Something I have realised in the past few days, I have a major thing for broken friendships as a result of betrayal, and father issues in stories. You'll be surprised how often the two can be linked together. Mother issues in plots tend to bore me, and I can't decide if it is because I'm female and the whole deal is kind of boring, or if it is because mother/daughter issues are hardly ever depicted as vicious and violent in stories. Judgemental and indifferent; yes, but never the full scale anger/hate/violence that literature/media tend to depict the father/son issues. And it is the latter that is damn fascinating (to me at least). What's interesting about the father-issue stories that gets to me (in a, 'Oh, this is so cool, in a rip-my-heart sort of way,') is that the father does love his son dearly, it is just that circumstances (Anakin turning to the Dark Side, or Connor being completely screwed up in the head because of every other person in his life) that forces the son to have major problems. Based on series of events, father-issues often results in a screaming/death match, which will leave one (most often both of them) in a pit of dark angst, and the other dead/maimed/insert your form of bad.
And yes, by now you should have realised I’m using Star Wars and Angel as prime examples, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other examples of father-issues that ends badly. I just can’t seem to think of any at the present time.
But back to the point; most mother/daughter issues get resolved through some form of ‘soul searching’ or ‘talking’ (screaming match works too), but hardly ever reach the level of violence’ of that of father/son issues. And I find myself being much more affected (emotionally and visually) by the father/son issues. It hit me on a basic level that makes me sit at the edge of my seat, eyes glued to the screen. Damn good drama (or melodrama, depending how you want to interpret it.)
Hmm. Just how differently do the w-media and the j-media depict father/son issues? It is too early for me to think in that direction. Not enough coffee and mind can’t change track.
Page Summary
Designed by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chasethestars
chasethestars
Comments
never paid much attention to the difference in treatment between j-angst and w-angst though... besides the fact that w-media tends to make the father and the son face each other in an elaborate verbal confrontation, which makes them sound as if they're reciting off scripts given to them by their individual therapists.
i would like to see complex mother/son relations. only example in fiction that comes to mind right now is the one in ursula le guin's the dispossessed. sure the society where the hero shevek operates in is one that advocates total equality, parenthood for all, that stuff, but the longing to be nurtured by a biological mother still appeared to be a great influence in the shaping of shevek's character. in their confrontation, it turned out that rulag ("the mother," as she introduced herself) turned out to be the unemotional, unattached one, whose sentimentality took a back seat to intellect. their maternal relationship (or lack of one?) is not just curious because it cast a woman into the stereotypical role of father, but because it showed the profound impact of an emotionally distant mother on the psyche of her child, especially her son.
*laughs* Oh definitely, I keep on thinking just how much money the therapist must have earned from the whole experience *giggles* But I do adore the way that ‘Angel’ handles the whole father-son issue.
Have never read le guin’s work, but you know, the emotionally distanced mother seem to be a sort of icon in fantasy novels. More often than not it involves a mother figure in an extremely powerful position (Dowager Queen, etc), who need to be emotionally distanced and cold, and extremely intelligent to get to the point they are at. Power, power, power. The son often reacts badly to them (I say often, because I’m reminded of Cordelia’s (of the Vorkosigan series) child rearing technique, of which I think she said was distanced, though not emotionally so.) It is often fascinating to see these dynamics in play; half the sons seem to hate their mothers, while the other half seem to have a healthy respect for them (of course this might be due to the mothers themselves, they might be more of the intellect, but it does not mean they do not respect their children. It is those that often manipulate their children that seem to be perceived as overbearing evil bitches.) Either way, the best mother figure to be ever written IMHO has to be Cordelia Niasmith Vorkosigan (Lois McMaster Bujold, BESTEST AUTHOR!). Forever the intellect, always analysing the situation, but obviously loving her children (despite the slightly distanced upbringing method she used.) Wonderful character, absolutely wonderful.