Gender swapping heroes in literature

[Slartibartfast]

I also have to point out that I found The Lord of the Rings a complete and utter slog -- BECAUSE there were no females.  OK, one.  Some gal "pledged her troth" or something to one of the guys.  I remember sitting up and being AWAKE for that because I expected she was going to DO something.  She did something -- if you count disappearing as doing something.  By the time we got to the elves I'd fallen asleep, so if there was actually a woman there, I kind of missed it.  Maybe she didn't do much but sit.

 

The movies surprised me -- a woman went into battle.

 

 

In the movie when Elrond is telling her what will happen to her if she stays in Middle Earth, that is canon. That *is* what happened to Arwen. That is in the Appendices of the books.  Riding into battle isn't the only type of brave choice a woman can make. And PJ did portray her setting off towards the Undying Lands but that never happens in the books. Arwen never wavered.

 

 

Eowyn is much more than portrayed in the movies. Most of the characters are really, Peter Jackson had to mess with all the characters for some reason.

[Slartibartfast]

I play MMOs but I usually tell people I am a guy unless they are in my guild.

 

 

[kiana]

I play MMOs but I usually tell people I am a guy unless they are in my guild.

 

I've played MUDs as a female for years, but I think due to the aging playerbase the harassment is less there. Also the one I play is very pro-active about nuking repeat harassers.

[Slartibartfast]

That wordiness in Tolkien actually can turn people off. LOTR is hard to read aloud because Tolkien actually gives you very good directions. When reading it you can tell he is looking over the panorama of Middle Earth and seeing it with a geographer's eye and he wants you to see it, too. It's a type of fantasy fiction we don't see much of anymore.

 

Tolkien's first civilian job after WWI was working for the Oxford English Dictionary. :lol: 

[maize]

Tolkien's first civilian job after WWI was working for the Oxford English Dictionary. :lol:

 

Yes, right up his alley :)

(Dare I admit here that I have a love affair with the OED?)

[Word Nerd]

Yes, right up his alley :)

(Dare I admit here that I have a love affair with the OED?)

 

Shortly after we first started dating, DH brought his (single-volume with microscopic print) OED to my apartment with its magnifier thing. <swoon>

[Slartibartfast]

I am bumping this thread because I had forgotten about a series of books.

 

The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix is adventure books with female leads. Both girls had happy childhoods, in loving environments. The first one is Sabriel.

 

 

http://www.oldkingdom.com.au/

 

They are Young Adult books. He has several kid books out as well.

 

The books are a bit creepy and do involve necromancy so if a kid is going to get creeped out by zombies type things then that might not be suitable.

 

 

[maize]

Shortly after we first started dating, DH brought his (single-volume with microscopic print) OED to my apartment with its magnifier thing. <swoon>

My parents actually had two copies of the two-volume, micro-print version of the OED. I got one of them and one of my brothers claimed the other. I've used the online subscription version through a university, but there's just something about pulling out the magnifying glass to read an entry that a computer search cannot approximate...

[kiana]

My parents actually had two copies of the two-volume, micro-print version of the OED. I got one of them and one of my brothers claimed the other. I've used the online subscription version through a university, but there's just something about pulling out the magnifying glass to read an entry that a computer search cannot approximate...

My mother has that too. We use it as our Scrabble dictionary. :)

 

I think one thing that is so much cooler that online doesn't replicate well is the ability to browse. You don't go to look up one word and end up reading the dictionary for an hour because you keep seeing another word to read about.

 

 

If a guy brought over his OED with the magnifying glass to my place, it would indicate we were a very good match :)

[flyingiguana]

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/summer-blockbusters-need-more-crappy-roles-for-women-92848204397.html

 

Why aren't there more women in movies....

 

"Vulture writer Kyle Buchanan recently brought up this issue with Matt Reeves, the director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, my favorite summer blockbuster so far, in which only two women have names: a human doctor played by Keri Russell and an ape played by Judy Greer. In contrast, there are 19 named roles for male actors. Buchanan asked Apes director Matt Reeves about this discrepancy, and his answer — “It wasn’t a conscious decision. I don’t know.†— is very telling. For all the effort he poured into every detail of that movie, the thought of including more female characters never crossed his mind."

[Elfknitter.#]

Saw this list on my FB: http://www.amightygirl.com/mighty-girl-picks/top-picture-books

[Mrs Mungo]

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/summer-blockbusters-need-more-crappy-roles-for-women-92848204397.html

 

Why aren't there more women in movies....

 

"Vulture writer Kyle Buchanan recently brought up this issue with Matt Reeves, the director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, my favorite summer blockbuster so far, in which only two women have names: a human doctor played by Keri Russell and an ape played by Judy Greer. In contrast, there are 19 named roles for male actors. Buchanan asked Apes director Matt Reeves about this discrepancy, and his answer — “It wasn’t a conscious decision. I don’t know.†— is very telling. For all the effort he poured into every detail of that movie, the thought of including more female characters never crossed his mind."

It is interesting but not surprising that movie proceeds are down. We normally see a movie every week during the summer. We have seen three movies in the theater this summer-The Lego Movie, How to Train Your Dragon and Maleficient. I refuse to go see another lame Transformers movie, I *fell asleep* during the last one! Stop with the incessant, unnecessary, repetitive sequels!

[Critterfixer]

I point blank refused to go see the second part of the Hobbit. I finally got around to watching part one, after being assured that it wouldn't ruin my impression of the book. 

It didn't, but it sure solidified my desire to skip the rest and be quite content for the rest of my life.

 

 

[vonfirmath]

Nope, I wouldn't. However, there are more boy leads in children's literature so I find this outcome to be less likely. Not improbable, just less likely.

 

...I am a girl. I have a LOT of favorite books growing up. I have a son. I'm finding it harder to find good books for my son with male leads than female.  I wish he cared less. When I was a girl, I'd read anything (though an awful lot of the books I remember had girl leads. Secret Garden, Little Women, Five Little Peppers was a mix though I felt Polly was obviously the lead, Little Princess, The Streatfeild Shoes books, Betsy and Tacy, Little House on the prairie, Ramona, All-of-a-King Family, Wizard of Oz, Rebecca of sunnybrook Farm, Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstocking, MAry Poppins, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Trixie Belden, Bobbsey Twins, From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankenweiler, Island of the blue Dolphins, Harriet the Spy, Wrinkle in Time.  Who were the protagonists in the Half Magic series? Favorites that had boys: Encyclopedia Brown, The Great Brain Series, Black Beauty (?), Where the Red Fern Grows, Swiss Family Robinson, Charlie and teh chocolate Factory. The narnia books had both.