beckyh2112 | Same Ol', Same Ol'

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Same Ol', Same Ol'

You know, I've got few problems with writing Optimus Prime slash with any of the canon characters. I'm a slash fan, I like that sort of thing. (Though, it being Oppy, it has to be well-written for me to do more than glance. Optimus ain't one of the guys that I'll read badfic for.)

When you insert your original female character in to shag Optimus Prime, I grit my teeth and roll my eyes. It's not my cup of tea, you know? He's already got a canon girlfriend, thank you.

But what really makes me irritated? When you not only have your OFC shagging Optimus, you bash Elita One. And express the opinion, on other people's fanworks, that it would be better without Elita? Makes me want to smack you with a clue-by-four.

I suspect I'll be writing Elita One/Optimus Prime tonight after I finish my homework. I'm spiteful like that.

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I admit that I'm not overly fond of Elita-1 as a character. She's a caricature and a stereotype. Not that most TF characters aren't so. :) Starscream, for instance, is a stereotype, too, the good old scheming second-in-command. It's just that the particular stereotype that Elita represents is one that particularly grates on me. I also admit that I don't really see her as Optimus's girlfriend so much as his "sister." If I were ever to write the two of them, though, I'd freak people out and write them as both lovers and siblings because I think that might be interesting to explore in a TF context. (Though not, of course, in a human context. :) )

On the flip side, however, I also tend to think that Optimus is the type who wouldn't be with anyone. He's married to his job, for one thing. For another thing, leaders have a tendency to avoid such attachments. They're too distracting, and that sort of attachment also makes you vulnerable, which is not a good thing for a leader of one faction in a war. So, I don't write OP in any sort of romantic relationship. Same thing with Megatron.

I think the Elita-bashing is due to a bizarre kind of jealousy. As in, if one is a rabid OP fangirl, one tends to see Elita as a threat, a rival. Such a thing happens often in Fangirl Land...

I don't get why Elita-1 is such a horrible stereotype. It seems to me like the worst things she did were a) wanting to go with Optimus when he left Cybertron and b) needing to be rescued after being captured by the Decepticons ('course, she then turned around and rescued Optimus).

But, if you look at these things, what's really so bad about them?:

a) She wanted to go with Optimus -- We know from canon evidence that both male and female Transformers are fighting in this war. We also know that canonically, Optimus and Elita have some kind of a bond, be it that they're a couple or possibly just family. In either case, Elita begged Optimus to take her with him when he and the others left Cybertron. Usually this seems to be read as a sign of weakness, but if it were me and my nearest and dearest was about to leave to go into danger, I'd want to be with them. Primarily out of the misguided sense that by being there, I could take care of them and keep them safe.

b) She needed to be rescued -- So did a lot of other characters in the show: Bumblebee, Jazz, Cliffjumper, Tracks, Red Alert, Prowl, Bluestreak, Skids and even Optimus Prime himself. The only difference I can see is that Elita-1 is female and therefore needing to be rescued makes her automatically weak.

A friend of mine was once talking to me about an interview (I believe it was) with one of the people who'd worked on Sesame Street back in the early days and they were talking about why so many of the Muppets on the show were male and they said that the reason for that was that Oscar the Grouch is just another character while Oscarina the Grouch is a stereotype of women. Honestly, I think that's part of the reason a lot of people -- particularly female fans -- hate Elita-1. Since she's female, she's seen as a reflection of us and we don't like what we're seeing.

If Elita-1 had been a male character, I don't think people would find her a horrible stereotype. I think he would either be ignored like any character who isn't a leader, jet or sports car or would be beloved by all.

I don't get why Elita-1 is such a horrible stereotype.

For me, it's not either of the things you mentioned. The thing that I dislike about the portrayal of Elita-1 is that although she is in a position of power she is shown as not knowing what to do. For instance, her secret base has been discovered and the only thing that she can think of to do...is to ask Alpha Trion what to do?

The thing that bothers me about this is that the implication is that women don't know what to do in a crisis, which is part of the whole "women are weaker" (in emotional constitution, I mean; I don't deny that they are weaker, physically.) stereotype. I do not consider myself a feminist, but I do not believe that women are emotionally weaker than men, and I don't like seeing that myth perpetuated, particularly in a cartoon aimed at boys.

As for her wanting to go with Optimus...It wasn't so much her wanting to go as the sniveling way in which she said that she wanted to go. From her tone, she wasn't saying, "I want to go with you because I think I can help you." She was saying, "I want to go with you because I can't bear to be apart from you." I'm sorry, but if she's a leader, she should be above that sort of thing or, at the very least, she should be able to control that sort of outburst and do her duty. Again, it's implying that females are emotionally weaker, in that they can't exist properly without the males.

But this aspect, I don't have nearly so much of a problem with. Nor do I have a problem with her needing to be rescued. We all need to be rescued sometimes, regardless of our gender. :) It's the implication of emotional-weakness-due-to-female-gender that I find disagreeable and stereotypical in the character. But then, I also need to bear in mind that this is a show aimed at boys; wouldn't do for Their Heroes to be shown up by a bunch of Ewwww! Girls! ;)

(Reply to this)

You raise some good points and, to be fair, the bit with Elita-1 asking Alpha Trion's help with what was a pretty easy question is not one of the episode's brighter moments. I think what it boils down to was that the writer needed to shoehorn in Alpha Trion's existance and Elita-1's special power before the second act and this was the way chosen to do it. To her credit, Elita-1 does seem to be able to give orders and handle herself pretty well apart from this instance.

As for the scene with her whinging after Optimus -- yeah, she does sound more like "I want to go with you because I can't bear to be apart from you" and yes, a leader should be able to control those kinds of outbursts. But here's a couple things to consider: clearly Elita-1 did manage to get these sorts of outbursts under control because she's been leading the female Autobots all this time. And by the end of the episode, she has no problem with Prime going back to Earth while she and the other females remain on Cybertron to protect their planet without any help from the boys beyond a new headquarters. She may have been young and foolish then but she's certainly wised up some in the mean time.

The problem with Elita-1 seems to be that a lot of people look at one or two scenes out of her one appearance and don't keep in mind the context of the rest of the story. Yes, Elita needed to ask for help in one instance, but she didn't need help going up against four Decepticons and she's ultimately the one who ended up saving Prime. Yes, Elita-1 begged to go with Optimus but when given the chance to leave Cybertron and be with him, she stayed on Cybertron to do her job. If (generic) you're going to look at a character's behavior, you have to look at *all* of it, not just the bits that support (generic) your view.

Dun

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Same Ol', Same Ol'

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