. Things were okay. Then Blizzard turns one of the most interesting female characters and turns her into... that. People notice major changes, especially for the worse. So it's no wonder that there's been more than a bit of chatter about feminism and sexism in WoW. Can you imagine if in Cataclysm Thrall started spending his time locked in his room crying or if Garrosh took over the Horde and sent the Orcs on their own path, only to one day show up on Sylvanas' doorstep saying how much he admires her?

I don't so much mind that there are few notable female characters. Most of WoW societies are patriarchies, with the nelfs as a notable exception. That's fine. But when one of the few who stands out is progressively wrecked over the course of an expansion, that makes for a shitty impression and a shitty story.

4 comments:

Christian Clark said...

Indeed. She was pretty darn cool in the WC3 timeline and that hard choice? Choosing between her dad and the people whom she had made political strides with, breaking a trend that developed generations of racial anger between two civilizations.

It would have torn anyone up if they were in her shoes. That made for good storytelling and gave the character the depth the original Warcraft designers more likely than not, wanted.

And then WoW came along.

Unknown said...

Nice spin! You should get in to politics...

Ratshag said...

They can write what they want. Ain't nuthin' what can take away me memories of a woman with steel in her spine, fire in her eyes, and a hunger in her soul, and one helluva night in Ratchet.

Klepsacovic said...

@Dallanna: It's a good character when people can legitimately argue in favor or against her choices. Unlike say, Garrosh, who pretty much anyone of any sense hates, personally.

@Nikola: This is a no spin zone.

@Rashtag: Um...
*calls ERP Police and tells them to check out Ratchet*

Post a Comment

Comments in posts older than 21 days will be moderated to prevent spam. Comments in posts younger than 21 days will be checked for ID.

Powered by Blogger.