If the egg's shell does not break, the chick will die without being born.
We are the chick; the egg is the world.
If the world's shell does not break, we will die without being born.
Break the world's shell!
For the sake of revolutionizing the world!

Well, this is the second time I'll have to type up this post... 'coz my computer decided to eat it. Well, mot my computer, really. I'm using my grandmother's office computer and that's the reason I accidentally deleted my entry. I'm not familiar with this keyboard... that's my story, I'm sticking to it so nya!

Oh well, this post is regarding the story "Snow, Glass, Apples" by Neil Gaiman. Well, we were talking about how methaphysics entails looking beyond the surface "reality" of things. An I think that Neil Gaiman's story is an excellent illustration of looking beyond the surface. He presents a different take on the "wicked stepmother" and delves into the "what if". What if she had good reasons for doing what she did? What if she really wasn't the villain in the story?

Well, I've never really been content with most non-anime cartoons because the villains in most of them are evil simply because they are. There is no complexity involved and reality isn't that simple. Take the story snow white, for example. The evi

A pic of the wonderful Juri
scanned from an artbook by the
wonderful person who manages
ohtori.nu

l stepmother decides to do away with the princess because said princess is prettier? I mean, come on! What happened to them killing the current heir to get the throne for themselves. That reason, I would have accepted but for something as superficial as beauty? Evil for the sake of having someone to be evil. Of course, it really wouldn't do to have the viewers sympathizing with the wicked stepmother. And look at their portrayal of Snow White! infinitely nice, infinitely kind even the furry woodland creatures flock to her (not to mention conversing with a well and the well replying). It's just not real. Their characters are too clean cut. I prefer the intricate and often times confusing stories involved in Anime (not that there aren't any silly Anime series, there are may of those pointless stories out there but the good ones I stumble upon more than make up for the disastrous flops and fanservice fests.) More often than not, you'd have fans sympathizing with the supposed villains of the story. Take the series Revolutionary Girl Utena for example, Every single character there is so complex that if not for the insistent focus on Utena herself, you wouldn't know who the hero(ine) of the story was. (Yes Utena fans, even Akio, Saionji and Touga) Well, every single character is complex and if you take the time to look it up on google or something, you'd get flooded under the sheer number of character analyses available. That is because the story lends itself to interpretation. Each character has their own reasons for their actions and people can find themselves relating to these characters and more often than not they relate with characters other than the protagonist (Personally I sympathize with Juri ^_^ Juri-samaaaa.)

Well, the main thing I learned from Anime and what Gaiman's story bring forth is the fact that people are complex creatures with many hidden depths and although it's easy to say that he or she does something because he/she is either "good" or "bad" things are never that simple. People have reasons for their actions. They have perfectly valid reasons for what they do. And if there is one thing I've learned from my Critical Thingking and Law professors, it's that validity has nothing to do with right or wrong. The concept of right and wrong is highly subjective, at least that is what I believe.

There was a discussion in philosophy class a few days back where we were talking about wisdom and my prof said that a part of wisdom is the ability to know and act on what makes other people happy. But I realize that that is practically impossible. With our varied experiences and backgrounds we can never really know what will make the other happy. More often than not, we act based on what WE know and what WE believe is the right course of action but sometimes that isn't what the other person wanst or what they need. Because of this, arguments and misunderstandings arise. I think that it is important for us to realize that people seldom do things for the sake of being malicious and that there is usually a reason behind their actions; reasons that they believeare right though we may not accept or understand those reasons. Chances are that they think we're wrong based on their own reasonings.

If we take a bit of time to think on this, I think we'll be able to keep from hating the person. We'll be able to distinguish between not liking the person and not liking his actions...

Well, that was as preach as my doomed first draft so I'll have to lighten it up like i did the first. Here is a fun quote still in the theme of looking beyond the surface appearance of things:

Because you have to wonder: how do the machines know what Tasty Wheat tasted like? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tasty Wheat tasted like actually tasted like oatmeal, or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken, for example: maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything.
~ Mouse from The Matrix.

Anyway, I'm back from an impromptu trip to Hong Kong and of course, the first thing I do is plop myself in front of the PC and visit all my usual online haunts (which translates to me visiting the numerous forums I belong to). Well, aside from the general rants on the unfairness of life and the ton of news regarding several anime series, I stumbled upon an interesting bit of news. Apparently turning the comicbook world on its ears with this mess with the Infinite Crisis isn't enough for DC. They've decided to "adapt to the times" well, Marvel is doing that too, but apparently there is a bigger fuss over DC's updated "Batwoman" than anything Marvel has planned.

Why the fuss? Apparently, the new Batwoman, Kathy Kane, is supposed to be "a wealthy

Concept art for the
new Batwoman

(socialite), buxom lipstick lesbian who has a history with Renee Montoya, an ex-police detective who has a starring role in 52." That is a direct quote from an article featured in the New York Times entitled "Straight (and Not) Out of the Comics: At DC and Marvel Comics, new heroes are gay, black, Asian and Hispanic. Get used to it" well, the people posting their comments on this development have mixed feelings about it but the majority of them stated that they will approach this particular character cautiously; neither accepting her nor rejecting her outright. Many of them say that they'll wait to see how DC handles the newest member of the "Batclan" before making up their minds.

Personally, I'm with the cautious ones. I'm not a comicbook scholar so I'm really not that well informed with the DC continuity and I got into comic books purely because of my admiration for the former Bargirl, Barbara Gordon, and how she handled the transition from daring caped crusader to weheel-chair bound queen of the information super highway. The fact that she's more effective and vital in her current role as "Oracle" than she ever was as "Batgirl" amazes me to no end. (It also helps that her very own team is all female) Simply put, I'm a big, fan of strong female characters. I'm going to treat this newest addition to Gotham's nightlife with caution because of the comicbook world's horrible track record of handling their female characters. And I'm afraid that the "Women in Refrigerators Syndrome" might be the downfall of this new recruit. The lack of strong female characters in many genres considered to be for males is frustrating to someone who relishes seeing females kick arse. There are a precious few who write such characters, one of which is Gail Simone who is the author of the Birds of Prey comicbook series and another is my favorite author Tamora Pierce who is currently in the process of writing the new comic book White Tiger for Marvel.

Well the sad fate of women isn't limited to comic books and

Image of Atalanta's race against
Hippomenes taken from Myth Man's Gallery

the story of Atalanta comes to mind. Here we have a very competent woman who is at the very least equal to if not better that the men of her times in the things that were classified as men's tasks. She was sought-after but she avoids being snagged in a way that asserts her competence. But in the end she eventually loses and is married to some guy all because he had the power of 'love' on his side and a bunch of golden apples.

Atalanta's story is one of my favorites because of the things I read into the story. First, we have Atalanta who is a competent woman. Next we have Hippomenes, a guy who decides he likes Atalanta on the basis of her abilities and her looks and on top of those two I think that her unattainable status played a big part on his decision to pursue her. Then we have the pesky goddes of love, Aphrodite who makes it her business to see to it that all women who swear off love find themselves married off. And last, we have the three irresistible golden apples (which i think symbolises qualities that Atalanta found irresistable). In the end, not only does she find herself married, but she also finds herself turned into a lion!

Well, I think that Atalanta is like many of the working women in today's society. They are the equal of their male counterparts and they know what they want. They value their independence and stave off the advances of men as long as they can. Then comes Hippomenes who just happens to decide to ruin the order of things. He'll appear at just the right time with all the right tools with the power of love on his side and some time later, our heroine will find herself married with a bunch of kids and a husband to tend to. Which really isn't my ideal Happily Ever After but I'm me and if I were one of those characters in a greek myth, I'd probably be one of those characters like Atalanta who sends Aphrodite into a frenzy because of my loudly proclaimed disinterest in finding love. But hey, maybe one of these days my very own Hippomenes with all the right combination of traits might one day show up to sweep me off my feet. But I sincerely hope that when that day comes, I won't have to give up the things I love to do just so we can get together. Maybe in that way, I'd end up with a better lot in life than poor Atalanta... (",)

For more information and to react to the new Batwoma, click here
To understand what I mean when I say "Women in Refrigerator Syndrome" visit this site.
To learn more about Tamora Pierce's stint with Marvel, I urge you to read this interview.

This is the reason I love Tammy (Tamora Pierce) so much: (This is taken from the above interview)
Newsarama: Tammy, first of all, we’d like to introduce you to the core comic book readers demographic, which is for the most part is perhaps somewhat an older and more male than your core audience as a novelist. You’re best known for writing young readers fantasy fiction often starring young female protagonists? Is that right?

Tamora Pierce: My base audience is usually readers 12 and up (“up” running between 40 and 80, over the last seven years or so). And I usually phrase it that I write girls who kick ass [laughs]…

Okay, around parents I say "Girls who kick butt." Parents are so delicate!
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NRAMA: As mentioned earlier, the demographic of comic book readers is generally more adult and male. That said, will your series be geared towards what's become your core demo? Will this be written with younger, perhaps female readers in mind?

TP: You really must meet my regular audience sometime. You might want to wear armor.

Honestly, my regular audience is whoever keeps up with me. Tim and I will write White Tiger the way we always write - battle scenes, conspiracies, plot twists, and baskets of fluffy kittens.

Oh, wait. I don't do fluffy kittens. Scratch the kittens. As it were [laughs].

White Tiger plays with the big guys: Daredevil, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, the Yakuza, and a truly nasty guy named Cobra, who wants to put a bone-crushing squeeze on her. And when this Tiger plays with the kind of bad guys that infest her neighborhood, they break. No more toys. Too bad there's more where they came from - but she's waiting for them, and she knows where they feed.

And look at what Gail Simone had to say:

Wow, a kickass female writer who writes kickass female action heroes?

I am so down for this. Can't wait to see it.

Gail