MARIA STARK CONTINUES TO KICK ASS! This pleases me no end. YAAAAY.
God, the other big thing is just-- having two women who have loved the same man working together without rancor. It is a big thing with me, and personal, too-- I'm still good friends with my husband's ex-wife, and it annoys me greatly to always see this sort of relationship portrayed as impossible, as if women can never attribute the break-up to the man and not to the next woman in line, and as if women can never, ever get over a hurt that involves a man. ::eyeroll:: It goes hand-in-hand with the reasons supposedly supporting media that fails the Bechdel test-- that women are competitive (over men!) and catty (because we're tearing each other down in order to look better in comparison to men!) and can't get along for long (because a man might become involved somehow and tear the friendship apart! because that is always the MOST IMPORTANT THING!). Argh. So stupid.
I'm just enchanted with the building-up you do for both these women, making Laurie clearly strong and capable by herself (we never get to see that, in the book or in the movie), making Janey a brilliant scientist in her own right, and having them decide to override and ignore Jon's opinion/decision on the matter and do this themselves. I especially adore how you set it up so that Janey is jealous back at the time she meets Laurie, but that even so, even then, it's not all about Jon, that they still speak of other things and the other parts of their lives. It sets the stage for everything after and implies that yes, jealousy and betrayal and hurt happen where men are involved, but that women are resilient and can get over it.
...And, seriously, it's a glorious thing to have someone else know your guy as well as you know him; when you need someone to complain to, she gets it, immediately. There's a hint of that in here, in their unspoken agreement on overriding Jon-- both of them knowing him well enough to know why he thinks that way, and both of them knowing that he's wrong. They click into place so well, it's a thing of beauty. EEEEEE GIRLS YAY.
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Date: 2010-10-22 02:42 pm (UTC)God, the other big thing is just-- having two women who have loved the same man working together without rancor. It is a big thing with me, and personal, too-- I'm still good friends with my husband's ex-wife, and it annoys me greatly to always see this sort of relationship portrayed as impossible, as if women can never attribute the break-up to the man and not to the next woman in line, and as if women can never, ever get over a hurt that involves a man. ::eyeroll:: It goes hand-in-hand with the reasons supposedly supporting media that fails the Bechdel test-- that women are competitive (over men!) and catty (because we're tearing each other down in order to look better in comparison to men!) and can't get along for long (because a man might become involved somehow and tear the friendship apart! because that is always the MOST IMPORTANT THING!). Argh. So stupid.
I'm just enchanted with the building-up you do for both these women, making Laurie clearly strong and capable by herself (we never get to see that, in the book or in the movie), making Janey a brilliant scientist in her own right, and having them decide to override and ignore Jon's opinion/decision on the matter and do this themselves. I especially adore how you set it up so that Janey is jealous back at the time she meets Laurie, but that even so, even then, it's not all about Jon, that they still speak of other things and the other parts of their lives. It sets the stage for everything after and implies that yes, jealousy and betrayal and hurt happen where men are involved, but that women are resilient and can get over it.
...And, seriously, it's a glorious thing to have someone else know your guy as well as you know him; when you need someone to complain to, she gets it, immediately. There's a hint of that in here, in their unspoken agreement on overriding Jon-- both of them knowing him well enough to know why he thinks that way, and both of them knowing that he's wrong. They click into place so well, it's a thing of beauty. EEEEEE GIRLS YAY.