In this episode, special guest Jennifer Albright of Have You Seen This? drops by to talk about Mary Sues, a term used to describe an overly-perfect female character created as a self-insertion wish fulfillment vehicle for the author. The discussion traces the expression Mary Sue back to its origin in Star Trek fanfiction and tries to grapple with its current usage. Does Mary Sue mean anything anymore? Is it a misogynistic term? Is Rey from Star Wars a Mary Sue? Is James Bond a Mary Sue? Does it really matter if a character is a Mary Sue?
Sources/Additional Reading:
- A Trekkie’s Tale (the parody fanfic that coined the term Mary Sue)
- A Historical Perspective on Mary Sue
- With Star Wars’ Rey, we’ve reached Peak Strong Female Character
- A New Dimension of Filmmaking: How tragedy on the set of the 1983 feature-length adaptation of The Twilight Zone changed the way movies are made.
- John Landis Not Guilty in 3 ‘Twilight Zone’ Deaths : Jury Also Exonerates Four Others
- 1988 Review of Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego, and the Twilight Zone Case
- Max Landis Accused of Rape, Assault and Psychological Abuse
- Disney drops bid to trademark Day of the Dead
- The Pedophile Director Embraced by Hollywood (about Victor Salva)
- Pauline Kael, Dirty Harry: Saint Cop
- Raging Bull, Cape Fear, Goodfellas… the woman behind Scorsese’s classics
- Uma Thurman Shares Kill Bill Crash Video: “The Cover Up After the Fact Is Unforgivable”
About Rite Gud: R.S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezzes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes, critiques and more.
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