Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2006-07-09 01:48 am
tenlittlebullets) wrote2006-07-09 01:48 am
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Eponine fic: a Rant
I get that Eponine wasn't an angel, all right? I get that her life sucked, and she was filthy and ugly, and her love for Marius basically amounted to stalking, and she wasn't quite right in the head, and her father exploited her in a score of creative ways. God knows I've ranted about it myself. But to read the majority of Eponine fics out there--well, the ones that aren't shitty death poetry or "wah, he'll never love me" angst--one would get the impression that she divides her time between following Marius around, sitting around begging for alms, and spreading her legs for Patron-Minette on dear old dad's behalf. And angsts constantly about all of the above.
But what about the Eponine who waters Mabeuf's flowers? Who wanders around poking through Marius' stuff and humming snatches of vaudeville tunes? Who goes off on odd rambles about hallucinating while walking around at night or getting theater tickets off her brother? Don't get me wrong, she's extremely bitter and extremely aware of her situation, but when fic authors smack you upside the head with an unending flow of misery, it gets really old, really fast. Her little bits of whimsy and whatnot throw the unpleasantness of her life into sharper relief than just flogging the old "Eponine's life sucked" horse.
And really, it's insulting to cast her as a flat-out victim of poverty and abuse. If you want to do that, for God's sake just write fic about Fantine. Eponine has an element of the fantastic about her--grotesque, but fantastic--and is constantly being compared to an apparition, a spirit, an angel, a devil, a madwoman... she's more than just a street rat. She has a personality, dammit. Why must fic authors go to extremes, and focus either on her unrequited love or her poverty? Both portrayals reduce her to a stereotype that destroys what was beautiful about her character in the first place.
But what about the Eponine who waters Mabeuf's flowers? Who wanders around poking through Marius' stuff and humming snatches of vaudeville tunes? Who goes off on odd rambles about hallucinating while walking around at night or getting theater tickets off her brother? Don't get me wrong, she's extremely bitter and extremely aware of her situation, but when fic authors smack you upside the head with an unending flow of misery, it gets really old, really fast. Her little bits of whimsy and whatnot throw the unpleasantness of her life into sharper relief than just flogging the old "Eponine's life sucked" horse.
And really, it's insulting to cast her as a flat-out victim of poverty and abuse. If you want to do that, for God's sake just write fic about Fantine. Eponine has an element of the fantastic about her--grotesque, but fantastic--and is constantly being compared to an apparition, a spirit, an angel, a devil, a madwoman... she's more than just a street rat. She has a personality, dammit. Why must fic authors go to extremes, and focus either on her unrequited love or her poverty? Both portrayals reduce her to a stereotype that destroys what was beautiful about her character in the first place.